Auckland

Here I am on the other side of the world. It's rather rainy and cold, but there's still not a lot of snow. I've been faithfully doing my prayers to the snow Buddha in the morning so I'm sure it'll come by the time I get down to the South Island next week. Found a lovely little house in Parnell, just out of the city centre, full of shops selling lovely cafe lattes and lots of Germans. Und ich kann noch Deutsch reden so I'm pretty proud of myself. I kind of thought New Zealand was the same size as the UK... and I'd get down south in about 6 hours or so, but no. It's taking 3 days on the scenic and environmentally-friendly route.

As for Auckland, it's nice. Safe, friendly, nice. Greig, you'd hate it. It doesn't have an edge at all. Even the supposedly trendy K Road is really not that trendy. I like it. I've had conversations with people at the bus stop and in shops and cafes. People have time for you. I was even invited in to an agency the other day for a look round after I got stuck staring at the cans of inspiration on sale for just 15 dollars. One of the agency's guiding principles is to go sailing every Sunday. Let's just say I can definitely see the appeal of living and work down under. Lots of sunshine, water to play on and cute little extinct volcanoes. What more do you need?