Who knew there were two very different places with very similar names! I might be totally wrong, and this is not to offend anyone, but I do wonder if the Hawaiian and Maori people are related in some ways. They have very similar traditions in terms of their ancestors. I do however need to do much more research to be able to comment further.

Back to yesterday, I was going to tell you about my casino winnings! I’ve no idea how slot machines actually work, I just push a few buttons and hope for the best. Ijn fact, I got it so wrong yesterday that when trying to change a $100 into $10 bills, I managed to put the $100 on to my membership card (yes, I am not a member of Auchland casino haha) rather than actually changing the money! I was rather annoyed at myself, but then worked out I could probably cash it in. I did indeed managed to cash in my $100 after I’d pushed a few buttons and the balance on my account was $2371! That’s about £1030. I rushed to the cashier before that ticket turned into $23.71!

I tried again this evening but my luck was clearly only for last night – there were no winnings this evening!

Today I took the ferry over to Waiheke. The island is about a 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland and the views are pretty stunning from both Auckland and Waiheke. Well, usually! This morning I couldn’t see much more than fog! It had cleared when the ferry reached the other side though. Waiheke has around 30 wineries and the island is always pretty busy in the summers, but today, a Monday in autumn/winter meant the hop on/off buses were quiet, but a lot of the wineries were either closed on a Monday, or taking a break over winter. It was however still a very lovely day out.

On return from Waiheke, I used my ticket for the Sky Tower. The sunset ronight was pretty difficult to see, however wayching the mist roll in and out was rather impressive. The Harbour Bridge disappeared and reappeared multiple times.

Tomorrow I’m on themove again, to Wellington! I’m looking forward to it!