17/02/09: Quite a long but beautiful drive to Wellington- the roads are nothing like in England- havent seen one traffic jam and mostly we are country roads in the mountains or going through small towns and villages (never seen so many sheep). We've just arrived and it looks more foriegn than Auckland and like a bigger more cultural city! Going up a hill soon to watch the sunset! Oh and we done a music quiz on the bus on the way here- it was 54 tv theme tunes and...

16/02/09:Caught the bus about 9.20am and set off for River Valley. Made several stops for breakfast and supplies and went through the mountains where we done the Tongariro Crossing the other day and stopped there for a look around a visitors centre with info about the mountains and volanoes and kiwis, etc. Then stopped near a waterfall where people could jump in but you'll b pleased to know it was too cold for me, plus i didnt have my towel or swimsuit so i just ...

14/02/09: Happy valentines day everyone!! We had an early start- up at 5 to catch bus at 5.40 to the Tongariro Crossing- it was still dark!! It was an hours drive there with the driver telling us the risks and route, etc, sounded very scary! Plus everyone had hiking boots and walking sticks and there was me in my k-swiss trainers!! HaHa! We arrived at drop-off point and began the hike at 7.30! Its a 19.4km walk up mountains and volcanoes and by crystal clear lake...

12/02/09: Caught bus at 8.30 and got pies for breakfast. Then went to a farm show- it was brilliant! They had 19 different types of sheep on stage- including Suffolk and South Suffolk! Then they sheared one on stage and then milked a cow and then got a few sheep dogs doing all sorts of tricks with them- like running and jumping over the sheeps! It was a lot better than it sounds! Then went to adventure place but not many of us done activities- we had a bbq for lu...

10/2/09: the bus was meant to pick us up at 8.20 and we managed to get to the pick-up point in plenty of time this time!! However, when the bus turned up and we tried to get on the bus driver told us and 3 others we were only on the waiting list and so unless people didnt turn up we couldnt get on!! Everyone else on his list turned up so he told us to get a public bus to the main office over town in Parnell and sort out something!! We was all well cross cos we'd...