We arrived in Auckland around lunchtime - our last stop in NZ. I really cannot believe it. Time flies as they say! The thing that made us realise how long we had been away today was the fact that we saw a poster advertising the DVD release of James Bond - a film that was released in the cinemas after we left!!!! Anyway, back to Auckland. We checked into our hostel, grabbed some lunch and walked to the i-site (this is becoming a regular occurance here in NZ!) We ...

We arrived in Rotarua mid-morning and after checking accomodation options in the i-site, walked to a campsite. We checked in, put the tent up and then booked an evening at a Maori village before heading back into town for some lunch. We eventually found a cafe and had some food, then went back to the i-site and enquired about the cable car and how to get there. We were just in time for a shuttle bus which took us there - about 5 minutes drive. We took the gon...

We arrived in Taupo mid-morning and after visiting the i-site found a hostel for a couple of nights. When we got there we had to put our bags in luggage storage as check-in wasn't until 2pm. It was then Karl realised he didn't have his video camera. He left it on the coach!!! So after some frantic rummaging he ran back to the bus terminal and luckily the driver was only going to Rotorua (about 2 hours onwards) before heading back to Taupo so he managed to get ...

We arrived in Hastings in the early evening to be greeting by Sam's cousin Becca and her twins Jacinta and Flynn. We drove to their house which was in the most idyllic setting - a house surrounded by orchards and trees. We put our stuff in their outside study and went into the house and had dinner - an amazing Roast Lamb. It was just what we had all been waiting for!!!! We stayed up chatting for a while, and it turns out Becca used to work as a Nanny at Petwo...

We arrived in Wellington about 5pm and made our way into the town centre by shuttle and local buses. We met Tara (who was on the tour in China) in one of the main shopping streets and walked back up to their place. After dumping our stuff we went back into Wellington and met Justine who had just finished work (at 7pm!!!) and had dinner in an English pub accompanied by a Guiness (it was St Patricks Day!). After that we went to the Irish Pub next door and then went...