Hi Jo76,

I'll see what I can do to help answer your question.

I'm not sure where the NZ Air Force base is (crickey, I didn't even know we had one!! :icon_wink: ). But if my guess is correct, it's probably on the outskirts. That means there won't be a lot to do in the area.

Drinking - you'll be fine. Kiwis love their beer. There are 3 R's of NZ - Rugby, Racing, and beeR. There are plenty of pubs around (there are more than just in Takapuna on the North Shore).

[img:ac2f7dd794]http://www.movetonz.org/forum/images/smiles/Drunks.gif[/img:ac2f7dd794]

The viaduct area of downtown Auckland have several clubs/pubs, and parking isn't too bad.

I'm not sure where you are from, so can't guage how boring it will be in comparison. If your from a big city (NY City or London), it could be very slow in comparison. If your from a mid sized city (Orlando or Leeds) it will probably be pretty comparable, or better. Orlando has the theme parks, and no city can really compare with that aspect. And Leeds, well, I've heard it's a boring lil place about the same population as Auckland.

There's my unbiased view of Auckland. Now for my honest opinion - move to Wellington. Much more going on, not as big a city......but that's just me, I tend to think that the best parts of New Zealand aren't it's big city. :icon_cool: