Quick trip to Auckland

Naomi and I drove up to Auckland on Monday to apply for her passport so she can fly back to Brisbane in September. Because it is her first passport, we had to apply in person at the Australian Consulate. All went well and we should receive her passport before we are due to leave. Here are a few comments about the trip:

• We spent twice as long travelling, as we did actually in Auckland. (90min travelling there, 90 min in Auckland, 90 min travelling home again)

• They have funky lifts in the Price Waterhouse Coopers building - they are just labelled A-G and you go to and information board, press the number button for which floor you want to go to and it tells you which letter elevator will open and take you there (now I don't know if this makes me look like a country bumpkin, but I'd never been in a building with lifts like this before).

• I felt like I was going to the 'Big Smoke' - even though the population size of Auckland is less than Brisbane (1.4 million vs 2 million approx.).

• Naomi travelled very well - slept 1hr on the way up and the whole time on the way home.

• I really like the NZ countryside - nice and green, lush, rolling hills.