Auckland trip

I'm back home now, but here are a few snippets from my trip to see Ben.
Here's the view from Ben's apartment before our night out on Saturday

It's a very cool apartment right next to the Sky Tower with views out to the Harbour Bridge too

Here's a vid I made with the view and a classic Fleetwood Mac song. Ben spent lots of the weekend thinking (and talking about) how the track would make an awesome parade song with performers dressed up as cave men... He's special!

Ben's boyfriend, Mana, sings at Sky City every week, and we went along to watch. He's really good!

Ben and Mana, awww

After Mana finished work we went and had a nosey in the casino. As a casino virgin I was amazed at how big it was, and after seeing it I think Las Vagas would be quite a cool place to visit!

I wanted to have a go, and gave myself $20 to spend. Ben suggested we play a version of roulette, which was faster than the norm as everyone uses touch screens to place their bets and the game is all automated... I was placing $2.50 bets (cause I like to live on the edge!) and wasn't doing very well, hemorrhaging my stash to a measly $2.50. But with only one bet left, I ended up getting a few lucky breaks and ended up with $37.50, WOOT! I'm such a high roller, I know...

Then I took it and ran, I think nearly doubling my money was a good place to end it! I'm glad that Ben and Mana were there though, you can see how addictive it could become - especially if you didn't have friends there to keep an eye on you!

Unfortunately no pics inside the casino or of the chips I earned - no camera's allowed :(

Thank you so much to Ben and Mana, it was a nice wee weekend break :)

On the way home I had a nice chat (on the plane) with an 84 year old called Molly. (The name of my late Nana which was nice!) She was in Auckland for the weekend for her great grandson's birthday which was quite epic at her age I think. As well as the classic old persons tales of how her husband and various other family members had died, she also tried to slip in a bit of Jesus talk, the crafty old minx! I had told her I was doing my MSc, and at one point she said "The sky is so beautiful, scientists couldn't possibly have made it" and then of course made some reference to how God did it with a finger... I did point out that actually scientists don't claim to have made the sky, they just like to study it. I then decided not to push the issue - I did have to sit next to her for another 20 mins after all, and I believe in respecting your elders, not slapping them :P