Auckland

Ok, I lied. There was more we hadn't done.

After we climbed the glaciers, and being faced with the last two weeks of our program being stuck in Christchurch - don't get me wrong, New Zealand was GORGEOUS - and we definitely made the best of living in a city such as this, but Christchurch was geared only towards the tourists that pass through the town and not towards residents, which we were for eight weeks - but again, I digress - we decided to hop on a plane to Auckland!

Auckland is touted as 'little Sydney' - which I can understand, though to me, there is no comparison. That being said, Auckland was much more a real city of the sort that we New Yorkers are used to - and we LOVED it!

We spent most of the time enjoying what the city had to offer - which included a wine and cheese festival on one of our last days - and enjoyed great meals and the great company we were traveling with.

Below is the sky tower - of which we watched people base jump off of - and of which we walked past on a few occasions to go place a few roulette bets at the casino!

We spent a great deal of time on Ponsonby street in Auckland as well - in particular this one place Chapel, shopping and dining, and heading back for a very New York City - ish nightlife scene (and great mojitos)!

Oh, and if scaling ridiculously high mountains and glaciers was not enough, we decided we'd climb a dormant volcano - this is me and El at the top.

And if you haven't all noticed a new face among my pics, here is El, myself and Margie - my new girl and southern belle - who will be showing Elliot and I what Alabama living is like when we visit her in a few months! This was taken at the wine and cheese festival in Viaduct Harbor.