Hi everybody,

yes - we found a place to stay in the end! We're now living in Kingsland in a converted old warehouse - a nice little flat on two levels with a balcony.  Just ten minutes to the centre with access to many bus lanes, a train station and close to the motorway - in a great location and a good starting point for your travels if you want to visit us ;)

On Saturday Bernd and Hinke (Steffi's PhD supervisors) took Pablo and us for a short trip to Whatipu, a volcanic area with a very long beach, nice rock formations and great landscapes. We walked along the coastline and enjoyed the great views for a few hours. It's quite an exposed area and as this is an Island somewhere out in the Pacific ocean, there was a lot of wind. In some areas it blew the sand like a sandblast against our legs - quite a nice peeling! As it's an old volcanic area the sand was black. And even though it's quite close to Auckland City (about 1 hour drive) and it was a lovely saturday afternoon this huge place was almost empty!

Today we bought ourselves a 1998 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon and are now all set for more trips - Christmas time is coming, and that's travel time down here ;) So be prepared for some more impressions from New Zealand!