Hi All, Quick blog tonight - we're on limited internet where we're staying (hotel is crap and is chargng £5 for 2 hours!) and we're knackered. Yesterday we travelled to Auckland to our hotel. (http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-1721-mercure-auckland/index.shtml) Highlight of the coach trip was the driver being pulled over for speeding! In the afternoon, we met Linda and Grant (some Kiwi friends) for a coffee, and had a great time catching up :-) Spent most of the...

Kia Ora all :-) I suppose it would be an idea to write down the events of last night; it may have some comic value and it will be a useful reminder of probably the best night we've had in NZ. It all started when John (the owner of the B&B) told us about this quirky little cafe just around the corner, who did fantastic pizzas to take away. Following a very quick plan involving pizzas, garlic bread and wine John phoned up the cafe (he's on first name terms wi...

Hey avid bog readers, hope you aint too snowed under? It's now 2:50 pm (does NZ work on a 24 hour clock?) and we're chilling on the veranda with a huge teapot of tea, fresh cakes and muffins, and the most gorgeous kiwi bloke ever lying at Nathan's feet :-P. Slightly cloudy but still warm enough to sit and watch the world go by. This morning was the trip that pushed the budget up, over and 30 million miles away from our original outlined cost. And it was worth e...

Hello and apologies for lack of blog previous two days - no free internet BOOOO! We are now all the way up in Rotorua, having spent the last two days in Taupo. Suppose that would be a good place to continue the blog really? We left Wellington Thursday morning with another early pick up (7am... yawn) and battled our way through early morning rush hour to get to the bus terminal. Well, the driver battled on our behalf, we sat in the back praying to anyone who woul...

Hey everyone! As you can guess we are now in the North island, not really had time to look around Wellington as yet again this morning we had an early pick up and didn't arrive here til gone 5pm. This morning's coach journey with our driver "Paul" (possibly known as Paulline at the weekend?) was boring. Boring because all Natalie really saw for the whole 2.5 hours was the back of her eyelids. Nathan tried to obtain a good view of his own eyelids, but w...