We are DEFINITELY going!

As Peter mentioned the other day, he is intending on running the Auckland marathon at the end of October. And he wasn't going to waste his entry fee and not end up running...Well there is even more monetary reasons for him to have to run now - I've just booked and paid for two nights accommodation in Auckland for the whole family.

We are going to stay in an apartment in the CBD (and it happens to be in the perfect location - halfway between where Peter needs to go for the race start and where I will need to take the kids to see him finish). For a family of five, it is the cheapest way of staying in the CBD, because... most hotels (well we actually couldn't find a single one that didn't) only allow a maximum of 4 guests per room (or less), so we would have to pay for 2 hotel rooms to fit us all. So we have found this site, which manages privately owned apartments which makes it significantly cheaper that the hotel option. Some of the apartments are part of the same building as some of the commercial hotel-apartment companies, but their rates are a lot cheaper than if you went through the commercial company (such as Quay West). We also found this site, which lists a whole array of different privately owned apartment options.