Oh how the good times go and the despair sets in!!! Woe is us!! (and for all those people out there who are jealous of us swanning round the world, all that karma has come back and hit us in the face)

From our view of 36,000ft coasting over the North Island in to Auckland, New Zealand is green, hilly, empty of all civilisation and looks perfect for long runs in the country (Jue is ever so excited). However, it is also devoid of employment at present which has left us working to a shoe string (15GBP per day, incl accommodation) and becoming increasingly knowledgeable of all recruitment agents in the city. We have been informed that a job in insurance is just around the corner and we can hardly wait, unfortunately we're having to!! We are excited tho (and this is serious) about the prospect of 6 weeks work with the Cirque du Soleil starting in July, so you can soon tell everyone that your friends have run away to the circus.

However, there are upsides to all this. We are still swanning around the city at a leisurely pace, taking in the sights and getting incredibly well developed legs with all the hills (did you know Auckland is built on/between 47 volcanoes? It makes us kinda nervous. DId we mention it's also the most active volcanic area in the world!!).

Speaking of which, despite our woes and unemployment we did venture out on a road trip (in our lovely Nissan Sunny) to Rotorua, which has to be the smelliest place in the world. Being volcanic the sulphur is constantly being billowed into the area in the form of mud pools, geysers and lakes, all of which stink!! We did see some incredible sights though including a geyser erupting 20 ft into the air, some natural mineral pools which were beautiful colours and some lovely lakes. In a bid to save money on this trip, we attempted to sleep in the car, which proved incredibly uncomfortable and gave us back and knee ache (more karma). The next night we resorted to a hostel and had a much improved nights sleep. On our way back to Auckland we stopped at a few towns, one particularly distinctive due to the whole town being made of corrugated iron creations, including the tourist info as a giant corrugated sheep and the shop next door as a sheep dog. Interesting!!

We have had plenty of time to plan where we want to see in NZ and are very excited about it, but at the moment the job hunt continues and the penny counting continues. Bring back the care free travelling and quickly, please!!