The Kiwi Has Landed!

Heeeeeey!
Just a quick post to let y'all know that i have arrived safely and am enjoying Auckland thus far. It's just another city, but it's clean, friendly and is beautifully flanked by the Tasman Sea on the west and the South Pacific Ocean on the east. Auckland is dubbed "The city of Sails" due to the many marinas. Weather has been pleasant; in the 60's and mild at night (and spring is well on it's way!) It is a very international city with a high Asian population, possibly due to the University of Auckland? With it comes a plethora of food options...and the competition is fierce (a huge plate of noodles or rice dishes cost about $4-5).
Tomorrow, I hope to head North to the "Bay of Islands" (how bad can that be?), then to the very tip-top of the North Island to an rugged, gnarled desolate tendril of earth called the Aupouri Peninsula. The west coast of this point is dominated and flanked by 90 mile beach (although it's only 64 miles long) which boasts huge sand dunes that you can slid down.
Will keep ya posted...