Well we are now into our final week in Auckland - we've given notice on the house & job, and this week will be a mad rush of sorting out all the little things like getting rid of all the crap that we've acumilated in the 9 months we've lived here, sorting out travel insurance, doing a tax return, getting the car serviced, etc. etc. etc. The plan is to spend around 6 weeks travelling round New Zealand, catching all the bits that we haven't seen yet in the south of the North Island and the South Island. Then back to Auckland on 11 August for a flight to Lima via Santiago. Should be in South America for 2 1/2 months before we fly back the the UK. Roll on Friday! :-)

I got my IPod at a very reasonable price in Singapore on the way down here, and it's been interesting to see the explosion in demand these things have generated. Everyone knows what they are, and most people seem to want one. I've got to say, although I know there are MP3 players out with more bang for the buck, the IPod has got the usability thing just right. I can hand the thing to someone who's never used one before and they are able to get music out of it within seconds. The battery life is just right (around 6 hours) for use during a daily commute and at work. Not much good for long flights or travelling through South America, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

One of the first things I bought was an in-car kit from Belkin. It works great, and gives us a huge amount of choice of music on the road. Interesting to read about the new BMW/Ipod link-up but I think this is still a few steps away from something where I'd throw cash at it. The thing has just 5 "BMW" playlists - why can't I use my own playlists? Why can't I plug the Pod into the stereo rather than having to hide it in the glove compartment? (BTW, does anyone actually keep gloves in their glove compartment? ours is full of the pages which have falled out of the street maps, and cans of V) Why doesn't the stereo actually display the song that is currently playing? In fact, why can't I choose any song I like from controls on the stereo? Not that I have a BMW, anyways.... :-)