Yes, we're here - and it's already Wednesday evening! The flight was tolerable - and we even got some sleep. Akhil's cousin Yatin picked us up from the Auckland airport to take us to his home northwest of the city in Rodney, where we met his wife Shan, sons Alexander, Kit and Arthur, and many pets including dog Scotty, calf Humprey, pony Moondust, rabbits, sheep, tadpoles and a cat.

The visit with the Youngs was great and they were kind enough to make us an excellent dinner Monday night where we were joined by Shan's brother Alex and his wife Judy, who gave us travel advice for some of the New Zealand highlights we had in mind. Over the last three days (to keep this brief), we visited Murawai beach and the amazing gannett colony there, (see photo!) Waiheke Island in the harbor outside Auckland, the Ponsonby district of the city itself, then today Rotorua, a drive past Lake Taupo, and here we are in Turangi, where we will stay the night before setting off on a 7-hour hike, the Tongariro Crossing. We just consumed two very large parcels of "fush and chups."