Off we go again - at the ungodly hour of 4 am to catch the early flight to Auckland, New Zealand. We checked into hotel in late morning and wandered a bit. We saw the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere and a favorite spot for bungee jumpers. Down by the wharf, we checked out the sailboats and the Village for the America's Cup. Auckland is known as the "City of Sails" and is said to have the largest number of boats per capita of any city in the world. It also is home to the largest population of Polynesians anywhere - one-third of all New Zealanders live here in a vibrant and multicultural city. Auckland is home to 1.4 million people, along with 48 dead volcanoes - lots of hills!
We gathered at a dockside pub for Wayne to spread out his maps, give us an orientation to New Zealand, and to give us an overview of the next two weeks. Afterwards, we had a welcome dinner to mark our arrival in Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. To bed early (we lost 2 hours in changing time zones today).
