Auckland

We tried to set up Carla’s old cell phone this morning, but couldn’t get it to work, so we bought a new one that is supposed to also work back home. We have to charge it overnight before we use it, so we will post the number as soon as we test it out in the morning.

We toured the city all day. Auckland is built on 48 old volcanoes, so they turn them into parks. We visited a couple of those, learned about their history and enjoyed the views. We took in an interesting show of Maori music and dance at the Auckland Museum and toured the exhibits. Very interesting. One of the Maori warriors tried to pick up Celeste as you can see from this picture, but she beat him off with a stick.

After the museum we went downtown and explored around the cruise ship docks. Very much like what Vancouver is doing with their waterfront. We picked up some souvenirs, then explored a bit by car and settled in to our hotel. Hallelujah! They have Internet connections in the room! We went for a little walk around the neighbourhoodand discovered a park. In the distance, behind a small hill, we saw some kind of athletic activity and wandered over for a closer look. As we approached, it looked like they were wearing some kind of helmets. Sure enough, it was an American football practice for some Regina Thunder aged kids. That sure caught us by surprise! We then settled down for some serious blogging.