Wahooo!!! My sister arrived safe and sound and for those of you who know her that is considered a miracle!!

She was possibly one of the last flights that left heathrow before the snow came in and they had to close it! She had a good flight to Singapore but then her flight was delayed for 4 hours ( Luckily she would have had a 6 hour wait in Melbourne anyway so it didn't set her back too much!) She reached NZ at 6.00pm and met up with Ed around 7 ish, collected the hire car ( Ed thinks its ugly, its a toyota Echo, but its in good nick which is a blessing! ) and drove up to Whangarei by 11.30pm. I was very excited to see them both - especially my La La!

We went out this morning for a drive around the coast of Parua Bay and paddled in the sea ( which isn't as warm as Fiji but i'm not complaining - We're in NZ!!!) Then had the biggest ice cream EVER- Yummy!!

We went out this afternoon on a pony trek around the Bush! It was so beautiful! Our horses were a bit ploddy but in this humid heat you can't blame them! They were ex trotting pacers so when we trotted we all nearly fell off!! Very strange! But lots of fun - my bums a bit sore now, but i think laila and ed will be ok!

We're going to set off tomorrow to start our exploring - heading north first then back down south. We may not get many chances to log on but don't stop checking - we'll get there eventually!!

x x x xx

PS Well done lauren, thats fab news!! Have a wicked time and give Dunc at the grand a big hug from me and tell him to log on and leave a blog with his email address!! love ya babes!! x