We decided to go through Tongariro National Park - into the heart of Mordor!! Sorry it's all gone a bit Lord of the Rings! It seemed the obvious choice to have a bit of a LOTR pilgrimage as we were driving straight through many of the film locations. Sadly there was so much low cloud that we didn't see a single glimpse of the volcanoes - Ruapehu or....or...and the other one beginning with an N! But we could see the huge wilderness type area that was used for...

Left Auckland and hit the road finally! Decided to get to Wellington asap for maximum earning potential as i'm a bit skint (once again!). So i headed straight to Taupo which was a pleasant 3 and a half hour drive through Hamilton and beyond. Saw road signs for Matamata (where Hobbiton was created for Lord of the Rings) and Te Awamutu (where the Finn brothers of Crowded House fame were born and bred). Didn't really have time for stopoffs so no photos i'm afr...

Stu, Ellie and I worked really hard to get Brix up to scratch and running smoothly and we opened on Monday which was a Bank Holiday here. Our first day was quite busy but has been followed by some much quieter days which has been frustrating. Things haven't been helped by the fact that the pavement outside the shop is being replaced and customers have to run the gaunlet of clambering over a load of rubble to get into the cafe. K Road is very colourful and the l...

Stu and Ellie are setting up a Thai cafe on K Road in Auckland, an area that used to be quite seedy but is now up and coming. There's tattoo parlours, sex shops, cool coffee houses, vintage clothes shops and lots of Pacific Island transvestites walking up and down! They have asked me to stay and help them set up and run the front of house. It's a lovely little place and it has been quite exciting going to the cash and carry, sorting out the bar and brushing up ...

Fortuitously, Jack, Chris and Caroline were all going to The Big Day Out (NZ's biggest music festival) in Auckland at the same time i had planned to go down, so they hitched a lift and shared petrol money with me. The car was hilariously full and it really was remarkable we got everything in - especially considering only MY stuff fit in the boot! So i'm back at Stu and Ellile's now and wondering what to do with myself. Stay here and earn some money or see how...