Happy New Year!

Finally settled in Auckland (moved here for work) although Jo remains in Wellington for the time being while she works her notice. Auckland is much more like, and what you would expect from a city than Wellington, its bigger, both geographically and vertically and there's more on offer. Wellington is compact, everything is centrally located, which is not the case for Auckland, but its nice in its own way. The weather is one noticeable difference, less wind and more sun.

Since the last entry, Jo's dad (also Ian) came to visit, so after celebrating NYE in Wellington, we headed North for Napier where we enjoyed Fish and Chips and a wine tasting tour by bike. A great way to see the area! Moved on to Rotorua to experience the geothermal wonders of the region including the Lady Knox Geyser and then onto the Coromandel Peninsular including a visit to Cathedral Cove which has been used as a film scene in the past including Prince Caspian. Then, after a 2 hour dirt track drive across the peninsular, we headed for Auckland to find a flat whilst the other Ian went sailing on one of the America's cup yachts.

The following day we went on a dolphin watching trip. The guys on the boat were extremely informative and funny plus we managed to see common dolphin and 2 brydes whale's as well as several species of seabird.

Headed back South via the Tongariro National Park, stunning views, shame about the hotel which had a nice exterior but extremely poor service and food - so avoid the Grand Chateaux at all costs. A friend has also confirmed this opinion!

Then it was over to Melbourne for my cousins wedding but spent a day birding with The Melbourne Birder, aka Steve Davidson. One of the best day's birding ever, Steve is a top birder, and extremely knowledgeable as well as being funny and friendly too! It felt like I'd been out for a day's birding with a mate rather than a guide. Saw 123 species of which about 80 were lifers.