The country of "the All Whites"? It's New Zealand.

Hello. Here is Ken.


We came to the country of "the All Whites" New Zealand.


The national rugby union team of New Zealand is known as "the All Blacks" as they wear all black. The national soccer team, on the other hands, wear all white. So they're called "the All Whites".


This is the largest city of New Zealand, Oakland. 

Contrary to rainy Sydney, it's perfect weather!

But it's cold. You need a jacket at night.


Oakland is said to be the largest city in this country. 
But it's with a population of just 430,000.


For reference, the overall population of NZ is 4,320,000.
It's so small, although its land area is nearly as same as that of Japan (75%).


By the way, there are 34,000,000 sheep in this country!
It follows that about 8 sheep are owned by per person.


Actually, this is the 18th stop of our round-the-world journey.
We completed 56.3% of 32 countries participating in 2010 FIFA world Cup!!
What do you say about it? Still half to go? Finally half completed?

The hotel room we stayed last night was so comfy that I woke up at 1:30 pm today. Oh my goodness. I slept for more than 12 hours. 

Then we got out for lunch and found an elegant-looking Japanese restaurant.

We got in there.

The restaurant is run by a Japanese couple.

Then I ordered a Japanese-style curry.

This is festive red rice. 
It's so rare to see it in overseas.

There are many Japanese restaurants in overseas. 
But it's rare to encounter the traditional Japanese curry.
I was really happy about that.


The curry cost NZ＄11.
NZ is more expensive than Australia.

The below is NZ bill. The upper one is AU's.

By the way, they are vinyl-coated paper.
They are water proofed and hard to be ripped by hand.


One of my Aussie friends said to me, "You can jump into the water with this."
I will never do that.


I think the exchange fee for old bills is quite cheap.


Anyway, Oakland is located in the most eastern part of the world.
This indicates that they become the first to see the old year out.


One of our aims is to become one of those and join the countdown event.


But a local person told me, 


"The venue has been under construction throughout this year. So I don't think the countdown is on this year. Also, Christmas is the biggest event in NZ. The New Year is not a big deal."


Oh, my goodness.


But I heard there is a fireworks at a casino, which is close to the hotel.
Then we decided to go for the broke now!!


It's a BETTER OFF DEAD !!


I will bet on black when playing a roulette game, following "the all BLACKs"




The World Cup year is just around the corner!
If I won this gambling, the Japanese national soccer team would win, too!


Happy New Year!!








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