First contact

So after 30 or so hours of travel we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. We've been enjoying 20-25 degree weather since we got here, and the trees and birds are amazing. The people we stayed with in Auckland were absolutely lovely and took very good care of us, including making us an itinerary of things to do around town.

Here we caught a $3.00 train into town, which took us on a very scenic route through the forest. We walked from the big transit station up Parnell rd. which had lots of ritzy little shops.

It was so hot (and so uphill) that we stopped at Chocolate Boutique to get cookies and cream smoothies. They were amazing. Look how amazing Simon thinks it is. Amazing. We walked all the way up Parnell until we reached the Auckland museum, which is hands down one of the best museums I've ever been to.

Here are some wetas. They are enormous. People say they don't bite, but I don't know about that.

LOOK A KIWI! Oh wait, it's dead. So far we've seen only taxidermied kiwis. Still pretty cute though.

Hanging out with my bro the moa. My broa. If they weren't extinct we would probably be allowed to ride them. If this broa wasn't surrounded by glass I probably would've tried to ride him anyway.

With our excellent timing we got the Maori meeting house to ourselves. The detail in all the carving was amazing.

Every part of the walls had these guys.

The next morning Olivia (who we were staying with) drove us up One Tree Hill to get a nice view of the city before she kindly drove us to the bus station where we caught our three hour bus to Mt. Maunganui.

Our last view of Auckland from One Tree Hill.

This is the beautiful, warm never-ending beach about two blocks away from where we're staying with Simon's aunt in Mt. Maunganui.

We're going to find a way to get to this weird tall island.

The in-house dog Peanut.

The most amazing seed pods on the sidewalk outside the house. They are hollow and incredibly tough, and make a fabulous sound when you throw them at things.

This little darling joined me in the shower this morning. He is about the size of my thumb and I named him Sebastian before I flushed him down the toilet. Apparently "if you squish them the eggs come out and hatch everywhere". Who loves cockroaches?

Now we have to go have a little nap in the porch after eating some local avocados. SEE YA.

-P