Went to the green lake (Tiki Tapu) this morning and got a little bit lost as we couldnt find the bus again!! We went to the Lady Knox geyser in Rotorua and waited for it to explode, it was immense and so high but very very stinky! I nearly vomited from the sulphur at the mud pools. Then we realised that we're off to the south island in a few days and we dont own anything waterproof. Apparently it rains a lot there, so we have a plastic emergency poncho ready! ...

We went upto the top of Mount Eden to look at the most amazing views over Auckland. Then we drive to Waitomo to look in some caves where there were hundreds of glow worms all over the ceiling!! Then we drive south to Rotorua and relaxed in a biothermal sulphur pool (only problem is the sulphur makes the whole town smell of poo) In the evening we went to a traditional Mauri village where they cooked a meal for us on a Hangi - which is a meal cooked in the earth!...

The first few hours in Nz were spent in a police station reporting my purse lost! Why do I always lose everything? But we aren't going to let this affect NZ - other than the whole not being able to access any money. The views flying into Auckland were so stunning that Johno and I were kicking ourselves (and each other) for not having the foresight to get our cameras out in time. We subsequently decided that the view must have been purposefully put there just for...