Lou was still rather comatose when I woke up at 7:30. The effects of multiple Tuis required a trip to a lavatory… one of the moments when I wished we’d forked out the extra for a van with an on-board toilet! I got dressed and discovered we were parked less than 100 yards from a [...]

continue reading.....

 Today’s deadline was simply to get to Christchurch with enough time to park up and catch a few Z’s before the England match at 4am the next morning. No big rush, then! We woke and had breakfast before leaving the campervan park and stopping a few yards further down the road for a go at [...]

continue reading.....

 Lou insisted on getting a taxi to the airport rather than the Airbus as it was easier. It was also way more expensive (about 6 times the price) but I’ve been told not to go on about it so I won’t. Much. NZ Airlines have started a quick check-in procedure at little terminals in the [...]

continue reading.....

 Well, I finally got to bed at around 4am. Lou’s flight from Singapore to Auckland had been delayed by roughly 7 hours, so instead of her being airborne when I wanted to crash out, she was stuck at the airport on the interwebnet terminals. Facing the usual fear of all passengers – falling asleep and [...]

continue reading.....

Well, it wasn’t engines causing the problem this morning. It was a loose cable on an electricity substation being whipped out by the wind and landing on the input feed. This wiped out four substations and two main power stations at around 8:30 this morning. Around a quarter of the north island was rendered electricity-less. [...]

continue reading.....

I’ve managed to get SKype running so some of you can expect some phone calls when I’m somewhere suitably equipped. Aside from that I’ve had a typical Sunday, really – I’ve done nowt. Took a small wander this morning and bought some new laces (when in reality I need new shoes), then wandered into The [...]

continue reading.....

Up and about by 8am courtesy of my early start, I took a quick walk to the harbour and back before breakfast. Then went out and bought milk when I found out that some moron had turned the fridge up full tilt overnight and frozen everything. Next stop was the cybercafe where I could plug [...]

continue reading.....

 More time to kill as I try to avoid doing the lesson plans for Blue Dragon, so I finally made my way up to the Museum. It’s located in the Auckland Domain, an area of grassland up past the hospital. An old building, all columns and sandstone, stood on a hill with a nice view [...]

continue reading.....

Remember I mentioned about the wobbly bunk bed? Well, the guy on ground level struck lucky at a club last night, I think. Suffice to say the usual force 2 turned into a force 4 sometime overnight when he returned with whoever he’d pulled. I don’t know if the earth moved for them but it [...]

continue reading.....

Not a massively eventful day today. Early doors, Lou was packed off into a taxi – destination Qatar. I loafed in the common room at the hostel, reading and tapping rubbish like this into my laptop and then moved to my new home for the next 6 nights – Nomad’s Fat Camel on Fort Street. [...]

continue reading.....