Auckland, New Zealand

Well, I've been in Auckland for almost a week now, essentially sorting out what I'm going to do in this country and where, and in what order. I've been staying at the Base hostel here which is pretty impressive. I've yet to stay at any of the city hostels in OZ or NZ, so this is my first taste. It's 7 stories, and has a bar in it, plus a roof deck where the kitchen is. All the rooms work with electronic key cards, a bit different from the skeleton keys of Europe. Wed. night they had a mechanical bull riding competition in the bar. Sadly, I didn't win, however I did get second prize and a legful of bruises. I was, of course, wearing the cowboy hat. Today, I took Stray's free tour of Auckland, it was a very good tour and a lot of fun. I think I'm going to take the Stray bus through part of NZ, still figuring that bit out though. Anyway, that's a bit all for now, there's not too much else to report. Auckland seems to be mostly a transit site for traveller's, most people seem to think that the city has little to offer.