Auckland — 24 February 2001

We couldn't get to sleep on the train, a problem exacerbated by our having to evacuate the train at Palmerston at 4:30 am due to a derailment up ahead. Eventually TranzRail stuffed us all onto buses and shuttled us up the motorway to Auckland. Buying a car doesn't sound like a bad idea the next time we're in the country. Sleepily we checked our bags into the hotel on Queen Street (just down the road from the Kiwi International) where we would spend our final night in the country. After a heavy English breakfast, we waited for our room to be ready and then passed out for a few hours. In the afternoon, we went back to Myers Park and then back up to K-Road for some last minute tropical shirt, CD and book shopping. Jen took some final pictures of the city and we ate another delicious meal, this time at a cafe called Lush. Satiated, we returned to the hotel for a night's sleep before our very long journey.