Nadi, Fiji to Auckland, New Zealand

...Our flight to Auckland went well until landing, when blustering winds caused our descent to feel like a theme park ride and our stomachs to churn. Once back on steady ground we navigated our way through New Zealand's 'bio security' that causes you (rightly) to be hyper-vigilant about any food/animal/plant products you might be bringing in. Even with our vigilance we still received the attention of sniffer dogs but as far as immigration officers go, those at Auckland airport seemed a friendly bunch and quickly we were on our way into Auckland.

Our hostel is a restored colonial villa named after the wide verandas that encompass its white timber frame, which we saw from afar on our approach. Our long journey had left us weary but a shower and some lunch gave us enough energy to get some much needed laundry and food shopping done.

Gone is the balmy sunshine of Los Angeles, changed for the autumn rain of Auckland that lashed, like water thrown from a bucket, against the verandah outside our bedroom window. Whilst we gave each other a 'what have we done?' look, we have known and prepared for travelling through New Zealand's winter months. Why not travel during the summer you might ask? If we had then we would have eventually had to experience colder climes elsewhere.

We saw out the rain from the warm amber glow of our room with the smell of clean laundry around us. Night quickly descended (sunset is 5:30pm) and by 8:00pm Alex could not remain awake any longer. We submitted to sleep, hoping that our bodies would not try to wake at some ungodly hour, thinking it was lunchtime in some other part of the world.Read more