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Auckland, New Zealand
Dec. 7th - Christmas shopping in Manukau
Waihi Beach has a small Catholic church
with an 8 AM Mass. The priest has three churches to serve. We
were lucky to have his first Mass. The congregation was very
gray but had powerful voices singing. At communion we counted
only 5 kids. There were no teens, or 20 year olds present. It
was not a good sign for the survival of the Catholic church.
The service was nice and people very friendly.
 The
sky was very cloudy and it rained on our drive back to
Auckland. We decided the profession for a student to pursue is
large animal husbandry. The trip back was highlighted by cows,
cows, and more cows. Since our flight on Tuesday is early we
settled into a motel in Manukau which is near the airport.
It's more money than our budget but location has a price.
There's lots of shopping and entertainment nearby.
 Auckland
city center is about 30 minutes north. Route 1 takes you right
there. We drove around looking at all the Christmas shoppers
and trying to find cheap parking. The city center is right on
the harbor. There is a wharf entertainment area with an
America's cup sailboat and store. The area was busy on a
Sunday afternoon. We walked Queen St. the main shopping street
and then went to Victoria Park Market. It was a very difficult
day with AD. He spent the entire day being contrary. We were
ready to leave him in NZ.
 Phone
cards were giving us trouble today. We have been easily using
a brand called ecards and bought another type sold. The access
phone numbers had a surcharge which made the calls very
expensive. We wondered if it was a malfunctioning pay phone
and searched for others near the motel. It seemed to take most
of the afternoon. Our frustration with the day had worn us
out. We went to a Chinese restaurant rather than cook in the
room.
Drive around Auckland...»
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