As anticipated, leaving Singapore was difficult - and basically spent the last day strolling round the city centre and doing some shopping. Electronic stuff is really cheaper in Singapore so if I weren't to go on to some dodgy places like Fiji & Costa Rica later, I would have bought a few gadgets. Spent hours in the music store but went away with 2 oriental lounge albums - in contrast to Sharon who leaves half of her i-banking salary in the music and dvd stores:) 10 hours in the plane again...It was the first time actually that I fell asleep before the take-off and woke up when we were well air-borne - must have been really tired. Another 5 hours time change from Singapore to Auckland so basically I now lost track of time and dates. I looked at my mobile which is still running on the UK time and it's 5am in the UK and 7pm over here (Wednesday). I was impressed at the controls that are in place when arriving in NZ - restrictions on the agricultural products and food, the guys are mad - they would run dogs on everyone's luggage when arrived. And I must have seemed really knackered cause they sent me thru to some customs clearing where they could basically go thru EVERY single item in your luggage, earplugs included. I queued up there for an hour watching what they were doing to people - there was this Japanese guy who they charged with having used cocaine because they were doing tests on his wallet and credit cards and found out that there must have been cocaine in his wallet at some point in the past....The guy was freaking out. And when it came to my turn, I looked really pissed off saying that I am not gonna spent half of the time I have allocated for Auckland going thru some detailed customs clearing, and was showing off with my previous UBS business card... and it helped! No control in the end! My hostel is very close to the airport, a room for 4 but am the only one. It's for convenience as I am leaving very early tomorrow... Came down to Auckland and have rather mixed impressions. Naturally, the city is quite diverse ethhnically and would never feel as safe as I did back in Singapore. But from what I have seen so far, it is only the city centre that looks OK - basically two main streets Queens and Victoria Street - stretching quite far but the best thing about them is that they re both on the hills - which looks nice when u turn around (see pix). I went straigh to the SkyCentre, which is the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere - they claim - and enjoyed some splendid 360 degrees view over Auckland and the Bay. The best thing about this building is that it is used for skyjumping and I have actually seen 2 people doing that (192 metres) - you can spot someone at one of the pix - a tiny dot though. I would have problems with budgy jumping but skyjumping looks much cooler for me (the difference being that you are tied to your ankles in the former and around your waist in the latter). So i really feel I would be up for a sky jump but was not motivated to go for it on my own as I am naturally quite lonely here! What's the point of doing that if you cannot show off in front of anyone? Joking... But seriously, at least somebody familiar to you being a testimony would make it have much more sense.... All in all, I guess that NZ must be a fun place if you go out of the city - it is best known for its outdoor activities - rafting, trekking etc, even budgy jumping was invented here. I don't think I could live in Auckland - it gives me impression of being too calm, too chilled out, too far away from the real world - the city is living at its own pace, undisturbed by what's happing around the world. Even though beautifully located and full of natural splendour, it lacks the vibe that I felt in Singapore...A city for the old folks I would say - but would definitely like to have more time to explore the country more. I uploaded some pix today - am off to Fiji in the morning and I really really feel a bit awkward about it. I had to call Fiji to confirm my arrival tomorrow so went to the STA Travel branch and the girl there tried several times and then she went ' Oh, it's Fiji - communicating with them is so difficult cause they're just too chilled out'. I seriously feel I will be lost in nowhere there and cannot immage nternet access on a constant basis - and i want to be positively surprised. So next one comes from Fiji?:)