30th January 2007

A week (almost) in Auckland spent sleeping and drinking. Scott has been forcibly making me go to the gym too. Les Mills to be exact. A bit of pointless lifting stuff and then basketball for half an hour. I don't like going but it keeps him quiet and stops him whinging about too much time not "maxing the envelope" and "stretching the burn" or other such crappy fitness phrases. I am feeling the benefit though. Not as much as Les "Bloody" Mills though and his $20 a session fee. I try to get my moneys worth by stealing as much water from the taps and underpants from the changing rooms as possible. Who would have thought that so many gym users would have two tone underwear and that brown would go with almost any other colour?

We wandered around the harbour a bit which is really nice now that the weather is much better than when I was last here. After the long flights from LA we decided that a haircut would make us feel more human. I know where there is a barbours shop that is only cheap. I know that Scott prides himself on his efficiency and felt sure that he would jump at the chance to have a cheapo haircut. A small fortune later we walked out of Toni & Gay, or whatever it is called, very light in the pocket and scalped on the head. I took Scott to have a beer at the restaurant where Tracey works the crowds with the accordion. She was as funny as ever and it was really good to see her. She attempted to make fun of our accents but we managed to beat her into linguistic submission.

The one thing we were struggling with was finding a nice cheap diner to frequent. We stumbled across a Denny's which has become our favourite diner chain in the world, despite the fact that Denny's employs 0% of English speaking staff and constantly get our order in some way. Our new plan is to tour New Zealand and visit all of the Denny's in the land!

I went to the Classic Comedy Club on Saturday night and saw a few people that I met before. Not a bad night but not the best. Met up with Scott afterwards for a few more beers. We are kings of the bar everywhere we go! On Sunday we went to Albert park for an open air freebie concert. Some of the bands were quite good and the place was packed. We should have more things like that in the UK. The sun was shining and everything was great. Right until the point where my forehead burnt and Scott's arm was looking a touch reddened.

Our last night before we set off on our road trip around the islands took us to O'Carrols on Vulcan lane for the free poker tournament that I used to play in. We both got down to the final 5 but the blinds kicked me out. One guy around the table was boring us with talk about Roger Federer for a while but we mocked him until he shut up. Unfortunately we couldn't quieten the girl who rattled her chips constantly and took it all far too seriously. She went on to win as the blinds made playing impossible, but Scott came second! In his second ever game! And even better.......He knocked out my French mate, Thomas, with a ROYAL FLUSH!!!! I have never had one and Scott gets one in his second ever game! True to tradition, he bought beers for us two, Thomas and Melissa (Thomas's girlfriend) with the $25 second place prize. I think that Scott might have delusions of grandeur now though, as he suspects that he might be able to beat me! Ha ha ha ha. As if!

We picked up the hire car and headed off to Tauranga. My first time driving in New Zealand, and first time driving an automatic, went ok after I missed the first 4 turn offs that I was supposed to take. Some might say that I should be embarrassed to miss so many but I have a suspicion that my navigator sleeping with the map in his grubby little fist might explain it somehow. We eventually made it to Tauranga and are just about to set off to get some dinner and beers in the town centre. We should be going to Mount Manganui and some thermal springs tomorrow so I will hopefully have some pictures for you all. Oh, and the drive here was very scenic but I didn't really get any pictures except for a couple in Te Ahora or something like that. It was a nice little spot and the mouontains as the backdrop were fab.

Ok...Dinner time.........Update soon!