Arriving in New Zealand

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After well over a day sitting on aeroplanes and unfortunately not getting much sleep, I've finally arrived in New Zealand feeling rather dopey and indeed smelling quite rank! I was lucky enough to meet a fellow Rugby World Cup traveller and Welsh fan called Daryl at Heathrow check-in, and did what all good students do...head for the nearest pub! After a refreshing pint and a good sports related chin wag we boarded the flight to Auckland, which made a routine stop at Hong Kong (roughly half way) in order for the plane to re-fuel and to give us a chance to stretch our tired limbs. Daryl and I hung around with fellow passengers, New Zealanders Jeff and Heather, Jeff wearing possibly the winning rugby jersey in 8 weeks time, although lets hope England have something to say about that! We had about a 2 hour wait before re-boarding the aircraft so took the opportunity to have a look around Duty Free and see if there were any bargains floating around.
The flight landed in Auckland early, so I was fortunate enough to get on an earlier domestic flight to Hastings, where my Aunty Sarah is based. It was fantastic to see the geography of New Zealand from above, rivers meandering in between the hills, sandy beaches, honestly I now just can't wait to go and really explore this amazing country.
But of course first is the World Cup and over the last couple of days several of the top teams, South Africa, England, Australia and the French have arrived. Its not too far away now, only a week to go and im so looking forward to the first game in Dunedin!

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Photos

I wouldn't mind waking up to this view every morning
The view from the rear of the house overlooking the hills