Hi, we were in Auckland last weekend so no new post.

I had to go up for a seminar with my fellow SLAs throughout NZ. Celeste came up for a bit of a vacation and we spent the weekend checking out a bit of the Big City. After having heard that Auckland was the NZ equiv of Los Angeles I was ready to not like it at all before I even moved to NZ. Then the people I've met in Wellington were pretty negative about it as well. After visiting, I must say, I am not certain I would want to move there, I certainly have better feelings about the city than I did before. Yes, it is a sprawling city and I don't enjoy that, but the CBD does not seem as bad as was implied and seems to have some really nice neigbourhoods close by. Central city public transport appears to be pretty good with bus stops that tell you precisely when the next bus will arrive (Portlanders already have that).

We ate some good food, walked around quite a bit, hung out with friends of Celeste's, saw a lot of parks and slept in a very comfortable bed for the weekend. It was quite nice.

Samson was in a kennel for the period. He seemed no worse for wear when we returned.

Next trip is to Sydney Australia. Quite excited for that one. 8 days of fun in the sun? I'm not a sun worshiper but should be nice none-the-less. We will be staying with Ange and Daniel friends from work here that have moved back home to Sydney. That trip is at the end of this month.

The downstairs neighbour is now moved out, that is a relief. Now hoping that the next tenant is a little more accepting of living below a dog and two humans.

Happy Birthday to Ash, Cait, Misha, Saul, Vanessa and Marti. Anyone else I'm forgetting? Sorry!

Life is quite nice, no?