New Zealand

We wrote this on Thursday morning NZ time but couldn't publish it 'til now.

We were going to do a summary about our experiences in South America. But we're tired. It is now in the past and Team Stanford is all about the future. If you're really bothered, harrass us and we'll do it later.





So, freaky thing, the International Dateline. We've lost Wednesday. Do we get it back? With interest? We thing we'd like a Saturday morning at some point later in life, as compensation.



Today (Sunday afternoon)

So, Auckland. We've been there before. It was raining. Lots. We had chores to do. We were jet lagged. We were staying in a 4star hotel. So we went out for food (Japanese, Indian, Italian), ordered room service once, and used the gym and swimming pool. And watched TV. That is in English. This was a bit of a change from the backpacker vibe, especially when we realised we were in the largest hotel in New Zealand. The one that hosts APEC conferences.



With some trepidation, we picked up our camper van yesterday. What would it be like? Had we made a huge mistake leaving South America, which we loved so much? Martin had been standing out in SA so much, would we miss being obvious tourists? Luckily, our camper van is pink with fish painted all over it. We're trying to think of a name for it along the lines of pink and fishy. Will keep you updated on that one.

We got it and headed north out of Auckland to the Bay of Islands. Except we didn't quite make as we stopped off at a lovely campsite a few miles south. One cold beer, a beautiful sunset, and dinner later, we were sold on the camper va n idea.

It got better. We woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine, had a quick swim in the sea, then went on a couple of hours walk through forests,swamps and round the coast. Life is sweet.

Cultural note
Sweet as. Kiwi phrase for anything cool, good, nice. Used A LOT by our camper van dudes. Sweet.

Cultural note 2.
In Argentina they wore jumpers and designer jeans in warm weather and regarded anyone doing differently as slightly strange.

In Chile, they wore T.Shirts and cheaper jeans.

In New Zealand, a man can be 6 foot 2, tall, blonde, sunburnt, wearing shorts and sandals, and blend in perfectly.