OK, we've had some sleep now so its time to update the blog again.

Our first day in Auckland was a looooooooooong one! Like we said on the previous entry, we landed at 6am local time but when we tried to check in they didn't have any rooms ready so we had to wait. This wouldn't have been a problem as we expected as much but we ended up waiting until 15:30 to get in, by which time we were both a wee bit knackered. Em was not well at all so we were glad to finally have our own space again, so after a quick wash we went out in search of food and lo and behold the first minimart we found had gluten free pasta! So a quick meal of pasta and sauce and it was off to bed at 7pm for a 13hr sleep!

Em was still ill in the morning, you don't want the details but suffice to say if we had brought stock in Kleenex before the holiday we would be very rich indeed! Anyway, we digress, for our first day we decided to go to the Auckland Museum to get a better understanding on New Zealand. As we don't have a car we thought we'd catch one of the buses as there are plenty which run in a link circuit around the city. We got on one at 10:30 but in true rookie backpacker style we got on the bus that went the VERY long way round so an hour later the bus driver decided he'd been driving long enough and got off for a break! We sat there for a couple of minutes before cutting our loses and making a break for it, pretending we wanted to stop there anyway until we got out of sight before figuring out the direction we wanted. Turned out if we had got on the bus the other side of the road it would have taken 10 minutes, but hey ho, you learn from it don't you! A mile or so walk later and we found the museum, and another shock was in store in the cafe there, they offer gluten free food and sandwiches!!! OMG!!

The Museum itself was really good and had some wicked exhibits about NZ history and culture, including a replica of a Maori Court which was stunning! We spent nearly half a day there which was great value for the free entrance fee! Once we got back to the hotel, Em was suffering still (but putting on a brave face as she's not a whinger) we managed to russell up a gormet meal of rice, ham, beans and a cheese slice. Yep, just the 1 slice as it was cheaper than buying the whole pack!

So far our impressions of New Zealand????

AWESOME!