[lettie]

It was with great excitement that we took off from Bangkok and flew to Sydney in order to get our connecting flight to Auckland. We were both absolutely knackered when we arrived and after picking up our hire car from the airport we spent the rest of the day monging out at my step-brother's house. The day after feeling a little more refreshed, we took the train into the city to have a mooch around.

Auckland is by far the most populated area of New Zealand and a very cosmopolitan city. There's something to suit all tastes here. We headed for the shops, Sparky to buy shorts and me to buy sunglasses, as I'd left mine at home. We then had a walk to Auckland Domain to visit the museum. This is a fair old way from the city centre and you can go by bus, but it was a lovely day and well worth the walk. This museum has various sections. Natural history with all the different animal, bird, reptile and fish species native to the area. Great big replicas of the now extinct flightless bird the Moa, which is huge. It has a NZ at war area with memorabilia from the wars including uniforms, diaries, film footage, aeroplanes, memorials to the ANZAC and the names of the young men who perished in order to help us fight our causes. There is a floor devoted to Maori culture showing their homes, war canoes, how their clothes are made from flax and various photos and implements from family life and the lives of the south pacific islanders. This place is well worth a visit.

The day after we took the elevator up to the dizzying heights of Sky Tower, at 328 metres high this is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. What fantastic views from the top. People actually jump off this thing, it was knocking me sick just thinking about it. I decided there and then that I would definitely have to be drugged and pushed, although I'm sure that could be arranged. After visiting Sky Tower we took the ferry across the bay to Devonport, a small town in Auckland with only a couple of main streets it's a joy to visit. We found an excellent little restaurant where Sparky had the best pizza of his life. I'm sure he'll give you the details but needless to say he raved about it and I have to admit it did look good. We went back to my step-brother's that night in order to prepare for our forthcoming tour of the country.

Here are some photos of Auckland. There's a cityscape taken from the Devonport ferry and views of the city taken from Sky Tower showing the domain (big green hill in centre of piccy). The white building on the domain is the museum, views of the harbour and harbour bridge and a view across the water to Devonport.