Good Morning everyone (although you are probably only just going to bed!)

I thought I would write another blog entry today as I have a bit of time to kill before meeting the tour group at 1pm (it's currently 11.30). Also I needed a stop off point on the walk to the hostel - seems my bag has got heavier?!! how did that happen! Although I did have a stop earlier as well - McDonalds toilets - I know Chris will be laughing now as I always go on how I hate McDonalds but actually when your away on your own and either need somewhere to eat or pee, McDonalds does indeed come in very handy. I have been to some abroad before where you have to show a receipt of your food purchase before being allowed in the toilets (to stop any passers by like me) but luckily with this one I could just sneak in - well not exactly sneak as I had my massive rucksack, which by the way is very hard to take off in a tiny McDonalds toilet - I reckon its a skill I could learn to accomplish. Anyway enough of this boring stuff, I'll start telling you about my day yesterday - my first proper day of my travels!

I woke up quite early (and I did as well today) but apparently this is the effect of the jetlag. I decided to head down to the internet cafe first thing and try to fit in some skype calls before it was too late back home. I managed to speak to Mum and Chris so that was lovely. After that I took a walk through the town (its quite easy to find your way around here as everything is off one main street, called Queen Street) and down towards the harbour. I had to stop on the way and buy some suncream as i could feel the sun getting stronger and it turned out to be a really warm day so good job I did. There is a big asian influence in Auckland and this is reflected in the food - lots of sushi and chinese dishes. Therefore when I saw a jacket potato stall set up at the harbourside I got rather excited and decided this would be my lunch. Turns out the guy on the stall was english and so I had a nice little chat with him. I went to sit in the sun on a bench overlooking the water and this was probably the first time I felt fully relaxed - the view was really beautiful and the whole place had a very relaxed feel to it. A guy came and sat next to me and started up a conversation (its wierd coz in England we never would dream of doing that would we? but here, and I imagine in many places when you travel, it just seems so natural!). He was a kiwi (New Zealander!) and he was a tour guide on another bus tour for travellers (not the one im going on though) so he was able to tell me a few things. He was also saying how he wanted to come to england and was in the process of applying for a visa so I told him lots about home and where he should go etc, i think he was grateful! After saying goodbye I decided I would take a ferry over to Devonport (another area of Auckland). People travel a lot by ferry here as the city is based on the water - they were coming and going all the time. The journey only took 12 minutes and it gave you some brilliant views of auckland from the water. Once in Devonport I got a nice icecream and started walking along the coast. On the map there was a place called Cheltenham (haha) further along the coast but once I started walking it was further than I expected so I didn't actually reach it. There were a few shops over there but not much else so after about an hour I got the ferry back to main auckland.

One of the main touristy things to do in auckland is to go up the sky tower - the tallest building in the picture, with the big point. I decided that I might as well do that even though I thought it may be a bit overpriced. Turns out I got a special backpacker rate so it wasn't too bad. A lift (with a glass floor!) took you up in 40 seconds - it was pretty scary! Then you get to the main viewing area so I spent about half an hour admiring the view (pretty amazing) and taking photos. I then treated myself to a drink in the cafe they had up there. By this time it was late afternoon and the sun was setting, i got some gorgeous photos! It was around 6pm when I came down and I had a quick walk around "sky city" - the complex attached, this had a huge casino in which I had a peep at. By this point I was hungry and getting tired again. Wondering what to do for food, i actually succomed and went to my old friend mr mcdonald...so yeah two visits in 24 hours. But it was what I needed as I hadn't really eaten a proper meal for a while (not that you can really call it a proper meal!) and i did feel better after. I then walked back to the hostel where I wrote my diary for a couple of hours and watched some New Zealand tv before I was too tired to stay awake any more.

So yeah that was my day yesterday! I am looking forward to joining the tour group now, i really hope it lives up to its expectations! I am unsure when I'll next have internet access/time to update this so forgive me if its a while.

Love to all!

Rebecca xxx

p.s. I know most of you wont know him, but the singer Justin Beiber (a 15year old usa kid) is HUGE over here! He is in auckland at the moment doing a few gigs and is always on the tv! some people seriously have no taste.....