so we all arrived safely in AUckland.. shame the same couldn't be said for Moore's bag.. which we deduced was either still in Beunos Aires or Sydney! After an hour ish of leaving contact details for when it turned up we set off for our hostel booked in the city centre while we sorted our getting a camper. I'd already aranged to meet up with one of Dads friends who moved to Auckland 8years ago so we called Phil and Pat around 12 and they said they'd take us on a tour of the city along with bringing our bits and bobs that had been posted to their home from england. me barn and sul had little essential parcels.. moores mum had sent half her wardrobe haha unfortuntely the package she actially needed with her replacement bank card wasnt there and it later turned out that it had got stolen en route and she was down a grand. so we had moore who had rocked up in NZ with basically only a pair of flip flops to her name!

Phil and Pat drove us up to Mount Eden and from there explained all the different areas so we got our bearings of the city really well. They also said the weather was the best theyd had in ages woo. AFter that we went to have tea cakes and hot chocs etc by the harbour and then went over to see the docks where all the big ships were.. it was dead good being shown round by the locals! Later that evening we had our LONG awaited beans on toast mmmmmmmm.

The next day we dedicated to finding our camper.. had initial panic with places saying they were full because it was school hols mid way through when we wanted it and they were all booked up (missed this in the planning phase!) ..but we managed to find one company and went to have a look at it via another one we couldnt get through to on the phone. the first one was quite expensive but we noticed another company right next to the 2nd which we went in first and got our haggle on! we managed to get quite a good deal from here (plus a lift home!) that the original lot we were going to see couldnt match so went with them instead.. we were to meet our camper the next morning at 10!

The next day to add insult to injury moore found out the only card she had, had been blocked. haha but then things picked up when the airport rang saying theyd found her bag and she managed to get her card reactivated. So upon pickup of said bag and a shop in the supermercado we were off!! i took first drive and it was dead easy.. even though its a massive beast! u forget theres so much behind - until u try going uphill! we've named our camper Donde ('where' lol) cause its about the only spanish word we picked up that came in v handy.. and have a feeling Donde The Campervan might become a familiar phrase! Hes really swish but currently has a few constipation/dihorrea problems with the waste water from the sink rrr.

First stop was Rotorua which stinkkksss of rotten eggs.. they just have gas coming up through the drains. we parked on the lake shore the night we arrived then the next day me moore and grant went to visit a thermal village. barn and sul decided to go to a maori show in the evening but that was more expensive and we're the cheap skates! the village bascially lives using the thermal pools for cooking and washing.. they have gaysers around them and did some traditional dancing for us.. including the haka woooo. we've found gareth gates too.. he's definitely living in this village as one of the dancers! our guide who took us round was really interesting and told us lots of the history of new zealand and their people.. had a really good day. on our way back home we picked up som,e dvds for later from blockbusters. We only got round to watching one funny 1 and the first half of City of Men (sequel to City of God) which is AWESOME.. me n grant bummed it and cant wait to get out the 2nd half again.. its loads more real than the first if that makes sense!

The next day it was time for our travels to continue!! we came to lake Taupo and buzied around here for a bit. I looked for some replacememnt walking shoes and found some for 35dollars.. about 13quid.. same price as my other ones but they really dont look very hardcore! i think they are the primark of walking shoes, and since moore got exactly the same pair.. we shared some waterproof spray between us.. just in case..!!

Later on that night we arrived in Tongarrio national park.. ready to nail the tongarrario crossing... until the woman in reception said it was winter, we needed crampons, there was no path, noone else has been doing it and without a map you just end up walking straight across the lakes. sooo we thought maybe best to leave this and she recommended coming back on our way to auckland in 2 weeks to try again.. so hopefully by then it will have picked up a bit. Cause we couldnt do the crossing we left this site in search of a supermarket.. couldnt find one.. but did find a caravan site that was closed but with spare pitches.. soooo to save some money we just parked up for the night cause we thought it would be more secure - then scarpered about 7.30 in the morning before anyone noticed and had brekkie on the side of the road haha

That day we drove down to Wellington ready to get the ferry crossing the next day.here again we said there were 3 of us to pay for the night rather than 5.. sneakkkyy! since it was a friday night we thought we'd go out as it was the capital of NZ so there must be places to go... wrong! haha well, there were a few but it wasnt really very happening.. we did go out to 3 different places for a dance but in the end found the takeaway way too tempting instead!

We got the ferry across the next morning.. which took FOREVER! literally over 4 hours to cross from north to south including queuing and getting on/off argh so that day was mostly wasted.. we did some of the journey to nelson when we arrived but stopped half way at a pub we found that was offering parking for 5 dollars a van (2quid).. we thought we might as well stay here as it was only a dollar each and still havent braved just parking on the side of a road yet beacuse we've been strongly warned against doing that in the north island.

The following morning we arrived at nelson.. which is now present time woo. i tried looking for a pharmacy to help with pain ive got from my wisedom tooth which is now all swollen and possibly infected mm lovely.. but they cant give antibiotics over the counter so im grinning and bearing it refusing to go to a doc! and we[re all having a bit of a net sesh cause places are hard to find when ur in a camper! But better vamos because i think Donde's probably getting lonely by now!! hope everyone is wicked blue xxxxx