Auckland

We flew into Auckland, arriving at about 9.30 am after a 10 hour flight. On arrival at the hotel we quickly had a shower and headed off into what was a very windy city. Don't make the mistake of hitting the sack for a short nap as it won't help. You are far better catching a quick shower and then heading into the city.
Auckland is renowned as a sailing capital of New Zealand and judging by the weather we had (windy but sunny) it's ideal.
We had a couple of nights here adjusting to the time difference and then collected out car and headed off.

Of course I was forced to walk round the city in my Welsh Rugby top, it being the home of the All Blacks.

Kelly Tarlton Sea world- (http://www.kellytarltons.co.nz/home/) these under ground water tanks were converted from storm water and sewage tanks to house marine life of all sorts from penguins to sharks. They are actually under the main coast road leading from Auckland. You can catch one of a number of tour buses out there.

Auckland tower is worth a trip up so long as you can cope with heights, especially the glass bottom lift.

We bought a route planner book / road atlas from the shop at the base of the Auckland Sky tower, which proved a very sound investment as it provided large scale map, regional area maps and town maps. (It was about $28) Since we bought it, it has been passed onto 2 sets of friend that have used it on their trips to New Zealnd.

In terms of getting around, the Explorer bus (www.explorerbus.co.nz) was quite good value as it goes to all of the major sights. It is of the hop on/hop off variety and one or two day tickets are available.