Hello all,

We're sorry for the long delay in updating our blog. We did say it would be a few weeks but it's been much longer than that. I blame Jules!

There's a fair chance this update is going to be pretty long so if you're peeking at this at work I hope it's on a break as the boss won't be too impressed....

We had been waiting for our good friend Ben, or as most know him, Bonehead (look at the pictures to see why!!!!), to turn up so we had more to report back with.

Since we last left you lots has changed. Most importantly I got a job!!!! I'm working at a hotel called Rydges as a porter. It's literally a stone's throw from our hotel. Those that know me know I throw like a girl too so it really is that close! It has been going great and I'm really enjoying it. I work with lots of people from different nationalities and backgrounds and also get to meet many other people travelling around the NZ.

Working at the hotel has it perks too. When Ben came over I was able to get plenty of discounts at some of the things we did...including our skydive - more on that later!!!!

I'll fill you in on the bits and bobs we got up to before Ben arrived.

We took a trip out to place called Whakatane, about an hour's drive. They actually pronounce it f***er-tarny which is confusing and makes me sound like even more of a plonker!

Anyways, it was a really nice place with Whale watching off the coast and good views. We went further down the coast to a beach town called Ohope. This was nice as it wasn't not commercial in anyway and we were the only people on the beach. Well Jules was as I was sulking that I didn't want to get sand in my shoes!!!! You could see along the coast for miles, it was great.

Also that week, Denis, who owns the place where we are staying invited me to a round of golf with him and his mates. All English people as it happens. I didn't win. Knowing that I will get plenty of stick from my brothers about being short and suiting them - I had to borrow a set of ladies clubs to play so it wasn't a fair fight!!!!!

Julie celebrated her 24th birthday recently (well, nearly two months ago now!!! Sorry again for the delay!!!) and we had a good time. She says a big thank you to all the cards and messages she got. They are all still on top of the TV to this day. In the evening we hit Rotorua and painted the town red, very red! Jules wasn't at her best the next morning at work, put it that way! She enjoyed the company she was with that night, especially me, but did say she wished her mates from home were around her. All in all it was a great day.

I think Jules was more excited about the Sex And The City film coming out than her birthday. She went to town and bought herself a new dress for it especially. She tells me she just liked the dress but I don't buy it....

We were the first people there on the opening showing. There was no way on earth we were going to miss it. The cinema was packed and I counted 6 blokes, including me. I sat next to another one, an air hostess called Simon!!!!!!

Jules really liked the film, especially the bits we saw in NYC on the tour.

We were in Auckland for the first rugby test between NZ and England where England came second!

It was nice go up to Auckland again and was weird going back to a place we already knew a bit about. In the build up to the game England were getting slated on the TV here as you'd expect and I was hoping we'd turn them over but it wasn't be.

We met quite a few nice people outside before the game but unfortunately the people sat behind us were something else. I don't want to dwell on this bit too much as it would create a bad picture but we took some serious abuse that was bad enough to warrant a strongly worded email to the NZ RFU. Their response was to give us complimentary tickets to the Bledisloe cup match between NZ and Australia on the 2nd of August. (works for me!!!)

Despite the bad points it was a great night and were are lucky people to have seen the haka in NZ. It was just a shame we didn't win.

In the evening we went out in the city and had a bit of fun in the Casino.

Because we've sort of settled here if you like, we've been able to get a good feel for what it would be like living here. Jules says those in the UK should never moan about the NHS again. She had to get some more inhalers recently and she had to pay an arm and a leg just to see the doctor to get a prescription and even more to get the inhalers. She wasn't happy!

It's interesting to see how different places have different procedures regarding healthcare.

The Kiwi's have just had a protest similar to the ones in the UK with petrol prices. They were protesting about the road user charges. I'm all for people protesting and fighting for what they feel is right but their road user charges have only gone up twice in 14 years!!!!! That's a little different from England....

The protests were country wide and they had trucks blocking the major cities. Rotorua was affected too. They blocked the road we stay on which was a pain in the arse as they did it about 7am. Right outside our hotel I was trying to sleep and the trucks were honking away. I got out to have a look at the 100's of trucks blocking the roads. Not something you see every day here.

It was then time for the arrival of Ben/Bonehead....(or Mr Ben as a select few know him (private joke!)).

Despite something like a 25 hour flight he was on good form his first full day here. The first thing was to take him around the town and the geysers around the lake so he could get his first whiff of what Rotorua has to offer!!!! Most of them are fenced off because of the instability of the rocks but to Ben, a roped off area means, I need to get a closer look!!!

The next day we went up the skyride which is a gondola that takes you high up a mountain to get some good views of the lakes and Rotorua itself. It wasn't the warmest up there that was for sure. They also have street luge there so Ben and I had 3 runs each on it. The first time you have to go down the slow track. They have slow, medium and advanced. The last two we were straight on the advanced track and it was time for war. I think I nearly died twice and Ben nearly died himself through laughing at me. All this time Jules was freezingup the top. She did have the pleasure though of seeing Ben and I come back up the skylift with our helmets on looking like we missed the special bus to school! She has photographic proof of this. Not our best moment!

That night we cleaned the local supermarket out of beer and wine and had a bit of a cards night. Good fun was had and poor Julie was at work at 7.30am for what was probably the longest working day of her life!

After that shift finished we all went to the Polynesian Spa on the shores of Lake Rototua. It is in the top 10 spa's in the world. It was easy to see why. It was massive and really relaxing. You saw spectacular views out across the lakes but Ben's spectacular views were all the ladies he kept spying on!

The next day we drove down to Taupo for the afternoon. It was about an hour away so not far at all. Just on the outskirts there is a place called Huka Falls. It's a massive waterfall with river rapids where lots of jet boats and rafts go down. We saw some picture perfect views from an observatory deck off the side of the road.

When we got down to the shore of Lake Taupo we were hit with the best sight I've seen since we got here. We could see out over Lake Taupo to a mountain range which was beautiful. I'd never seen anything like it before and the pictures we have of it are amazing. Take a look, I'm sure you'll agree.

Ben and I took a drive out to Tauranga the following day whilst Jules was at work. I showed him the town centre and we had a good look around and then decided to drive a bit further on to the coast and to see mount monganui. It is right on the cost and we decided we would get to the summit. The whole trek up and down took us a good two hours but it was well worth it. Check out the pics for view from the top. They're great! (I sound a bit like tony the tiger there, hey!)

On the way back down Ben decided we were going to go the steep, jungle type route and we nearly didn't make it. It was getting dark any way and we were under the trees so couldn't hardly see. All good fun though. By the time we made it out and back around to the car it was pitch black.

At the weekend we watched South Africa beat NZ at rugby and then shot over to the hotel where I work for some beers. We were in there for some time and racked up a juicy bar bill but we were pleased when we saw a hefty 50% staff discount!!!! A nice touch, and it meant our night could continue into town. We ended up in Lava Bar which is the main place for backpackers etc. We were in there for a good hour or two but only Jules and I left and we didn't see Ben until the following day....wink wink, nudge nudge!!!

The next thing of note for us was a trip to Wia-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It was about 20 minutes outside of Rotorua and is a big valley of geothermal activity with things such as caves, mud pools and geysers. The first thing we saw that day was the lady knox geyser which erupts at 10.15 precisely every day. What really happens is a bloke puts some soap flakes down the opening to soften the water tension so it erupts (I was paying attention that day) within 5 minutes. The process would happen naturally but it would take about 2 days. They just put the flakes down so they can show the crowds every day. I was quite impressive to be fair. When it erupted it reached about 20ft and did so for about an hour after. We then walked around the rest of the valley which took about an hour so we saw plenty of stuff. Lots of wonderful colours to look at on both the rock formations, the rivers and lakes. It was really quite cool. It was very foggy that day too so it kind of added to the mysteriousness of everything we were looking at.

During a walk from one point in the park to another we walked through a forest and I realised how hard it must have been for Ben's mum to bring him up!!! Every tree he saw he wanted to climb up. He kept pointing saying 'that one...I could do that one. What about that one!' We banned him from any fizzy drink after that. He's the human version of the Duracell bunny, he never slows down!!!

The main attraction of Wai-O-Tapu is the champagne pool which is on most guide books for NZ. It is a pool that has a kind of ledge which is bright orange because of the chemicals in the water and the rocks. It was quite a sight to see and more special as it on the front of the guide book we use so it was nice to actually see it for real. We have some great pictures of that too.

15th July is a day none of us will forget in a hurry. It was the day we all jumped out of a plane at 15,000ft. Nearly 3 miles up!!!

On the drive down to Taupo there wasn't a great deal of talking going on as we were getting closer and closer to the moment of truth by the minute! It was a glorious day too. Hardly a cloud in the sky which was a blessing considering it is the middle of winter here.

The people at the sky dive company were fantastic and really helpful. One of the ladies actually lived in St. Neots. Small world hey!

We thought it would take a bit of time being briefed on safety stuff but before we knew it we were in the jump suits and sat in the plane ready to go.

The instructors we were all attached to were great people and really have the best job in the world. On the way up they pointed out different mountains that were used in Lord of the Rings. They were also throwing plenty of banter about as were got higher and higher. The guys I was jumping with asked me if I was nervous to which I replied 'not really' and he started rubbing my leg saying 'what about now?!!!'

It was like that all the way up to 12,000ft were two other people in the plane with us were jumping out first. The door went up and out they both went. There's something quite strange about being in the plane when the doors open and people jump out. We all looked at each other and smiled as we went up to 15,000ft as we knew we were next and Jules was down to go first (the whole thing was her idea in the first place!!!).

Before we knew Jules was sat on the edge of the plane, looked back for her exit photo and then jumped out!!! Next it was my turn. Feet dangling out of the plane and boom, out you go, closely followed behind by Ben. We all agree that the free fall feeling is like no other. It's amazing and as soon as the Shute is pulled it goes so quite as you float down to earth. The views we had from 15,000ft were great too as you could imagine. You could see lake all of Lake Taupo which Jules found out is the size of Tunisia and could actually see both sides of the North Island!!!!

As soon as we landed we wanted to do it again. We all loved it and it was good to all share the experience together.

We were still buzzing from the sky dive when we decided to head to the mountains you could see from Taupo. It was about a 90 minute drive but worth every minute of it. Again, we've got some breathtaking photos so check them out if you haven't already.

For Ben's last night in Rotorua we painted the town red once again and showed the kiwis how to drink.

Before we knew it we were heading back to Auckland. Ben was flying out the next day but wanted to see the city before he did. On the way in we hit the first traffic jam Jules and I have seen since we've been away but it would only be what you lot battle with day in day out!

We were out on the town in no time. Jules was excited about being in Auckland as she was meeting up with her friend Emma from Uni who is also doing a bit of travelling at the moment.

We hit the casino next and won a fair bit of money. The majority going to Ben which boosted the beer fund somewhat. That was spent in the bar, globe, the main backpackers bar in Auckland, where Jules met up with Emma and relived the crazy dancing times of Gobble (A night at University)!!!!

Sadly it all ended too quickly and we were soon saying good bye to Ben, all feeling a little tender, and thanking him for coming half way across the world to spend time with us. It was a quiet journey home L.

After a few days of being back to what we call normality we had a lovely surprise as we received a voicemail from my cousin Kevin letting us know he was in Rotorua. We went straight to me meet him and had a couple of beers and had a good catch up on both our travels.

On his last night in town he came to ours and we drank too much beer and got pizza's in as Kev hadn't had one for a good 5 months....nutter! I think it hit the spot for him. He was soon on his way to continue his travels but it was great to see him, all be it briefly. It seems people from home are coming to us thick and fast. Who's next?

See, I told you this was going to be long!!!!! This is longer than anything I did at University and Jules nearly killed me whilst writing this!

Now it is time for us to work hard, knuckle down and save some money so we can hit the South Island around November time.

We hope everyone back home is well. Please keep us updated with what is happening.

Ben is a regular viewer of this page and wants to add a paragraph or two on his time with us. We think coming half way round the world to see us buys him this at least. Ben's bits will appear below as soon as he's got it to me. If it's not here when you look check back shortly;

Ben's mini blog;

Yo Yo, I am sorry about the delay in getting my part of the blog to you but here it is my friend...................... Firstly, I am honoured to be allowed to write on the hallowed blog page. (Jules- has the nasty man let you have a go yet?) So thanks loads! I remember back a few months ago, just before Alan and Jules left for their amazing trip round the world, speaking to Al and talking about maybe coming to see him somewhere round the world. We said that wherever they will be in July I'll come and visit you there! After that conversation It literally felt like I had closed my eyes, opened them and I was on a plane on my way to New Zealand!!!! I have never been so excited for 2 reasons, firstly I was going to see one of the most spectacular places in the world, but also I was off to see 2 of my very best friends after a long time! The flight over was around 25 hours, so I thought I was going to be in a dribbling mess when I arrived, but I guess unsurprisingly I felt really good when I went through arrivals to see Big Al waiting for me, however I was hoping for him to hold up a sign with an obsene name on it but it never happened. :( Now I was told that Rotorua smelt a little bit before I left, but I wasn't prepared for the pungant rotten eggs smell that greeted me on our arrival. I was told that it was sulphar, but I still believe its what Alan tells Jules to diguise his digestive problems. You do get used to the smell though after a while. I really liked Rotorua, all of the thermal geyzers everywhere, huge cracks in the earth, bubbling mud and water. It was a very stange and intreguing place, and I was really fond of it. I really enjoyed the day when we went up the Skyride Gondola, the views were awesome from the top of the mountain, but the best bit was the concrete luge (yes thats right a CONCRETE luge) it really didn't seem the safest thing in the world, but my word it was a load of fun! Alan and I had a little competition and Alan almost died (twice) winning. It was worth losing to see Alan risking life and limb going round those corners. :) The day after that we went to a Thermal Polynesian spa, it was a very relaxing day. The views were beautiful in and around the pools, the landscape scenery was pretty impressive aswell ;) We all took a trip down to Taupo the following day and saw the kind of views that you relate NZ with, it was incredible! The view of Lake Taupo in the foreground with a beautiful mountain range in the background was pretty breathtaking. With Mountains on the mind Alan and I went to find a mountain to climb, so we took a trip to Tauranga and started the assent up Mount Monganui. I loved it, it was fairly steep on the way up and the feeling at the top was sensational, the pictures we took are well worth a look. On the way down I decided to show Alan my Mogli impression taking him down the extra steep route down, had a great time swinging in the trees. Not sure Al was as enthusiastic (or stupid) as I was. On the Saturday night we decided to head out into town for a few drinks at the local backpackers bar in Rotorua, it reminded me a little of a student bar/club back in our uni days. We had some fun that night, a few drinks, then I met a lovely Kiwi girl who was very kind to let me stay with her. We went to see the most punctual Thermal Geyzer in the world! It erupts at 10.15 every morning, quite amazing reallly apart from the fact that it is a little white lie. They chuck a bit of soap down a hole and it goes nuts! They just do it at 10.15 every day. Then was the day that I did the best thing I have ever done.....a skydive! The drive to Taupo was a particularly quiet one. Quiet in contemplation of the fact we were about to jump out of an airoplane at 15,000 ft! The nervous excitement soon built up while we were getting suited up, the whole process was so much quicker than I thought it would be. They were showing a safety video and the pro's were saying dont worry about that we'll tell you in the plane!! It was the stangest feeling going up in the plane, knowing that I was going to be falling out of it. We were made to feel a little more settled by some blue jokes from the pro'sthe stangest thing was watching your freinds jump out of a perfectly good plane 3 miles up while your still in it! Free falling is the most incredible sensation I have ever felt, sooooooooooooooo much fun. As soon as we hit the ground, we all said in sync that we want to do that again straight away! That is a memory I will never forget. My last night in Rotorua, was a very fun night there is very little I can remember from all the alcohol we drank, however I have a vague memory of all three of us walking home singing Craig David's '7 days'. Ah good times! I now knew my time in NZ with Al and Jules was coming to an end, I really didn't want it to be I was having a whale of a time. For my very last day we went to Aukland, stayed in a nice hotel, ate well and then went to a casino. We won about 160 bucks between us, so that paid for a great night of drinking in the main backpackers bar called globes. It was a prety good place, I did feel as though we were the oldest people in there though. That concluded my NZ trip, as the next morning Alan and Jules took me to the airport for my flight home. It was the best holiday I have ever had, and I would go back tommorrow if I could. It was amazing to see both Alan and Jules, and I am both happy they are having an amzing time, and also looking forward for them to come home. Thank you so much to Alan and Jules for making it the a holiday I will never forget! Hope you all enjoyed my take on it. Take care bye bye now :)

..

Hugs and Manly Handshakes,

Alan & Jules

xXx

PS > Dad, I don't know whether you know but you're famous over here. The Dairy Milk advert with you on the drums has just come out and everyone is talking about it!!!!