I suppose that back in the day I was the sort of tourist who made locals nervous if I was on the street with them in the small hours.   

I remember going to a movie one Sunday evening and coming out at 9:30 to find that the busses had stopped running and I had an hour's walk back to the hostel.

And, ah yes, the ice cream! Fig and honey sounds exquisite, but I will never forget my first taste of mango ice cream, at a dairy bar somewhere in Morningside.

Gurney, thanks for the tip about Trademe. I just had a poke around there and, yes, there's plenty of affordable guitars listed. Might very well take you up on the agent thing. We're thinking of going to earth in St Heliers for a couple of weeks upon arrival to let the jet lag dissipate. Looks like will be way down south by the time of the Auckland festival, sadly.