Auckland Shmockland

Ok, Ok....I'm on a shallow learning curve with blogging. These pics above were supposed to be on the last post but I couldn't figure out the whole upload thing. What-ev

Anywho, I'm have just had a wonderful last 2 days here in Auckland c/o my friend Ciaran. He has been a gracious host and we've had a grand time.

Yesterday I forced him awake bright and early at half 7 and we were out of the house within the hour. Thank you jet lag. I will say that I took those No-jet-lag tablets during my countless hours of flying and they worked wonders. I highly recommend them.

So we walked up to the train station and rode into the centre city. We walked around a bit and made our way to the Skytower, which if you ask me, is exactly like the Space Needle in Seattle. As we rode the lift (with glass doors) up, my grip tightened on the railing. Man, I hate heights. It was a fabulous view of the city. They even have a fake bungee jump off of the building. It's not truely a bungee, as you're harnassed in and they quickly lower you down. I got a nice shot of the guy coming down.

We had a really tasty lunch at a Mexican cafe (hum, thought it would be lot longer before I had Mexican food again). The weather has been nice and humid. Ciaran is ready for this summer to be over. To me, it's wonderful. We made our way around town and thru a nice park and on our way back home. I made a nice dinner and he went off to work as I flitted around and passed out.

Feb. 18

Poor Ciaran didn't get in from work until half 7 this morning and I was up and adam and got him moving around at 9. I sent out nearly 20 emails for WWOOF hosts in hopes to find someone with availability for next week. We set off on his motorbike up to Karekare and Piha. There are lovely beaches in both towns, in fact, Karekare is where The Piano was filmed. It was beautiful. The sand was near black with irredescent blue, and soft as ever. After Karekare and Piha, my arse was about as numb as an Eskimo's member but the bike ride was beautiful. We then rode in Auckland city to a wealthy part of town and another beach called St. Heliers where we had yummy fish and chips that about put me over the edge. I though American's had large portions. Holy crap.

Once more we hobbled back onto the bike. At this point, I think Ciaran's arse was about as sore as mine. We finally made it back to the house where we are currently relaxing and having some cocktails. Oddly enough, I'm showing him how to do things on the computer. It's my contrabution to his hospitality. He has been a gratious host. Thanks a bunch Ciaran.