August 2006 - New Zealand

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Approximately 12 months away from emigrating to New Zealand, this trip was designed to do two things.

• Firstly, there was a week's holiday in Auckland and a chance to see some of the culture
  
• then, there was a trip by train across North Island followed by a few days in Wellington for house hunting and interviews.

Having arrived at midnight and there being a 12 hour timezone difference, we were all rather wide awake and so spent an hour looking for something to eat around Auckland. I have read in the local papers that Auckland closes early but have to admit that we didn't find that - it wasn't difficult to get a snack at 01h00!

Considering that it was mid-winter, the weather was clear and crisp (most of the time) and, having hired a car, we made the most of the sightseeing - spending some time on the coast to the east of Auckland and driving down to Howick.

I have to say that the road signs are utterly pathetic! One particular roundabout was signposted - with a totally accurate picture of the roundabout - but with no words! That probably explains why we ended up going south at one point instead of east! We were about 5 miles from where I thought we were and heading the wrong way!

At the end of that particular day, we did manage to find a bowling alley and enjoyed a couple of very cheap games.

Auckland to Wellington

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