Arrival in Auckland

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Flight from Kuala Lumpur took off on time and took approx 9.5 hours - not as comfortable as UK flight but still OK - we were very tired when we got here at abouty 2 am NZ time. So straight to bed and sleep.
The Heritage hotel at Auckland is excellent - we have suite to ourselves even has cooking facilities.

On Saturday sorted out the phone, the car and some cash. Looked around Auckland - a beautiful clean city. Went up the Sky Tower - I thought about doing the sky tower leap from the top (very safe in harness but you fall via a wire from the observation deck to the ground). When we went up the tower I chickened out (and Anne spent some time trying to persuade me it was not a problem) Whilst looking out ofthe windows at the fantastic views of Auckland I was holding onto the rail for grim death and had a tight feeling in my vitals - so why should I stand outside and jump off the end!
Ate at an Irish Bar and into bed by 9:00 pm - absolutely tired out - hopefully we will get over the jet lag soon.
Today (Sunday) we took the city bus tour to the Kelly Tarltons Aquatic centre - lots of penguins and fish - recommended if you have young kids (and older kids like ourselves) - then onto the Auckland Museum - Again excellent museum with lots of history of the Maoris and of the immigration into New Zealand - you could spend all day in here.
One suggestion - the tour bus cost $80NZ (about £40) - we started early (bus starts at 9:00 am and finishes at 5:00 pm) - we only managed these 2 stops - so it would have been cheaper to get public bus or even a taxi - you can get the tour bus back from the museum to town centre for $5NZ.

We have booked the hotel at Napier so will pick the car up at 7:30 for an early start so we can see something of Taupo prior to completing the drive to Napier.

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