Sorry for the lack oh photos! Some will hopefully come later. We've done lots since we left Wellington. We headed up to the Whanganui River and spent a night there. The next day we drove up and over to Lake Taupo where we had Valentine's Day. It's the biggest lake in NZ and is the size of Singapore. It was created by a Volcanic explosion a hundred times more powerful than Mt Vesuvius! Very pretty! The following morning we went to visit Hooker Falls which were amazing. A massive river gets squeezed through a 10m gap over a waterfall... loud and fast. On our way out we visted a small Thermal Park called Craters of the Moon.

On the drive to Rotorua we saw Mt Ruhapue (I think). In Rotorua we went and visited a very smelly, but cool Thermal Park called Orekai Karako. We took a boat over to it and it was quite impressive. There were lots of Geysers, mud pools, waterfalls and steaming rocks. It took a while but by the end you didn't notice the fart smell so much.

We stayed in the volcanic area and headed up to Waitomo where we 'Rap, Raft, Rock' into Waitomo caves. You abseil down 27m, then go all through the caves looking at the glow worms on a large rubber ring in the dark. After that you climb 20m back up out of the cave. Well worth it, but we're getting a bit sick of the borrowed stinky wetsuits. The theme set by out guide 'Tim' was Brokeback Mountain!! It made for an interesting trip for the boys.

The next day we went to visit the Kiwi House. We saw lots of cool birds and some Kiwi's who are in a breeding programme and there for protection. Then...... we went to The Shearing Shed. This a place where they breed Angora Rabbits. Lush! The Bunnies are huge and extremely hairy. They have to be shaved once every three months as they can't moult and would die of over heating. The wool is very expensive and you weren't allowed to actually see where they were kept. This made us a little dubious so we didn't buy anything. The bunnies seemed happy and were well cared for. Not sure I want one, more hair!!

From Waitomo we headed up the Coromandle Peninsular. It was stunningly beautiful with white beaches, hot pools, stunning coastline and fast windy roads to drive. We spent some time on the beaches and tried out our new snorkelling gear. We had booked a Cruise up in the North so we were a bit pushed for time.

The following day we drove up and through Auckland, stopping briefly to see Mt Eden. We knew we were heading back through Auckland in a few days so it was ok. The drive up to the Bay of Islands was eventful as the car played up. It started with a rattle, then smoke and over heating! The AA came to our rescue and thought it was something to do with the Coolent Tank (the what?). He topped it up and said if it did it again it'd need to be replaced. I think we paid more attention to the heating dial more than the speed dial on the rest of the drive.

Once we arrived in Pahia (in the Bay of Islands) we went and visited the 'Waitangi Treaty House'. It's set on the coast right where the signed the treaty and the house was bigger than I expected. Tonight we're NOT sleeping in a tent but on an old car ferry that's now a Backpackers. They cruise round the islands, have a BBQ and you can go swimming, kayaking or snorkelling. Really looking forward to it.

Hope everyone's well. We leave NZ in just a few days now... really enjoyed it and would love to come back. Six weeks has flown by. We've managed to rent another banger for Austrailia. Wish us luck as it's even hotter over there.

Lots of love

Jo and Matt.

xxx