We traipsed off to see the Waterfront in Auckland to see how it compared to Cape Town - I have to say that Cape Town has the edge (even though it is not surrounded by volcanoes) but I may be biased....

A windy and wet night sees us take leave of Clint & Heike who have as usual been brilian travelling companions. We wish them many happy hours of travelling! Ironically the owners of the Motor Home site in Takapuna are from Port Elizabeth. Often as we drive along through some of the little towns we see the odd SA flag and tomorrow we will go into Levin to look at a store that we noticed that is called Swazi!

A long day driving from Auckland to Levin (about 570km and 6.5 hours) to get near to the Wellington Ferry for the start of our tour around South Island as from tomorrow. The roads are good and the drivers quite polite and seeings as the weather wasn't too good, it was not a bad day for driving. Lyn and I have now heard quite a lot about the history of New Zealand and particularly Maori culture and legend due to the 'cruise' system fitted to our campervan which recognizes where you are and gives local history and culture of the area or town you are in - its fantastic as one would normally have to read that sort of thing. The volcano history is particularly interesting and the Maori legend and history around them likewise.

We have noticed that many Kiwi's say "Sweet!" - especially the men. We filled the campervan with diesel on our travels today - 193NZD OUCH!! Asked for a recommended restaurant for dinner tonight in Levin and were delighted with a stunning lamb and fish meal! All is good.....