after we left rotorua we headed north again to the coromandel peninsular where hot water beach is. basically, two hours either side of low tide you can hire a spade from teh local shop, go off down teh beach, dig yoursdelf a hole and the thermal water bubbles up and makes a nice hot bath for you to sit in. its a pretty popular spot so there are several groups of people shovelling away looking for the best spot...too close the the seem and its so hot you cant get in and too far, well this is new zealand in winter so you'll more than likely get a bit chilly.

after that we headed north again, past auckland and up to the bay of islands. more or less sunny all year round and if the sun is shining, the blues of the sea could just as easily be in the tropics. perfect example of how NZ seems to have everything. the name gives it away really, its a bay that is scattered with hundreds of mostly unpopulated islands. he we did a boat trip out to the hole in the rock and for dolphin/whale spotting. we managed to find dolphins and eventually a few who seemed playful enough to let us swim with them. so for an extra $30 i was given a mask and fins and dived in after them. bloody hard work, looks liek theyre just cruising but im not quite as streamline, cant stay under water for 15minutes and my fins dont work quite as well as theirs. still, i got a good few swims with them and they were up and around near us which when theyre completely wild makes it all pretty exciting. when we got back int eh boat they put on a good show aswell, butting each other out of the water, doing flips etc. and chased the boat at full speed, riding the waves in the back, so impressive to see.

after that we set of to Whangarei which is a little north of auckland and is where chloe's aunt and uncle are living so we went to stay with them. how nice it was to smell a roast dinner with all the trimmings, sleep inside, have a hot tub and not have to pack all our things up on the side of the road. perfect ending. after that we set off to auckland to drop the van off (a pre arranged 3 hrs late before we would be charged).