Greetings from New Zealand!

Greetings from Auckland where I've started my 3 month trip in the South Pacific. It isn't as warm here as we'd thought, and it's quite rainy, but the sun shows up everyday. Thank God for fleece and the goretex jacket!

We went to the Bay of Islands in the last two days, and although the little dip in the South Pacific was slightly frigid (18 C) , it was pleasant. More amusing (and amazingly close) were the pods of dolphins playing with the catamaran as we sailed through the bay. There was even a mommy and a baby dolphin, soooo cuuuute! You know, me and dolphins... My travel buddy is also a fellow diver, and unlike me, cold water didn't stop her from diving a wreck off the Bay of Islands called the Rainbow Swimmer; it was a boat intended for Greenpeace in the time of the nuclear experiments by France in Polynesia; however, the day of its launch 14 years ago in the Auckland Harbour, it got sabotaged and actually, 1 Greenpeace activist got killed. So as a symbol, the kiwis dunked it in the Bay of Islands and it's a diving destination. I decided to stay on a sailboat throughout the bay and watch the dolphins; she was more courageous and went for the dive, which apparently was worth it, although the 5 mm suit was not enough.

Today we went sea-kayaking, which was awesome too. NZ landscapes are up to the reputation so far, and I can't wait to see the South Island. Unfortunately the 4 hours of kayaking killed the (little I have of) muscles in my arms. Can't move my shoulders anymore, ouch ouch ouch!

After tomorrow we are heading more South, which means colder weather. I intend to try some hang-gliding in Queenstown, city of extreme sports and bungee jumping. We don't know yet if the ski season has started, but if it has, you'll see me on the slopes (with 100% hired equipment as I couldn bring both ski and diving gear on this trip!!!). And of course I hope to see some of the places where the Lord of the Rings was filmed; hopefully there will be some time on the tour for that.

Hope all is well with you, and you should get a postcard from me from Kiwi Country at some point. We're here for 2 weeks and then we hit Oz for 5 weeks, then Fiji for 2 weeks.