At 4.30am I phoned Dad to wake him so we could go catch the plane and he announced that he had been up for an hour. You can imagine how tired we were by the end of the day after such an early start. Travelling with Dad is a joy.

We managed day 1 without a single squabble between the three of us. Just 17 days to go now! Seriously, Dad takes such interest in the world around him and delights in everything… especially and including, the Auckland railway station. It feels no different to Australia to him so I think the fear of the culture shock has already subsided on day one. Perhaps not the sore feet though from Col and his exploring and getting ‘lost’ in Auckland.

He experienced ‘health food’ for tea (Subway) and like us, took great delight in finding his bed at the end of the day. Speaking of bedrooms… WE had a little ‘dog box of a room’ and DAD got a 2 bedroom unit with a loungeroom and full kitchen!!! We paid the same price. How did that work?

Travelling with the only two men who DON”T HAVE MOBILE PHONES on the Earth is going to be interesting. Col tends to wander off and Dad is currently situated on another floor of the motel. Any hints are welcome!

Auckland put on a show of remarkably mild weather and impressed us with how clean, un-vandalised and friendly it was. Even the police waved to us (do we look that much like tourists?). Tomorrow we are off to Taupo which will be quite a drive (5 hours) but thanks to my friend Tom Tom and the rented Camry (how unique Col) it should be a smooth trip.