We arrived in Aukland airport at midnight so had to spend the night there before we could pick ip our van forst thing the next morning. When we arrived it was raining heavily and this rain didn't stop all night or the next day. we got ourselved to the depot of Exploremore and picked up our camper. It is a Merceded Sprinter so Matthew named him Linford. He is a lot bigger than Freddie, a lot more water tight which is needed and a lot more storage. We also got a DVD player!

We headed straight for the supermarket and then to a campsite to get orgaised, unpack and get some sleep. The next morning it had stopped raining and the sun was shining, although still cold so we went for a walk along Red beach. It was full of lovely shells and things they call Phi Phi's that Matthew immidiately thought would make good bait! With the sun shining we headed south of Aukland as we had decided we would see the city when we returned. We stayed at a regional park which was lovely and somewhere were matthew could go fishing. It was here that i got talking to a Ranger who told me that a lot of the roads were closed due to the bad weather. Apparently they have had the worst storms in 15 years! We decided to follow the Pacific coast highway to see some scenery and stay on the coast as inland was so wet that all the walks we had intented on doing were closed.

It was a lovely drive apart from a few land slips we have come across(some covering most of the road). The mornings have been generaly bright, but then raining in the afternoon, its very cold but the scenery is beautiful everywhere we drive. The little towns a great too and the people are so friendly. We bought Matthew a bigger fishing rod so he can try and catch some red snapper, and so far we have had red cod which was lovely, my favourite so far! On the coastal road we stopped off at hotwater beach. Basically when the tide is out you can dig yourself a hole in the sand and sit in it and its warm, infact really hot. It had started to rain by the time we got there so i just when for a little paddle, it did the job though with my feet nice and toastie!

We are now in Wellington and cross to South Island tomorrow. We havn't looked around Wellington as the rain is continous so we will do that on our way back. We meet up with katie and Justin, friends from home for a couple of weeks to travel South island, which we are really looking forward to as they will be the first familiar faces in almost 10 months.

This blog may not sell new Zealand very well, but apart from the weather we are loving it, and it is definatley somewhere where we would consider living.