Linda comments - never thought I'd say I was glad to leave Vegas, but even after winning $130 on Bellagio's bountiful tables, this did not compensate for having to buy a rain hat and umbrella. Sunny California where "it never rains, but man it pours" (as the song goes), unfortunately, was correct. Despite being round the corner from the Kodak Theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theatre (home of the Oscars) and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Hollywood Boulevard, pouring rain bouncing off the sidewalk does not encourage pedestrian tourism. Universal Studios and Disney may have been open - and no queues - but this definitely separates the young from the young at heart.

Thank goodness for a lap top and mobile phone, because we changed flights and left LA two days before we planned. Even the 'hotel' we were in understood and didn't charge any cancellation fee. We spent Friday having lunch with my niece's ex-mother, Stella, and her daughter, Caroline, and then took off for the airport to relax and keep dry.

We had a good flight with Qantas, but I still don't like losing a day while trying to sleep through the International Date Line - who has got my Saturday? Please return it as soon as possible!!!

We landed early in Auckland on Sunday and took a shuttle ride to our hotel. The shuttle driver was brilliant and took us up to Mount Eden (highest point) for a view of the city. It was a great way to arrive in Auckland.

As has become our usual way with hotels, we changed rooms from the 10th to 21st floors and got a wonderful view (see picture) of Auckland Harbour. Arriving early also surprised David's niece

Debbie, but we met up with her family who were in town to meet Mark's (Debbie's husband) mother Carol, who had just flown in from the UK. We all took a trip on a ferry to Devonport where we had lunch. Mark and Will (the youngest son) went for a swim - I was very happy just to watch. We will meet up with them again in two weeks when we go to Blenheim.

Initially, when we arrived in Auckland the weather remained disappointing cloudy and we even had some drizzle. But the skies cleared on Sunday evening and it got quite warm. On Monday, however, the weather was WONDERFUL, it was hot (26C) and we had a great day.

We took a hop on/hop off bus and went to Kelly Tarlton's underwater world/antarctic encounter where we saw penguins, stingrays and sharks. It was KT's 25th anniversary so we got in for $5 instead of the normal price of $31.50. I tried to book a dive with the sharks for tomorrow (David just wanted to film it) but the earliest booking was for Wednesday when we are due to drive north to the Bay of Islands. Please, someone tell David Harris that they do shark dives without cages too!! Next stop was the Museum and the cultural show and fascinating displays plus an interactive volcano display - this defintely silenced the kids.

Now, feet up, relaxing, drink in hand, contemplating dinner and tomorrow's programme, possibly watching cricket in the evening (well, David's been very good).