Adventure Tours - part 3

'Kerry. I hope your guide on the South Island will be Kerry. You'll looooove him!' We were all glued to Bani's lips. Bani had already been on the South Island with Adventure Tours and she couldn't stop talking about how fantastic and relaxed the trip on the South Island had been. After spending a week with MacGyver, our guide on the North Island, we all desperately longed for some relaxation. Bani continued in her thick, Indian accent:'Kerry is soooo much fun! Now Carola, he does use a lot of swear words when he speaks, but please promise me you'll try to ignore it'. Why she explicitly addressed me, I have no idea, but of course, I promised her I'd try to ignore Kerry's use of the f-word three times in every sentence - if Kerry was going to be our guide, of course.

The next morning, we all had to get up early, because the inter-island ferry that was going to transport us from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island, departed at 8.00 am and we had to be there about an hour before departure. Moan! Still half asleep, we said goodbye to the people that weren't going with us to the South Island. We said goodbye to MacGyver as well. Only Marianne, Martin, Fabian, Peter & Maria, Jack & Kirsten and Carl and Mark were left. A nice, small group. We went on the ferry and I basically played cards for 3,5 hours with Martin, Jack, Kirsten and Fabian until we reached Picton. In Picton, there was an Adventure Tours bus waiting for us - with a driver. And the driver introduced himself with a big smile as Kerry . Hooray! Kerry swore a lot when he tried to load my big, blue suitcase in the bus. I could only agree with him! ;-) When all our luggage was in the bus and everybody was on board, we drove off. 'You're so quiet!', Kerry shouted. I guess most of us were tired, but I was also impressed by the beautiful landscape on the South Island. Pretty amazing! We asked Kerry what the plan was, where we were going and how much time we had for everything. Kerry was stunned. 'You're on holiday, relax!', he said. We'd gotten so used to being drilled by MacGyver, that we'd forgotten what it was... We drove to a supermarket to buy lunch and Kerry didn't tell us when we'd to be back. 'Just take your time', he said. This really was a relaxed guy! Of course, I was the last one to return. I love American-sized supermarkets! We ate our lunches in the bus and drove to a vineyard where we had a wine tour. I don't like wine (they fine wines with milk here, so I can't even drink it) and I thought the wine cellars were way too cold. The wine tour included wine tasting, but according to Marianne, the wine wasn't very good. We drove on to Abel Tasman National Park. It rained when we arrived and the ‘exclusive campsite' we were going to stay at, according to my and Marianne's brochure, turned out to be er... not so exclusive. Marianne and I received the key of a hut - a very small hut, with one bunk bed in which you couldn't even sit up straight, because if you did, you'd hit your head against the ceiling. The toilets and showers were on the other side of the grass. Apart from the bunk bed and one light, there wasn't anything else in our hut. Our luggage nearly fit in it! We had dinner with the group in the communal, open kitchen (next to the showers and toilets). The food was okay, but I was not in the best of moods because of the weather and the crappy facilities. I went to bed early that night and I didn't sign up for the group walk the next day.

To be continued...

Still in New Zealand....

Hello,

Sorry to have kept you waiting. I couldn't access my blog for a while, because - as you can see - it has been changed and I don't have easy internet access anymore either. So I thought I'd better let you know that I'm still alive...

I've live in Auckland since January 17, when the Adventure Tours bus tour ended. I've moved in with Peter and Margaret, a 60-year old kiwi couple. Peter and Margaret are the parents of Ben (who lives in Prague) and Jaime (who lives in Auckland). I pay them 150 NZD per week and in return, they let me stay in Ben's room. I have my own bathroom (with a bathtub, yeah!) and the house is only 1 minute away from the beach. The downside is that it takes about 1.5 hours to walk to the city. Buses don'trun very often, so I've had to walk a couple of times already. Peter and Margaret don't have a computer, so if I want to use the internet, I have to go into the city (which is where I am now).

My time is almost up, so I have to leave it at this, but I'll try to write again soon. I really want to share my adventures on the South Island with you!

Have a great weekend!

Adventure Tours - part 2

On the 4th day of my 23-day All of New Zealand bus tour, MacGyver drove a bus full of people to the Coromandel region. We stopped for a bath on Hot Water Beach. You can dig a hole in the sand and the water that comes up, is warm. The deeper you dig, the warmer the water is. Unfortunately, it was raining when we were there, but that didn't stop many people from changing into their bathing suits and going for a relaxing soak in a warm water sand pit. I didn't go, because I didn't want to risk hurting my toe. We spent the night in a cottage. Marianne and I shared a room and had our own single bed (hooray!) and there were four other people in the cottage as well. We were really lucky that we were in the cottage, because we had our own shower and toilet and didn't have to use the public facilities. We had dinner with the whole group. MacGayver had prepared fish on the bbq and several people had helped prepare salads. We had our dinner outside, seated at picknick tables. Afterwards, we washed the dishes in the public washing room. This whole scenario reminded me of summer camp in Otterlo when I was 9. We all had a good meal. Marianne and I went to bed early that night and slept very well.

The next day, we had to get up early. We drove to Whakarewarewa, an authentic Maori village with hot thermal springs and bubbling mud pools. A Maori guide was waiting for us when we arrived and he took us on a tour through the village. We had a traditional hangi meal for lunch (food cooked in the steam from the natural hot pools) and we watched a traditional Maori show after lunch. People who had signed themselves up for wild water rafting, were picked up by a guy from the rafting company. Those who didn't want to go rafting - including me - were driven to our hostel by MacGayver. I spent the afternoon wandering around the shops of Rotorua, checking my email in a local internet café and enjoying being away from the group for a few hours. I headed back to the hostel around 7 pm for a group dinner in the restaurant next to the hostel. I had to bring my own food, because they didn't have anything that I could eat. It felt a bit weird to pull out my own food from my plastic supermarket bag and dump it on a restaurant plate, but the owner of the restaurant assured me it was okay. Marianne and I shared the room with Carl and Mark that night, two guys from Australia. Carl running around naked in the room gave us both nightmares... What a freak!

We had to get up early again the next day. I don't remember exactly what time it was, but I believe breakfast was at 6.30 am. Phew! We had to prepare our own breakfasts and wash our own plates and cutlery afterwards. We were in the bus at 7.15 am and driven to a natural hot river for a swim. It was dry that day, but it was still quite cold so early in the morning. Thankfully, the water in the river was nice and warm. While we were all slowly waking up in the nice warm water, Carl felt the urge to take of his shorts... Eeeks! No way Marianne and I were going to share a room with that guy again! After a relaxing 30-minute soak in the river, we were ordered back into the bus, because we had a long drive ahead of us. We drove around Lake Taupo, stopped at the Huka Falls and kept on going to the Blue Duck Lodge, a beautiful lodge hidden in the New Zealand wilderness. Some people went by kayak to cover the last 8 kms, but unfortunately, my arm was still too painful to go kayaking. Since MacGayver went by kayak as well, me and four other girls were driven to the lodge by Sam, a 27-year old kiwi guy. The lodge was nestled right on the edge of Whanganui National Park, surrounded by breathtaking views and natural beauty. The lodge was also very small... Six people had to sleep in one room and there were only two showers and two toilets (toilet + shower in one room) for 18 people. Ai, this was bound to cause some irritations! Sam took me, Marianne, Lucy, Agata and Bani for a tour of the surroundings in his 4WD. We had the best afternoon ever! Sam showed us how two dogs herded and drove the sheep, he told us a bit about the history of the land and about his work at the lodge. MacGayver had been bossing us around from the start, but Sam was very relaxed and we could stay in one place as long as we wanted to. What a luxury! We went back around 6 pm, so Sam could help Dan, the owner of the lodge, prepare dinner. Since it was New Year's Eve, Dan had hired a dj and he'd also invited some local people to celebrate the arrival of 2010. There was bbq food (mainly lamb and goat), there were drinks, people and music - all the ingredients for a sweet as party! I danced on the deck outside, under the stars and felt really happy. A great way to start the new year!

January 1 started really early - at 5.30 am. Today, we were going to the Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand's best one-day walk. The walk is 19.4 km long and takes about 8 hours. I was determined to finish the walk, even though I had a broken toe, a sore arm and only 5 hours of sleep. We started the walk at 10.00 am and finished around 5.30 pm - and it was tough. You have to climb mountains and volcanoes in order to get to the other side and the mountains and volcanoes are extremely steep. The tracks are narrow, there's a lot of wind at the top and the mountains are quite high. Three girls panicked when they saw the 'track' that went down the mountain. It was extremely steep and slippery and the only way to go down, was by skidding on your hands and feet. It was quite a scary experience, but the views were stunning. Everybody was absolutely knackered at the end of the day. I was in bed at 10 pm and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

On January 2, we could sleep in until 7.30 am. What a luxury! After breakfast with the whole group in the restaurant of the alpine lodge where we'd spent the night (four people in one room, but luckily not in bunk beds), we climbed into the bus again and headed to Wellington, New Zealand's capital city. Wellington's nickname is Windy City, because there's always a lot of wind in Wellington. Boy, were they right about that! I almost got blown away! We spent the afternoon in Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum. When the museum closed at 6 pm, we still hadn't seen everything. It was a really nice museum. Marianne and I had dinner together at a Malaysian restaurant. While we were enjoying the delicious food, Emma and Lucy popped in to say goodbye. They'd only signed up for a tour on the North Island, so their trip ended that day. We all felt very sad. The trip was also over for Bani and Agata, but because we shared a hostel room with them, we could put off our goodbyes until the next morning. The next morning came way too soon. We had to leave early, because we had to check in for the ferry that was going to take 10 of us across the Cook Strait to the South Island at 7.15 am. Emma and Lucy were flying back to Australia from Wellington, Jessica and Gina (both from Korea) were staying in Wellington and the others went back to Auckland by bus. Marianne (from Holland), Martin (from Scotland), Peter & Maria (a couple from Sweden), Jack & Kirsten (a couple from England), Fabian (from Switzerland), Carl & Mark (uncle + nephew from Australia) and me said goodbye to the North Island and went on the ferry for a 3.5 hour ride to the South Island.

To be continued...

Adventure Tours - part 1

Good day, folks! I hope 2010 has started off well for everybody. I've climbed in front of a computer to tell you a little bit more about my Adventure Tours All of New Zealand group bus tour.

On December 26, I was supposed to be at the pick-up point at 6.50 am. I'd set two alarm clocks, but for some reason, I didn't wake up until 6.40 am... Panic! I jumped out of bed and into my clothes, slammed my suitcase shut and started running. The pick-up point was downhill and my suitcase has wheels, so I went almost flying! When I arrived at the Nomads Hostel where the Adventure Tours bus was supposed to pick me up, I saw Jess. ‘That's a good sign', I thought, ‘at least the bus hasn't left yet'. When I saw his face, however, I wasn't so sure anymore. I walked over to Jess and he told me that the bus would arrive at 7.30 am. He was disappointed, because he'd been waiting for a while, but I was happy that I wasn't too late! At 7.20 am, the bus arrived and Matthew, the driver, also known as Scratch, happily jumped out. We loaded our luggage into the trailer behind the bus and took the best seats (first row = more leg room). We stopped at a few other places to pick up Emma and Lucy from Australia, Scottish Martin, Indian Bani and Marianne from Holland. With 7 people on board, our journey was ready to start.

We went to the Bay of Islands and spent one night on Urupukapuka Island. Urupukapuka Island is beautiful. There were no shops, cafes or restaurants on the islands, only a few cabins. We stayed in double cabin rooms and we had to share the showers, toilets and kitchen with a few other guests. We went for a walk in the hills and Scratch told us a little bit about the island and the environment. After Scratch had finished his tour, Marianne and I wanted to explore the island a little bit more, so we continued walking. We had to back at the cabins at 7 pm for dinner, but of course, we got lost, so we arrived late for the barbecue food that Scratch had prepared. It still tasted good, though. After dinner, we all did the dishes together and played some card games. I shared a room with Marianne. I didn't sleep so well in the top bunk bed. Marianne was seriously sun burnt and she kept tossing and turning in her sleep, making me move as well!

On Sunday, we went kayaking with kayak instructor Adriana. It was amazing to kayak on the Atlantic Ocean. The waves were big and really cool! I was in a double kayak with Bani on the way to a remote and I shared a double kayak with Scratch on the way back. We spent about 3 hours on the water and by the time we were back at ‘our' island, my right arm was extremely sore and swollen. Ouch! It's been a while, but my arm still hurts today.

At 4.30 pm, we took the boat back to the mainland. We went on a dolphin cruiser, but unfortunately, we didn't see any dolphins. Because the company guarantees all their passengers that they will see dolphins, everybody on board got a voucher for another boat trip. The voucher is valid for life. We were all very disappointed, but the boat trip was still amazing. Marianne and I had to pinch each other a couple of times to make sure we weren't dreaming. It was so beautiful!

On Sunday night, we stayed at a crappy hostel and the worse thing was that we all had to sleep in the same room. Seven people in one room with only one toilet and one shower - and the toilet and shower were in one bathroom... It wasn't much fun, but I managed to get a few hours sleep.

On Monday, we drove back to Auckland. On the way back, we stopped at a beach to go snorkeling and swimming. The water was pretty cold and since I wasn't particularly interested in the sea life beneath me (too scary!), I decided to go for a swim to get warm. According to Martin, I swam quite fast and that's when I hit a rock and felt a terrible pain in my toe. When I went ouf of the water, I only saw a scratch, so I didn't understand why my toe hurt so much. I told myself to stop whining and continued walking. It wasn't until later that night, when we were back in Auckland, that I discovered that the toe next to the one with the scratch on it looked kind of er... weird. Bani, who works in a hospital in Canada, immediately recognized what was wrong. 'Your toe is broken', she said with a serious face. Oh no! Emma, who'd broken her toe a couple of weeks earlier, confirmed Bani's diagnosis. No wonder my toe hurt so much! The trip ended in Auckland for Jess, but as a way of saying goodbye to him, we had dinner together with the whole group in a Mexican restaurant on Auckland's waterfront. Bani and I spent the night at Nomads Hostel in Auckland. We had to sleep in a bunk bed and there was a guy in our room in another bunk bed. That guy was a bit weird, but luckily, we were only there for one night.
On Tuesday, we were picked up by MacGyver, our driver for the North Island. Everybody, apart from Jess, was still on the bus and we picked up 11 new people along the way. That was a very full bus!

To be continued...

Short update

Hello there,

I hope you all had a warm & merry Christmas!

I'm in Rotorua at the moment - with a pulled arm muscle and a broken toe. I pulled my arm muscle while kayacking in the Bay of Islands last Sunday and I broke my toe while swimming in the Pacific Ocean near Paihia the next day (I hit a rock). Hopefully, I'll have recovered enough before Friday, so I can do the Tongoriro Crossing, New Zealand's most famous 1-day hike. I couldn't go rafting this afternoon, because I can barely use my right arm (typing is painful as well).

Happy, healthy & safe New Year!

Cruisin'

The Fullers Sweet As cruise on Monday night was a little bit different than I'd expected. The cruise was from 18.00 - 20.00 hours, so I thought I'd be dancing on a boat for nearly 2 hours. I'd booked my ticket by phone and the lady on the phone had told me to pick up my ticket at the ticket desk 15 minutes prior to boarding time at the latest. When I arrived at the Fullers ticket desk at 17.40, the guy behind the window told me that my ticket had already been collected. What?!? He started phoning Fullers, the cruise company, but he couldn't get through, so I'd to wait quite a while and I knew the boat would leave at 6 pm sharp. I wanted to be on board! It turned out that one of the crew members had collected my ticket and was waiting for me at the boat. Right. Thank you very much. By the time the guy at the ticket desk had figured that out, it was nearly 6 o'clock, so I had to run to the boat, snatch my ticket and jump on board - but I'd made it.

As soon as I stepped on board, I noticed that there were a lot of Asian people on the ship. I heard Chinese and Japanese, but I didn't see any good-looking guys! A blond girl came up to me and asked me:'Are you a Geos student?' Am I what? 'A student, are you a student at Geos?' 'Er...no. Are you?' She turned out to be a teacher at Geos, teaching English to Asian people in Auckland. We introduced ourselves - her name was Sacha - and of course, I couldn't help but ask:'Do you know if Geos is looking for teachers?' According to Sacha, Geos is always looking for new teachers, so I went there last Wednesday to drop off my CV. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a positive response!

Since the cruise boat was full of Asian people, nobody danced. They just don't like to dance. I was a little bit disappointed, but I found a nice seat on the deck and just enjoyed the boat ride. Auckland looked fantastic from the water. When it was time to go back, the captain ordered everyone to go to the front deck. He turned on some music and told us to dance, because there was a prize to be won for the best dancer. I didn't care about the prize ( a 3-day trip to the Bay of Islands), I was happy I could finally dance! Dancing alone just isn't so much fun (unless it's in my own kitchen, then I don't care). I didn't win, but like I said, I didn't care. At least I had danced! Back in the harbour of Auckland, we were told that our cruise ticket entitled as to 2-for-1 drinks at a certain pub. Jess, an American guy I'd briefly spoken with when we were on the boat, asked if I wanted to go for a drink. Sure, why not? The pub wasn't very nice, so we went to a Japanese restaurant and ordered some sushi and miso soup. When our food was served, we were joined by Kyle, a guy from Seattle, and a friend of Jess. Kyle asked us if we wanted to hang out at his place, so Jess and I finished our food and followed Kyle. Kyle's place turned out to be a huge apartment on the waterfront, overlooking the harbour - and he was staying there for free! Kyle had invited some other people that he'd met in Auckland as well, so I spent the night talking to Americans I'd never seen before in an apartment that was worth 850.000 New Zealand dollars. The apartment was empty, but it was amazing and Kyle's friends had some interesting stories to tell about their teaching experiences at Samoa. I had a really good night that night and I hope to visit Kyle in Seatlle when I go to the U.S. in (probably) July.

I didn't do much on Tuesday during the day, but on Tuesday night, I had dinner at Jess & Graham's place. I know it's confusing, but this Jess is female, kiwi and a friend of Jaime, Ben's sister. Graham, her fiancé, is from England. Jess and Graham live in an apartment in a building that used to be a castle. Really cool. Jess had cooked us rice, chicken and vegetables. Yum! After dinner, Jaime (Ben's sister) arrived and together we went to Franklin Road, to have a look at all the decorated houses. Some of the houses looked really tacky, but others were quite nice. It was really crowded on Franklin Road. Apparently, it's something special, because whole families were there and tour buses were driving by as well!

On Wednesday, I had a Chinese massage. When I can't get up in the morning and I can't sleep at night, when my fingers die while it isn't even freezing and I have the feeling I'm dragging my body from A to B, I know it's time for something: a massage. It was really painful and the Chinese guy who was massaging me, couldn't get over the fact of how tense my body was. 'Are you here on holiday?' Er... sort of. He gave me a foot massage for free, a discount (without having to bargain for it!) and discount vouchers. Woops! Perhaps I should've done this earlier? I felt a bit dizzy afterwards, but after a warm drink and some food, I felt a whole lot better. I went back to the B&B, where I was greeted by Jason, a 42-year old New Zealander who spent 20 years overseas (mainly in Japan and Australia). We started talking and we didn't stop until it was almost midnight. Very interesting guy. He checked out today, but I'll probably see him again next year.

Today, I've been running up and down Queen Street, trying to get some last-minute shopping done before my trip on Saturday. The shops closed early today and they won't open until Saturday (some of them won't open until January), so I had to hurry. I said goodbye to Jason at the B&B, had a drink with American Jess (male) and now I'm sitting in front of a computer at an internet cafe. Jess will join me on my bus tour for the first 3 days, so that'll be fun. I may go to the casino with Jess, Kyle and some other American people tonight and I think I'm also invited to their Orphan Christmas Party which will be held tomorrow. I don't need to worry about getting bored here!

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Injured

In order to have fun, one needs to go out. So I went out today.

I signed up for a 1-day group tour to Rangitoto Island, an uninhabitated island with a dormant volcano. Yesterday in the museum, I learnt that Auckland is built on and surrounded by 48 volcanoes. 48?! This information was followed by the sentence 'Do you feel safe now?' No, I don't! Auckland's nickname is City of Sails, but I think it should be City of Volcanoes!

After a 25-minute ferry ride, we reached Rangitoto Island. Because we were pressed for time - the last ferry was to depart at 3.30 pm - we immediately started walking to make our way to the top of the volcano. It was a pretty tough hike, but it was worth it. The views from the top were awesome. On our way down, we also went through lava caves. I couldn't see a thing! Quite spooky. When we went down, however, I sprained my ankle. The pain was so sharp that I fainted. Ouch! Luckily, I wasn't alone. Members of the group I was with sprayed water on me to help me get back to reality. After a few minutes, I was able to get up and continue walking. I had to - I didn't want to get stuck on the island!

Right now, I'm sitting in front of the computer with an icepack on my foot, biting away the pain. I hope I'll be able to walk tomorrow. I'll be going on a cruise on Monday night and the cruise boat has a dancefloor. I hope I'll be able to join! According to the girl I booked my ticket with, there'll be 'handsome guys' aboard the ship. I wouldn't want to miss that!

Today, I also secured my seat on the bus which will take me across New Zealand. I'll be leaving on Saturday, December 26 at 7.00 am. Being there on time will be the first challenge! I'll be back on January 17, so at least I'll have company on New Year's Eve and on my birthday (it's a group tour with a maximum of 24 people).

Enjoy your Christmas holidays and be careful in the snow (in Holland)!

Carola goes camping! :-)

Dear Reader,

Yours truly has decided to go camping. Yes mother, you may laugh - because it's the same as saying 'Miss Bean has decided to go camping'. You'll be in for a laugh - and hopefully, I'll be too!

Let me explain how this change of plans has come about. I've been in Auckland for 2 weeks now. Auckland isn't very special. If you want to get a taste of the 'real New Zealand', you have to leave Auckland and go into the wild. Unfortunately for me, all the beautiful places are too far away to reach by foot, so you either have to explore New Zealand by car, by bus or by plane. At first, I thought about flying, but then I'd only be able to go to three other cities and miss out on all the nature stuff. I don't want to leave New Zealand without seeing all that it's famous for. Imagine having a conversation that goes like this: 'So, you spent 6 months in New Zealand? Interesting. Tell me, what's it like?' Me:'Er.... The hostel I stayed at was horrible, but the B&B I became part of the furniture of was very nice'. No way! I don't want that to happen, so it's time for some action. Since I don't feel confident driving a car - I haven't driven a car for 8 years (shame shame!) - , the only option that is left, is going by bus. I intend to go on the 23-day ' All of New Zealand' tour. I've found a tour company that aims at slightly older people (I've been on the wrong side of 25 for a while, you see, although, many people here seem to think I'm still a student) and that doesn't advertise 'let's get drunk!' throughout its brochure. Instead, we'll be visiting the highlights of the North Island and the South Island, but it does mean I'll have to sleep in tents and share a hostel room with strangers. It also involves a lot of activities, like kayaking and wild water rafting. You'll probably hear me scream on the other side of the world! The slogan of the tour company is 'Small groups... big adventure!'. Well, it'll sure be an adventure for me!

Yesterday, I went on a guided walking tour through Auckland. I'd read good reviews about this walking tour, so I decided to sign up for it. Tour guide David only had 3 people in his group: Janet & Greg, a 60+ couple from Scotland, and me. David was a good storyteller and we ended up walking for 3 hours instead of the booked 2. One of the reviews had raved that this tour was a real eye-opener and I was hoping that it would open my eyes for Auckland's beauty as well - and it did. David took us to some nice buildings, shops and cafes and I now feel more comfortable in this city. After we'd said goodbye to David, Janet and Greg treated me to lunch in one of David's recommended restaurants. The food was really good and after lunch, Janet and Greg invited me to come and see their luxurious hotel room. They were quite pleased with it and I must say that their room was indeed impressive. They'd booked a room and were upgraded to a suite with a kitchen and living room - wow! We talked about our travels. Janet and Greg had just spent 4 days in San Francisco and since I'll be going their next, they gave me some tips and told me about their experiences in the States. All in all, it was a very interesting day.

Today, I paid a visit to the Auckland Museum, because the weather wasn't very nice. I thought it wouldn't take me more than an hour, but I ended up staying for 3.5 hours! The museum was a lot bigger than I thought and each room had a different theme, which made it very interesting. I also watched a Maori performance. Especially the haka, the Maori war dance, was impressive. When I left the museum, the sun was shining. The museum is situated in the Domain, a big park, and since I happened to have my book with and I didn't have any other plans, I spent some time reading my book in the park, whilst enjoying the sun. Nice! (And of course, I thought about the cold in Holland...! )

Tomorrow, I'll be going to Rangitoto Island by ferry boat. There's no point in looking for a job now (pretty much everthing in Auckland closes down for 10 to 14 days), so I might as well enjoy my time here.

Some of you have inquired after my health. Thank you for that. I'm fine. A little bit skinny, according to some New Zealanders and a drunk German woman (You should eat more'. 'You should drink less'.), but definitely heavier than I was in China. According to Ryo, my host in Japan, I look skinnier in pictures than in real life. I'll try to add pictures to my photo album soon, so you can decide for yourselves.

Have a great day