I have learnt many things on my travels so far:

1. Do not let your ommlette be cooked by the French-the risk of salmonella is incredibly high and raw egg yolk is not my favourite food (but being British, it would have been impolite to refuse this luncheon offereing. I hope I make it to my next blog alive)

2. When sandboarding, do not let go when a gust of wind blows sand into your eyes half way down a huge sand dune. It is very fast, akin to toboganning. Furthermore, when falling off sand board, bouncing down the hill in a fetal postion is a good option, if not one that will result in sand being discovered for days afterwards in very odd places.

3. Do not jump around wildly with excitement on a deserted little beach while shell hunting- shells are surprsisingly sharp and I have have a big hole in one foot to prove it!

4. Dolphins are amazing and surprisingly graceful, I can't wait to swim with them ( on the trip we saw some bottlenose dolphins, but as there was a juvenile sadly we weren't able to swim with them- but theres always Kaikora!)

5. Always ask a Maori before you photograph his wakka (canoe). Luckily I did and he chatted for ages about the symbolism behind the carvings- feathers at the front are there to channel the bad energy up the back of the wakka's carved tail (as it were) and then funnelled up through 3/4 fingers to the Rainbow god. He then told me about the legend where the sea god took a boy and kept him under the sea in a house, so his father came to get him with a club and whacked the emerging creatures as they left the sea house, and this is how it is believed different species of sharks like the hammerhead shark and the flat flounder fish came about.

6. Flax weaving is hard! I weaved a very wobbly basket in the traditional maori way in Waitangi day, which is a celebration of the signing of the first treaty between the maori and the europeans. My flax woven flowers turned out well though, and there was a guy who made a woven bag in front of my very eyes (I was there a long time), he was so neat and it was beautiful and surprisingly strong (have a look at the photos, I have then in stages- hoping to put these up soon!)

7. Eel is wonderfully delicious and not at all slimy! it tasted a bit like smoked mackerel. This is one of the traditional Moari kai, or food, along with Pipi which are shellfish, tasted like mussles.

8. 90 mile beach is actually 60 miles. Reassuring to know that everybody makes mistakes!

9. It is worth paying an extra $2 for a duvet. Heaping all your clothes over overself at night does not keep you warm.

10. Hebe is a native NZ plant. Oh, and where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea the water is different shade of blue for each!

11. Finally, Cluedo is offically the best game in the world and loved by all nations, as evidenced in our multinational Cludeo game the other night spanning Japan, Canada, Jersey, Germany and the UK! Unfortunatly my reign as the undefeated champion came to an end (Canada made a cunning last minute victory), but theres still time yet....

I'm off WWOOfing (working on organic farms) tomorrow on a labrinth and craft place on the way to Hokianga Harbour. There is a cat so I can ease my feline cravings for my small furry and very stripy one back home!

Until next time, here is some sunshine to keep you going!