Auckland antics

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S'up y'all! Hello guys, thanks for all the comments and everything - its so lovely to hear from all of you. We're currently chilling in our hostel, just sorting out some stuff over the internet but it definitely feels like we're heading towards the last push of our trip - well our bank balances are certainly feeling the expense of travelling! Auckland is really cool, its a proper big city (unlike Christchurch, the second biggest city in NZ which was more like Guildford than either of us would care to recall) and, once again, we're staying in the Chinatown area - I'm getting the feeling its where cheap hostels are situated and is generally good for students. This has meant we've been shopping in an Asian supermarket and our first trip there was, to say the least, interesting; most labels are in mandarin (I think) and it has the feel of a warehouse whilst you're searching for the cheapest type of pasta, but the whole area is really cool we're in reach of everywhere and are near enough to the centre to be close but have enough distance between us so we can get a good night's sleep!
The hostel is really nice; its privately owned which meant we were taking a bit of a risk but the room is lovely, the kitchen is clean and has an oven (you have no idea how big a deal this is) - even though we're not using it. Although, we have reached a marked stage of desperation - we have bought and cooked our own vegetables. Admittedly, only carrots but its still a pretty big deal; I'm also eating tuna which, for those of you who don't know, I would flat out refuse to eat back home - I would almost say I'm enjoying it. But enough of the boring stuff, you don't want to know about location and accomodation - you want to hear about all the exciting things we've done/plan to do.
Yesterday we visited the huge Maritime museum (Grandad Jim - you would have loved this!) which I think we both imagined would be slightly dated and focused on the first European settlers; however it took you through the ages of maritime history. From races, to changes during the war, travelling conditions, to the America cup and Peter Blake's victory. Personally, I'd never heard of this guy but he was so cool! There was documentary footage of his race around the world and you end up feeling quite involved. The whole museum was too much for one day so certain aspects we had to skim through but it was really interesting and made for a good introduction to Auckland's history.
We also generally wandered around the city; whilst in Whitsundays we met a English woman who now lives in Wellington and she said Auckland was very similar to London and she certainly had a point when you look at the hedonism! There are more shopping centres then you can imagine, every type of restaurant under the sun and, of course, intense traffic. This could all be viewed from the 360 degrees viewing tour (tallest tower in the southern hemisphere) which we decided to go up. We seem to have gone up every tall tower in every city - but it does make for great views and great pictures. There was also a casino below it which we considered hedging our bets at, but, probably fortunately, you have to be 20 to go and they're pretty strict on ID.
Today, we went to Auckland's war memorial museum/the Auckland museum which is possibly the largest museum I have ever been in. The exhibitions varied: volcanoes, asian art, maori history, fashion changes, the development of education and children's toys, WW1, WW2, ANZAC stuff - you name it, you could see it. It was a bit overwhelming to be honest, but the best thing we've done so far was definitely watching the traditional Maori performance they do there. This is made up of various dances, leisure activities, songs, traditional clothing and, my personal favourite, audience participation! Ed was encouraged (forced) to join in a traditional game which improves hand eye co-ordination for Maori warriors; I filmed it all so don't worry guys you'll get a chance to see it! He actually got the hang of it quite quickly and mangaed to stay in time as music was added in. They finished the performance by explaining the haka and then performing it. Wow, it is pretty intimidating! Sitting on the front row and trying to avoid making eye contact with the wide eyed, tongue lolling warriors makes you feel very English and generally a little uncomfortable. I don't think I'd like to be faced with such a performance, particularly on the rugby pitch!
We're also planning to go to the area recommended by Grandad Jim - Rotorua. These tours are pretty expensive but we're also combining this with going to the Waitomo caves which seem pretty awesome. Its basically a twelve hour trip where we visit a much more natural area surrounding Auckland. We visit the government gardens, the jade factory (jade is really big out here, as it is often used in the Maori culture), a tour of the Maori village, go through the glow worm caves and abuse the free lunch. Apart from that we've got a few other plans for exploring the city but are trying to be a little more careful with our money; I don't regret how much we've spent just because we've had such a great time but it is time to tighten our belts!
Anyways hope everything is fabby with all of you, it will be so nice to see you guys on our return! Hope Hannah is having a great time in Zante! Love to you all,
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