Wednesday (I think)

So today Dave is off for some horseback riding with Dan and Victoria (the daughter of someone attending the conference from the US). I (Laurel) am enjoying a sleep-in and planning on some shopping later. So far, Auckland is about as "foreign" as Vancouver, so not at all. Other than people driving on the "wrong" side of the road (and the fact that I haven't spotted a GAP yet) we could be anywhere. There are multiple Starbucks within walking distance of the hotel so no withdrawals here. Dave had something called a Flat White at Starbucks - it seemed to be a latte, which was also on the menu. I didn't try it, but I'm guessing from the name it was either a latte with no foam or with all foam. The city is beautiful. If I weren't from a another port city myself I would probably be even more impressed. As we have been told several times by now 1/3 of the entire population of NZ live in the Auckland area. And 1 in 5 Kiwis have a boat. And they increased the capacity of a bridge connecting Auckland with a suburb with a contraption called the Nippon Clip-on (can we get one of those for 520?). These are facts you pick up when you take not one but two city tours (one by boat) in one day. In honor of our trip abroad we're watching SkyNews instead of CNN.