Auckland to LA

6500 miles of 1 seat, usually when we have been on flights we have travelled with BA and even been upgraded so had a fairly comfy journey however Quantas seats did not seem quite so comfy this time, maybe I had become too used to coach seats and they were not the same. However they did bring food around every hour which was rather yummy, even an ice cream so that did make up for the lack of sleep. The plane had to slow down a little as we approached LA because the airport is not open for so we would have had to wait on the tarmac. Arrived and on the shuttle bus we soon check in to the hostel and a week in Hollywood begins.

Taupo & Auckland

It was st paddy's day when we were in Taupo although most of the guys had just done the Tongariro crossing when we arrived so it wasn't a big night and then straight on to Auckland the next day, with only two nights left in New Zealand we tried to make the most of the time even with the bad weather. Kiwi Experience do a free bus day trip around the city so we made use of this, being taken across the Auckland bridge and watched a couple of bungee jumpers, then over to Davenport, test out the Kiwi fish and chips before heading back to the centre and being dropped at the museum. The trip was great and the guide was really useful, the museum had some interesting areas however a lot overlapped with Te Papa in Wellington so I breezed through these.

I think one of the biggest shocks and saddest part I have had on this holiday was as I walked through one of the sections for children to greet a full sized stuffed elephant they had, he had been killed by his keepers in the 30's as he was untrained and wouldn't do rides :(

I had one small night out with Beardy Joe as he was off to the bay of islands the next morning so both had to pack, then my last nights sleep in New Zealand.

The next day we tried to eat as much of the food left as possible although one of the biggest challenges was working out what could go with what. Then still feeling quite hungry we were off to the airport, this I later found out was rather fortunate as Quantas seem to have an unlimited source of food.

I enjoyed New Zealand, it is like England without the people, with a few more extreme sports and far more environmentally friendly with all natural electrical sources, recycling everywhere and the most signs you could ever see about turning off taps - probably a slight overkill and waste of paper. I'm going to miss this place the most, we met great people here and I really enjoyed the whole experience, I can see why Maddy stayed...I'll have to be back soon.