Hello all,

First things first, I feel 100% better than I did a couple of days ago which is more to Chris' relief as I may have moaned but only once or twice. Second things second, we have safely arrived in San Francisco!! Already has a great vibe - but to go back to 5 days ago...

So Chris drove our 6 hour drive to Rotorua which just flew by! Especially for me as i had the duvet wrapped round me with my chocolate cookies and my energy drink :) We drove past Lake Taupo which was stunning as the sun was setting, so we pulled over and took some beautiful photos. We listened to the radio all the way singing along to Spice Girls haha and as we drove over the hills we began to see clouds of white smoke rising from the land - they were hot springs! Chris and I were gob smacked to see this natural phenomenon just at the side of the road. In amazement I opened my window to get a clearer view and instead got a mouthful of sulphur and a nose full of this eggy smell! As I began to choke Chris began to cough and screamed for me to roll my window up - we giggled over how incredible it looked and how incredibly awful it smelt! 

We stayed over at a holiday park called Cosy Cottages which had been recommended to us by a guy on the ferry from the south to the north island. We woke up had an argument then decided on what we should do for the day - all normal routine. We had a fun filled day and started with going to the Skyline which firstly takes you up in a gondola to the top of the hill which overlooked Rotorua then you go on the luge which is a go kart down the hill. There were three different routes scenic, intermediate and advanced all of which were hilarious as you have to control it by moving the handle bars forward to go fast and backwards to break. As usual we were both very competitive, meandering in and around each other, passing lots of young children and scaring them in the process. On the advanced track there were sharp curves which made Chris fly into a mound of sand, as I overtook him I waited round the corner so we could go down together but instead Chris zoomed past me laughing and beat me! 

To continue the competitive theme we decided to go and play mini golf - we always think how fun it will be ...haha so it started off well we both had the same score until hole 8. Chris hit the ball a little too hard and flew out of the box so I was winning! Very briefly! The next hole made me 4 shots above Chris, so I was determined to focus and got a hole in one! I rubbed it in chris' face and Chris said 'so what I can get a hole in one' and he did! I was furious and contemplated throwing him in the pond, but the next part of the story was a lovely surprise. As we walked to the next hole we saw lots of animal cages but no animals; Chris prepared his next shot and as the ball began to head for the hole a bunny jumped out and knocked his ball!!!! I didn't know whether to laugh because Chris' shot was ruined or to run and hug the lovely bunny! Chris made me focus on the game, I got another couple of holes in one but the damage had already been done, I lost and Chris won. But overall I think I won because I was then allowed to go and hug the bunny, the bunny was called toffee by the way :) I made Chris take a photo of us together.

We stayed at a conservation campsite that night, I was slightly in fear for my life as it was in the middle of nowhere and auntie had recently told me a scary story about a young couple travelling and sleeping in the middle of nowhere! But it was absolutely fine and that day we drove to the Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland where there were Geysers, different coloured hot springs, waterfalls, giant craters, lakes and a mini forrest. The geyser was particularly impressive, she was called Lady Knox Geyser and she would blow everyday at 10.15am so there I was with my trusty camera watching the boiling hot water fly up 10 meters into the air. Now this may sound really lovely, looking at orange lakes and bubbling mud pits but honestly the smell was so foul everyone was either sneezing, coughing or choking - I took a photo of that as well :) 

In the afternoon we drove half way to Auckland to a place called Hamilton, we booked into a park and watched Lord of the Rings as it was on sale. We then went bowling in town and thankfully I won! The next day we drove to Auckland with the full intention of finding a bar which would show the Man U Highlights or as Chris now refers to them as low lights. Normally I enjoy cheering on man city but only when man u are winning, I don't think I will repeat what Chris said during the match! It was an absolute nightmare trying to park the campervan as all the parking areas had height restrictions, so in order to go into this shopping centre we had to try four different entrances, brings back the horror of trying to do a u-turn at the supermarket! That night we caught a bus into the centre and walked around Victoria Park which had auburn leaves on the ground and a cool breeze. What's fun about these sort of situations is we never know where we're going to end up - we started off having 2 large pizza hut pizzas for only £5 then ended up in a bar quiz with a Chinese couple and a rather odd kiwi. I was so proud of myself as one of the questions was that you had to name the British cook in the picture and I was the only one who got it right - Delia Smith :) Chris complained that there were no formula one questions but what came up next a formula one question. In the end we came 7 out of 13, it was a really fun night despite the strange kiwi who kept buying Chris drinks :s 

Our last day in new Zealand was lovely, we went to the cinema as it was the only place that had a parking height restriction of 3m plus it would take up time before we had to go to the airport. We saw the 5 year engagement, you would have thought that I would have had to strangle Chris to see this film but he suggested it and it was quite funny. We drove to the drop off centre and said bye to another beloved camper and sat in the airport playing solitaire for hours. The flight went well, I slept about an hour and watched 4 films including The Vow which I cried to 3 times (thank goodness the lights were out) and Chris slept about 4. We're now in our youth hostel in downtown San Fran, we're sharing our room with a sweet French couple. It's now 9pm here and were going to go out and get some dinner, we already like San Fran  it appears to have a great atmosphere and looks gorgeous :) hope all are well at home.

Love to all, Love Jess & Chris xxx

Hi all, Chris here. I was NOT singing along to the spice girls. That is all.
Ps you should've seen Jess' face when I got that hole in one. Priceless :D