Well here we are, we made it to the South of the North island in one piece and are all still getting along fine! Tommy and Greame are getting the ferry tonight at three am and we shoot over at six pm tmoz. Since the last update we have dropped off dad and sent him back to the minus four degree temperatures, of back home, and started off on our little tour of the west coast. After having lots of hassle trying to pick up the van we eventually got picked up by two swiss travellers who took us to the depot which was an hour out of Auckland! it's safe to say we were not pleased and that we'll be getting as much out of teh company as possible! They were very apologetic and we are going to see them in Nelson for a glass of wine. anyway enough whinging and on to the fun stuff. We left the depot and and headed down a back road to Raglan on the west coast, its a lovely little surf town with the biggest left hand break in the world. Tom and i went for a paddle on the first day in Embarressingly pathetic waves, whilst El and Grey sat on the beach drinking beer...scum. That night we tried to cook a rissoto which failed because i didn't look hard enough to find a big enough pan...Whoops! it was pretty good though. Next day we went to the pub and got in some good lunch time drinking and then all decided to go for a surf. The surf was pretty big, and we all suited up and ran to the water in a baywatch styley...real class. I got out and got up on my first wave and then on the next one i got dumped massively which left me with a bruised ego and a board in the arse! after that we just played in the shallows and "worked on our technique". We went to a big pub later that night and there was a band on called 'urban suite', sounded pretty good and the pub was busy so we went in...$5 cover charge later and the worst "band" in the world gets up on stage. I say "band" because it was a rather large brother and sister combo with really bad backing tracks and awful covers of songs. On a scan around the room we saw at least 6 long mullets, lots of denim jackets and jeans combos, and were the youngest folk in there by at least 20 years! We ran like the wind. Next stop was New Plymouth, at the top of the Taranaki surf coast. The weather was awful so we sat in and watched films all night and then decided we'd go out to a pub then hiot a drum and bass night at the biggest venue in town. After playing darts( a few of which hit me, Thomas!) and drinking shots, grey gayed off to bed and El, Tommy and I headed off to the club. Very good night, lots of raving and a very drunk Dave...fun was had by all. Whanganui was the next stop on the world tour of new zealand, not alot goin on there aprt from a miserable campsite owner, a hot tub, and a failed atempt at a roast. The reason the roast attempt failed was due to the lack of an oven, which normally helps when wanting to roast anything! So we ended up with fried chicken breasts stuffed with, funnily enough, stuffing, and wrapped in bacon, potato and parsnip mash (tasted of burnt stuff), lots of lovely (if cold) vegetables and a beautiful cheese sauce. Ended up ok but still want a roast sometime soon! And that brings us up to date in Wellywood. Getting the ferry tmoz and gonna start exploring the South Island of this lovely little country. Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!!! Lotsa love Dave and El