it is now 6:30 PM auckland time. we arrived auckland about 2:30 PM today; cleared customs and immigration in record time and got into a shuttle with 7 other people headed to our hotel.

it took over an hour to get to the hotel because they were having a santa clause parade today for the children and some of the roads were blocked and that included our hotel's main access. so we rode around in the shuttle for a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get close enough to the hotel to "deposit " us.

got checked in and we are in a very nice hotel - crowne plaza - and are on the club level where we get free breakfast, snacks, drinks and other snacks in the evening and free internet access. we decided it was worth paying the upcharge to have these things. we are on the 28th floor and looking out at the Sky Tower which is still much taller than us.
we are going over to the Sky Tower (tallest building in the southern hemisphere) this evening and i am going up to the top and then we are going to check out the restaurants over there and the casino. probably an early night this evening.

tomorrow is an on and off bus trip again around the city getting off at 4 or 5 stops. was cloudy when we landed today and rained on us coming from the airport but is beautiful weather now. and cool.

this is the city of sails because so many people own sailboats here. beautiful blue water. that's it for now. i will post again tomorrow after we have more to "chat" about.