Hi there everybody!So first of all we have updated the last blog with the welcome song and customs story!Plus Karen's correct new zealand mobile number..please check!!Jess also now finally has a new zealand mobile number after many dramas, it is (+64)212564470 WE BOTH EXPECT REGULAR MESSAGES FROM YOU ALL!!!So New Zealand...we have had the van for about 10 days now and have done the north island. We headed north out of Auckland up to the Bay of Islands. We had beautiful weather if a little cold (maybe 15 degrees) but the coastline and countryside were stunning!!! The roads are really bendy and hilly making driving exciting at times!!! We stopped at Manganoui harbour for the most amazing fish'n'chips and tried a local delicacy...fried oyster!! We then headed over to the west coast and stopped at Apihara, a very small town at the end of ninety mile beach...again stunning scenery. Having been in the van for a couple of days we decided to go sand tobogganing...Apihara has massive sand dunes and it supposed to be so much fun. We took an hour long hike to the dunes, Jess was excited, Karen was terrified...we were both disappointed after struggling to get up the sand dune we sat on the toboggans and promptly sank!!They didn't move!!!But on the bright side we met some lovely locals who offered us showers, fed us and let us park/sleep on their drive...gotta love new zealand hospitality!!!Next day we drove down the west coast stopping at the Kauri forests where the trees are 6 meters wide...huge!!! We then drove onto Kai Iwi lakes where we stopped for the night..by the side of the lakes under a few trees with nobody in sight...terrifying! We had to leave the torch and iPod on until we fell asleep!!!After spending all day driving we arrived in Hamilton, just south of Auckland, where we stayed over with a old friend of Jess' from her early Walkabout days! We spent the first day appreciating the home comforts of hot showers, readily available cups of tea and a washing machine! Thanks so much to Paul, Jodine and Joshie for having us! Next day we went to Waitomo caves to see the infamous glowworms, however, due to the previous 2 days of heavy rain, the caves were flooded and so we settled for visiting the local Kiwi house where we saw a real live Kiwi bird!We also visited Raglan beach, but only stopped for a coffee as it wasn't the most beautiful of beaches in NZ! We stopped back at Paul's that night and on Thursday set of towards Rotorua, famous for its thermal sprigs and mud pools!En route we took a little detour to Hobbiton, home of the hobbits in Lord of the Rings.We didn't actually go up to the hobbit holes as it was mighty expensive and half the set has been removed.We passed through Rotorua for lunch, visited some redwood forests and then headed south towards Lake Taupo.Again we stopped en route at Kerosene Creek, despite the name this was a lovely little thermal stream that ran into a waterfall and small lake and you can get in and have a dip, its literally in the middle of nowhere! Karen wanted to get in but Jess is still having issues with water and just couldn't do it!We spent that night back in the van which was a bit of a shock after having the luxury of a real bed for the past 3 nights!!!Friday we missioned it all the way down from Lake Taupo, past the stunning snow topped mountains of the Tongariro National Park, which includes Mount Doom, to Waganui for lunch before arriving in Wellington during rush hour after 7 hours driving!Thankfully we have a place to stay here too, with Karen's sister's brother in law! Thanks to Edd and Anthony for having us and spoiling us!We have had amazing weather here ad love Wellington, yesterday Karen and Edd went kayaking in the harbour while Jess and Ant drank coffee and read!! Today we went to our first REAL museum…Te Papa.It was quite educational and we quite enjoyed it, especially as it was free.The boys then took us for a drive around the Wellington coastline and cooked us a really nice meal as they thought we were leaving tomorrow but we have changed our minds and are staying until Tuesday!!!We are still trying to put photos up for you but struggling...be warned we have about 1600!!! Love to you all bye xxxxxxxxxxxx