Blogs from North Shore, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 11

It's been too long since my last entry and lots has happened since, not least in the world of international rugby where the atmosphere here in New Zealand is one of sombre reflection (and some irritation, when English visitors and settlers start to remind the Kiwis here about their own unexpected successes! I am one of these guilty parties...). Anyway, back to the story... Auckland is well-ordered, neat and possesses a functional quality, and from what I have seen of other towns and cities it’s fair to say that this follows throughout most of New Zealand’s more populated areas. The major city in the North Island, Auckland has common-sense suburbs and a refreshing lack of sprawling housing estates and ugly tower blocks, but instead it does offer individual homes that are, on the whole, detached and ... read more

Hey everyone, thanks for the messages. Great to here from people back home. Landed in Auckand, New Zealand yesterday and staying with my old neighbours from methley, Malcolm & Joan. Went for a meal last night in an english bar and having a ride into Auckland today. The weather here is a bit colder than the other places i've been to. Fiji was too hot, so it's nice to be a bit cooler. Hope everyone is well and i'll write again soon when i get more time. Best Wishes. Calv X X... read more

Last night the receptionist told me not to worry about booking my 4.30am taxi to the airport, there would be a night porter at the desk who would do it for me, but when I got up I found the hotel deserted downstairs - all bar a pair of shoes!! I sat and waited, walking around a chouting from time to time but to no avail, until at almost 5.30am, when I'd all but given up hope of getting to the airport in time for my 7am flight, he came wandering back in from watching the rugby at a friends house! I went mad at him, but he ust stood there with a big grin on his face and said 'but Fiji won!!"!! I told the taxi driver all about this and he said "Well the ... read more

When you travel to New Zealand from the UK there’s not much further you can go - you may as well just turn back again from there. I seem to recall that Forrest Gump’s attitude to the southern US states was pretty similar although my own mode of transport was not an old pair of running shoes, but a Boeing 747 from Heathrow to Auckland featuring a brief stay in the transit lounge at LAX (enough time, as it turned out, for the Yanks to grab a retinal scan and some fingerprints from me). And instead of turning back again at the end of a journey on foot across Alabama et al, a seven-month working trip in and around Auckland on the North Island of beautiful New Zealand was my own calling. Although I will be ... read more

Waitomo Waitomo is famous for its glow worms- larvae of fungus knats that live in the caves around here. We went on a black water rafting trip to see them, basically we rafted on inner tubes in caves with waterfalls and slides along the way. It was fantastic but as you can imagine, very cold! The glow worms are amazing to see, like stars in the night sky. Rotorua Another adventure city and a thermal area to boot! We had to try out zorbing as its the only place they seem to do it. They put hot water in the zorb too, we got drenched but it was a lot of fun- like being in a huge washing machine! I tried out the swoop too- jon refused as it was from 47m high(I dont know how ... read more