They are very big on Mid-Year Christmas functions here in New Zealand (which tend to be a little on the bizarre side!). Although APS (Wayne's work) didn't have a function this year, Baldwins (Ingrid's work) had a Mid-Year Christmas party on 11 August. It was held at "Finale", which is a drag-queen caberet venue. It was very entertaining and we really enjoyed ourselves (apart from the part where Wayne was picked on by Felicia, our "hostess" on the night). But as they say here: "it's all good" and "good on ya", Wayne! We had a lovely buffet meal and ended up dancing late into the night!
Warren and I braved the icy cold waters to go on another little fishing trip on the boat. Okay, he braved the cold waters while I took ten minutes trying to reverse the trailer into a parking space. We have launching on the beach all figured out now. If you don't follow a few simple rules, you can really make life difficult for yourself. The day was not as great as we had hoped for, with the sea getting a bit choppy and windy. After a bumpy ride back to Browns Bay (from Mt. Rangitoto), we anchored off and had a couple of beers before I finally managed to bring in a small fish that wasn't worth keeping. We'll just blame the fact that the fish finder was not working. All in all, it was a fun time and we are looking forward to the next one.

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Mount Eden is yet another one of the many volcanoes surrounding Auckland. It is close to the city, providing some amazing views of Auckland city and more. It is close to Eden Park, one of New Zealand's well known rugby stadiums. The weather was not of the nicest, but I thought I would take a few photos to give you the general idea until I get a chance to go and take some more. You can drive to the top and when you get there, you are greeted not only with an awesome view of the city, but also a huge crater which is just breath-taking. It is all covered in grass which makes it very different to what you might expect. There is a beauty about it that is hard to explain...

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We finally got the chance to go to the Auckland Zoo. Its difficult in winter because the weather is so unpredictable and can turn on you in a matter of seconds. Anytime we do something, I get onto the internet and check out the weather sites to get an idea of what we could expect. The Zoo was great, not as big as the Johannesburg zoo, but I would say more scenic and nicely laid out. It was fun and definitely worth the visit. We saw our first Kiwi bird here. Although it was in the dark, we were able to see him quite clearly. They are very shy and like the dark. The zoo recently successfully hatched a new chick. We saw Kangaroos and a Kookaburra and some other animals we have not seen before ...

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