Leaving Sydney and Arriving in New Zealand

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So it was time to say goodbye to Australia last week but boy did I do it in style!

My friends Nick & Mehal who I was staying with had been invited to a 'Sporn' fancy dress party, which was basically under the theme of sports star or porn star. The party was in this huge house in Bondi so you can imagine that a lot of people go to an effort to impress, which meant I had to spend my Saturday afternoon trailing around charity shops looking for some kind of budget outfit! I finally came across a red racing jacket and cap, so decided to go as a formula one racing driver/life guard as I only had Nick's red shorts to wear... yep interesting combination but I also wore a 70's porn moustache so the outfit was perfect! ;-)

Anyway managed to stay out with the boys until 5a.m, which was good work as I had to catch the 11a.m flight to Auckland on the same day... OUCH!

Made it to Auckland and met up with Tom who use to work at Stopgap a few years ago and also met his lovely family for the first time. It was great to catch up with him and see him married with two children and he seems like a complete natural at it, which is awesome! I spent a few nights in their converted garage, which was the spare room/kids play room but probably the most comfortable bed that I've slept in since I started my sabbatical and boy was it needed as I really needed to catch up on some sleep!

Auckland is a pretty city although it is small especially compared to London and Sydney but very clean and everyone seems to be very friendly. Tom has a small sailing boat, which we took out one day and had the most amazing afternoon where I got to take control of my first ever boat and learn some of the basics of sailing... i.e. that you can't just go the direction you want to!

I then booked a trip with 'Stray' who are an alternative travel company and specialise in taking you off the beaten track and headed up to the Bay of Islands. Our driver was a guy called Nimo and yes he managed to get lost a few times but was always good value and we managed to see so much and learn a lot about the Maori culture which is nothing short of amazing! Sweet As! (Yep, all Kiwi's seem to use the phrase 'Sweet As' when something is good!) ;-)

I stayed at a place called Pahia and from there headed further north to the most northern point of New Zealand where I got to ski/surf down huge sand dunes on a body board, which really gets your adrenaline going! We also took a drive down 90 mile beach, which is in fact only 63 miles (long story!) and came across a car that was half buried in the sand (obviously the AA never got there in time!).

I arrived back in Pahia on Friday and went out dolphin watching, which completely blows you away especially how big they are but when i dived in to swim with them they swam away, which apparently had been happening all month as it was mating season (probably better that i didn't get in the way of any horny dolphins anyway!). While taking one of my long walks along the beach I managed to meet four original Maori warriors who were taking their replica war boat out for a paddle. Had a long chat with them and somehow ended up rubbing noses and exchanging breaths with them, which was a great honour but also a relief that we didn't have to use any tongues! ;-) Seriously, they were great and just topped of a great trip up to the Bay of islands!

Made it back to Auckland Friday night for drinks and diner with Tom before flying out to Fiji saturday morning and here I am in Nadi waiting to be taken to a deserted Island 4 hours away by boat for the next 5 days... yep this is my time to relax and i can't wait! BULA!

That's it folks, I guess the next time that you'll hear from me will be when I return to London although I am heading out to New York on Friday for my friend Toby's wedding so if I do get time I'll try to up-date everyone with another journal! Sorry that I can't get any pictures on this journal but the internet access in the place I'm staying in Nadi is limited and does'nt let you connect you camara to it so you'll have to wait until next week for pics!

Take care and see you soon...

Love,

Paulo
x

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