Overland to Auckland

This afternoon I depart Tongariro for Auckland, taking the Overlander the rest of the way through to the top of the North Island (jokingly called "Sydney for beginners", a Kiwi friend told me).  I have the weekend here before flying back home early on Monday.  (Most perversely, my holiday involves very many early mornings!)

Hopefully I will catch up with an old friend, just recently ordained a deacon and, Deo volente, to be priested later this year.  I'm glad of an excuse to come back to Aotearoa later on in 2011: this holiday now draws rapidly to its end; amusingly, looking back to late May and early June 2009, I found that my first trip here was also for eleven nights.  That said, I wouldn't mind staying longer sometime in the future: God defend New Zealand.