So, the circle is complete - one island, 2 weeks, loads of adventures.....which will be documented in due course....promise. Do check the photo album and blogs for updated entries as i often do a couple of updates all at once, but you may only notice/view one of them?! Auckland, the rematch, and the sun is shining, and that always puts a nice spin on things. plus, no orientation needed, back at the same hostel so for our last 3 days in NZ Sharan and i can get st...

Heading North today, no surprises now except our weird bus driver, Phillipa. Stop off at Matamata, then Bulls, then to a different hostel than before....very nice but roommates could have been tidier/quieter. Take a stroll around town, do some book swapping, go to the lake, have a beer and some dinner...bed.

So driving to Wellington, Josh our driver, bets us that we´ll see a trout fisherman on a particular stretch of river in Turangi....we don´t, he owes us a beer (which we collect later on). Stop off at another national park - do a beautiful 2 hr walk in the shadow of Mt Doom and another volcano-mountain. This is a prime place for skiing in the winter, apparently. Stop off at Bulls....it is Un-bull-ievable how many signs have a bull-related pun in them. I have a...

So stop off to look at Mt Doom....yeah, that´s right, nerds. DOOM! From the beloved LOTR´s films. Oh yes, much happy-snapping there. (Mt Ngauruhoe). Drive through Tongariu National Park, have a peek at the 11m Huka falls.....no rafting here. I Let Sharan go to jump out of a plane and meet her later at the hostel.....i ain´t jumping out no plane, crazy foo´! But this is the place to do it.....great views of the lake.....bigger than Singapore and so big you can...

Head out early-ish on the big green bus. On the way, stop off so some people can `Zorb´ down a hill - thats where you get in a giantbeach ball. Opt out of that particular delight. Head instead, with much persuasion, to see the highly entertaining sheep show - see 19 different varieties, sheep dogs jumping off their backs, shearing, little lambs, a cow....the farmer doing the show was great fun, taking the mick out of everyone - very non-PC humour for the foreign...