Auckland Once in Auckland we met up with Paul at the B&B. Kitty was fighting the good fight against the terrible twosome of customs and FedEx to get a care package from her mother. It's morning in a new country. What could be better than tasting the local culture by finding the nearest Starbucks? Once we'd fueled up and made a stop at the post office we met up with Katherine who was immensely restrained in her welcome. (She had threatened to meet us at the airport and jump all over us as though she were an ill-mannered Golden Retriever.) We headed downtown to check out the Louis Vitton Cup boats. I know what you're thinking. "Louis Vitton makes boats? There I was thinking they made overpriced handbags and those 'stylish' clothes that neither you nor I could ever actually wear." Turns out Louis Vitton sponsors the competition that selects the boat that will challenge Team New Zealand for the Americas Cup. Confused? So were we as we wandered among bundles of really big and expensive boats in Auckland's harbor. We were able to get into it a little bit since one of the boats still in the running was One World which is based in Seattle and one of Katherine's college sailing buddies was on the team. In fact, after getting our hair cut (well, me and Paul anyway), finding another Starbucks (there are 19 in Auckland), and a spot of shopping we were due to have dinner with Mark, his wife, and his parents. As we wound down we enjoyed a genuine Irish dinner about as far from Ireland as you can get. It was a good day for One World as they won two races and eventually beat the other team. Unfortunately, they were knocked out by Oracle's boat (read: Larry Ellison's ego) in the next test. What do you do after being Irish? Yep, you go sailing in the Bay of Islands.