Friends, Romans, countrymen. Lend me your eyes. But not for long, because internet time here in New Zealand ain't cheap ;) Yes yes yes indeedy, we are in New Zealand, and now in a town (maybe a city - anything with a population over 50,000 is a city over here...) called Taupo. From what we've seen so far, NZ is an incredibly beautiful country - we flew into Auckland last on Easter Monday, arriving at some crazy time like 3:30am, and went to check into a hostel with an English girl, Sian, we'd met before our flight in Santiago... After spending a few days there, touring the city and experiencing a little of the 'out-of-our-price-range' nightlife to celebrate my birthday, we picked up our 'Wicked' (company name...genius) campervan, and headed north. The drive was absolutely mind-blowing (and we're told the south island holds even more beautiful landscapes), punctuated by stops on beaches and for ice creams whenever we fancied it. We eventually arrived to spend the night in a picturesque coastal town called Pahia, before heading north again, right up to Cape Reinga - one of the two most northern points of New Zealand, where the Tasman meets the South Pacific. Part of the drive was along Ninety Mile Beach - speed limit 100km/h - which was an interesting experience - and a wicked one...we had to come off the beack a little earlier than we would have liked though, because the tides were approaching, and we decided our little camper, "Brains", wasn't all that likely to do a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and carry us safely across the waters. After a night in the North, we headed back south to the volcanic town Rotorua, and spent a day relaxing in the Polynesian thermal spas before heading out to see a traditional Maori display of song and dance, including some awesome Poi displays, and to eat a feast, some of which had been cooked in a traditional 'hangi' - an earthen oven. Twas groovy, and the photos of me doing the haka, soon to come, are not to be laughed at. Now we are in Taup, as I think I already said. And hopefully doing a skydive tomorrow morning, weather permitting. Then to Wellington and the south island, from where I will scribe yet more fascinating tales of joy and sorrow. Less of the sorrow hopefully. Fair Farida is awaiting, so must go. Plus I think I have no money with me. A problem. RUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN................... Be good all of you, xxxxxxxxxx