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Every year for the past 21 years my school has organized a trip for the 2nd years to Manly, Australia. However, costs have been pushing up and up and this year I finally pulled the plug, took the bull by the horns and decided to go to the land of the long white cloud instead. Now, in terms of what the kids are going to do, it's all under control. School visits and Maori cultural stuff and similar edumacational shenanigans. I, however, will be at a loose end for a couple of days (and several evenings) in the (hopefully) lovely town of Auckland.

Any of you kiwis have any knowledge of said town (and environs. I'm willing to travel a wee bit for cool stuff) and more specifically, do you know anywhere I can get good ribs? Lamb, pork, beef - I ain't fussy

*edit* This will be in March next year, so there's no great rush

Kia Ora Bro'
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but things are only getting back to normal after a hectic New Year's.
Anyway, I will do my best to answer some of your questions.

Actually, it depends a bit on where in Dorkland you are staying and how much access you have to transport. Jaffaland, like most of Aotearoa is car country. Public transport is OK, but not really geared towards tourists.
It also depends on what your definition of 'cool' is. Getting pissed? gambling? Adrenalin sports? LOTR? Museums? Art? Rugby? You can do a bit of everything in and around Dorkland. There's even two GWs, although with NZ prices and your general disdain for 'em you might wanna give them a miss.

As for ribs, are you ****ing kidding? New Zealand =/= America, ya know? You can probably find 'em but why would you want to? Dorkland is as cosmopolitan as Sydney, you can get pretty much anything from anywhere on the eating front. If you are looking for some kiwi 'soul food' you can't go past a good meat pie. Much better than the shit Aussie ones you can get here. Start with mince and then explore from there.

Anyways, Kojibear can probably be of more help as he is an actual 'Jaffa' while I am a 'Mooloo' man.

As for the things you mentioned in you PM, I've been thinking long and hard about it
The thing with NZ's most iconic songs is that they are often partly or totally in Maori, for example....

Pokarekare Ana. http://youtu.be/9GXua6gD4Hc

Or

Now is the hour. http://youtu.be/8Su-O-mfNVI

Actually, the latter would be particularly appropriate if you were doing it at a farewell shindig. The Maori part wouldn't be that hard either, as the language is similar to Japanese, pronunciation-wise and would be easy to write in katakana.

If you didn't want to try some Maori you could try, "How great thou art" which is a popular hymn/standard in NZ or perhaps "the world in union" http://youtu.be/BGBYpzwlAo4 the theme to the Rugby World cup which is pretty popular.

Well, that's about all I can be arsed writing for now. Give us some specifics about what 'cool' things you and I'll give you a few more ideas.

Middle earth field report please. I hear Hobbiton is nice that time of year.

Many thanks, Pikey. A very thorough reply. I'll confer with the other teachers and see which song they fancy. I am, as ever, indebted to you.

Btw, the ribs question wasn't really related to New Zealand so much as the fact that I happen to like ribs, and you can't get decent ones here. I figured NZ is a fairly meat-eating country, so it was worth a shotty. Regardless, I'll check out the pies, too. As a Scot, pies are something I appreciate

Ps - "cool things" = unique or unusual places of scenic beauty or wierdness. Ditto animals. A place I was kinda considering was Waitomo caves, but at 240dollars a pop it had better be frickin jaw dropping.

If you miss good ribs so much, cook 'em yourself ya lazy git
Lotsa supermarkets carry american ribs. From what you've posted before you are no slouch in the kitchen, you can probably whip up a half decent sauce no worries.

As for Waitomo, where d'ya get $240 from? A tour of the main cave goes for $48. If you add in the other caves (there are 3) and blackwater rafting it starts to get pricey but IMHO, unless you are a spelunker there's no real need. Lotsa folks, visit the Kiwi house in Otorohonga on the way down too. This is what I did with the wifey and kids this last winter holiday. Either way, you have to pass through Hamilton, my hometown, on the way south. Don't stop whatever you do.

You might also wanna check out Rotorua. It's pretty touristy but there are hot springs, thermal areas, Maori culture and Zorbing all in one small town.

@Ash: When i get round to downloading the picx from my camera I'll post a few here. In short though, it was pretty damn good.

Hey MiJ,

As Pikey mentioned I am indeed from the very metropolitan, scenic and dare I say it, cultured part of NZ - Auckland . The only trouble is that I haven't been back in ages.

Pikey already mentiined various places of interest, such a Rotorua. Rotorua is a tourist hive, buzzing with activity, maori culture, farm culture, wildlife parks where you can hold a baby lion, and hot springs - thus smelling like eggs left out in the sun too long. But you get used to that after a few days...well you'll get used to it. If I had only a day or two, that is where I would recommend. Then again, the hobbit village sounds pretty cool.

As for Auckland itself, I'm not sure how it has changed. There are some nice nature walks in the waitakare ranges - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitakere_Ranges

I'll try to think of more...

Edit - Auckland zoo is a very green and relaxing place with a nice park area nearby. I think they have a kiwi bird and cheetah experience. http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/experience ... ience.aspx

kojibear wrote:I think they have a kiwi bird and cheetah experience.

So the cheetahs chase the kiwi birds? Doesn't seem sporting, somehow.

The Other Dave wrote:

kojibear wrote:I think they have a kiwi bird and cheetah experience.

So the cheetahs chase the kiwi birds? Doesn't seem sporting, somehow.

Maybe the Kiwis ride the Cheetahs and race them around the park? That would be worth a visit.

Primarch wrote:

The Other Dave wrote:

kojibear wrote:I think they have a kiwi bird and cheetah experience.

So the cheetahs chase the kiwi birds? Doesn't seem sporting, somehow.

Maybe the Kiwis ride the Cheetahs and race them around the park? That would be worth a visit.

That would certainly be an experience!

What's a kiwi?....