Oh dear, been a while since had a chance to update you all on the adventure! so a quick recap on local events so far. Last time we were just about to climb Mt Doom, otherwise known as the Tongatero crossing. a 18km walk/treck/hobble up and over a volcanoe. Well, our merry band of hobbits hobbled up 'the devils staircase' (a mountain of steps all by itself), through freezing cold, climbed sheer and slippery rock faces, slid down the shingle of dust and volcanoe ...

So where have we been? We went to the lovely sulphur smelling geysers of Rotorua, very impressive if a little whiffy! The hostel was lovely and had a naturally heated pool. OMG it was lovely, you wouldn't believe how hot it got though! Me and Aine skipped the high energy chaos adventure nit in favour of a free walk around the thermal park. We ended up having our own bit of culture and had a lovely chat with a nice Maouri man in the park playing the flute. Eve...

well it's 7.30 am and we've been awake for hours! Just a quick update to say we've booked on a kiwi bus tour that will take us through a whistle stop mission all the way to christchurch in 16 days! after much confusion and a slight issue with converting dollars to pounds we finally decided this was the best way for us to make the most of our short stay in New Zealand! Just enough time to grab a coffee and then off to lug these giant rucksacks down to the buss sto...

Hello! We've made it at last! only 30 odd hours travelling and getting bored on a plane! 11hrs london to LA, 13hrs LA to Auckland. OMG was that hard work! We've found a hostel, had a lovely shower and feel half human now, if a little tired! Going to go explore the local habitat for a few hours and get to grips with this travel thing for a day! Talk to you all soon Aine and Philippa xxx