All New in Zealand

Hello,
Well it’s been a fair while since I last spoke to you all and I have to update you on my recent activities.

I got to Santiago following a smooth bus journey from Pichilemu and headed straight for the hostel. I was staying in a large hostel about 15 mins from the city centre. The hostel was extremely well run and enjoyed all the facilities possible including an outdoor swimming pool and the only cricket net in Santiago! I met many people who were on the same transpacific flight as me and made good friends with a group of Irish people from Cork and some English girls.
Santiago was a pleasant enough city that had some beautiful buildings, the atmosphere was very European and had a lot of cultural sites.
On the day of my flight (February 1st) I spoilt myself with a fresh cut throat shave at a traditional barbers. The barber was a perfectionist and the entire process lasted around an hour. It included three shaves; first an electric razor, second was a normal wet shave and finally the cut throat razor! I was also covered and recovered in towels (boiling and cold) numerous times and the kettle was boiled at least three times! The barber was very proud of all his trophies that adorned the shop and explained that the price was so high due to his qualifications and experience; I didn’t have the heart to tell him that £3.50 was not that much!

The airport and flight experience were fairly normal except for crossing the International Date Line and never experiencing the 2nd February 2008. A 13hr overnight flight is never that much fun, especially as I was stuck in the middle seat in the middle row of seats in the plane and got about 1hrs sleep!
We arrived at Auckland international at the staggering hour of 03:30 on Sunday 3rd February. My plan was to try and get into the city quickly and find a bar to watch the England vs. Wales rugby match as NZ is currently 13hrs ahead of GMT. Sadly this was not to be as I couldn’t get in and find a place in time. However I didn’t miss out on much judging by the result!

Going to close abruptly now as knackered as haven’t been to bed yet and going out to explore Auckland shortly. I’ll update you soon on the fun to be had on Auckland before I head further south to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand.