On receiving a text fom Darryl (David and Vivien's son), we hotfoot it to Tauranga. At this point I feel the need to quote my mum. "Well, it's just off the main road, so it should be easy to find". Tauranga is the fourth biggest place in NZ and we quickly realise that our one page map, with the North Island on one side and the South on the other, which has done us proud up till now, just wasn't going to cut it. So we stop at a garage to ask directions. As luck would have it, we flukily stopped 5 mins from their house.

We arrive, annoyingly for them, just as they are about to eat dinner. So we headed back out, got fish and chips for dinner, and some wine to apologise and say thanks, as they had invited us to stay! I didn't quite realise that mum hadn't seen Vivien since they were 13.

The next morning David kindly took us on a guided tour of Tauranga. A lookout point in Minden with views out as far as the Coromandel, the beach, shopping streets, and Mount Maunganui. After some failed attempts at trying to locate Margaret (my dad's best friend's girlfriend), we opt to do the scenic walk around the Mount. One hour, great views, and just a tiny bit of much needed exercise.

That evening we continued the exercise theme, and head out kayaking on the lake, in the dark, in search of glow worms. Peter (from Wimbourne, went to Allenbourne Middle School!) did us proud. Not only with the cheese and fruit platters and bottles of wine, but expertly guiding us along the lake from McLaren Falls, past a working power station, to a gorge absolutely bursting with the little blighters! Todders and I thought it would be funny at one point when we'd been left alone in the dark, to moor up alongside the bank and turn our headlamps off. Peter on returning was actually quite concerned that he'd lost his tourists -he didn't find it quite as amusing as we did!

The glow worms were amazing, and we also learnt some random facts. The larvae is the bit that glows, and lives for about a month, before turning into a two legged gnat that lives for only 4 days! They reproduce like rabbits. They are a bit gross, they let down up to 50cm of saliva as a trap for their food, and live in a hole made of snot too - YUK. They do look pretty in the dark though.

Back at the ranch, David and Vivien have kindly plated us up some dinner, mash, sausage, steak and apple pie (not all on the same plate!). A big thanks to David also, for replicating our bungy DVDs in an expert manner, the discs even have the same funky design on them. As instructed by my mum, we now embark on a photo shoot before collapsing into bed.

Next morning, having located Margaret, we head to hers for a feast, and end up staying most of the day. We chatted and chatted and chatted about all sorts, had a good laugh about how her and Andrew had met, met the dog that Andrew had bought to kep Margaret company - very cute, and we looked at photos and told her about our travels. I think it's safe to say that all three of us had a very fun afternoon. Thanks Margaret, hope to see a comment on here soon, which means you finally got yourself back online!