When it rains, it pours. More rain today. NZ hasn't had a good rain since early December I'm told, so the constant downpours of the last 5 days are being welcomed by the farmers. It's a warm rain and the humidity level is extremely high. February temperatures average low-twenties and in March cools off even more. That being said, the average annual low in the north island is like 8. The weather is similar to what we Islanders know - when it changes, it changes quick.

Yesterday Pam, Scott & I took a bus out to One Tree Hill. It's all a big farce. There's no friggin tree. False advertising. Actually, it is a huge hill the overlooks the entire city and area where there used to stand one lone tree. I believe the tree was planted by the Europeans but then cut down by the Maori's (NZ aboriginals) during a time of war. A Scottish man who owned the land (Sir Logan Campbell) then erected a large monument in honour of the Maori people's strength and determination. His grave is located beside the monument. Upon his death, Campbell donated all the land to the city for public use. Sheep and cattle roam the grounds and his original house is open to the public.

While we were wandering around there we spotted a cricket game nearby. We watched it but still have no clue what was going on. It's like softball but the pitcher runs as he's winding up and instead of bases there's a straight line with short posts at either end which the batter runs between. The players all wear preppie white pant and shirts. One team was winning 16-0. We tried to cheer for them but couldn't figure out which one they were.

And on to search for work...