Arrived in Tauranga at around 3am and was very knackered, but it was wonderful to finally see David & Maria again. The following day after a long lie in David & Maria took us around the local area of where they live. We drove to see their beach (which was lovely despite the cold weather) and after a lovely lunch we started to walk up Mount Maunganui until it started to rain. The view was lovely and it was then we realised how easy it is to fall in love with the New Zealand scenery. As we were both still very exhausted we spent that afternoon being lazy and rented a film (The Departed- and it was really good!).

The following day we woke up and went into town to organise our money & the rest of our trip and that afternoon we took a drive to Rotorua described as a place 'you often smell before you see' due to the geothermal activity and the sulphur dioxide smell. On arrival we went out for another lovely lunch (we hadn't eaten this well in ages!) before heading to the Thermal Village a real working Maori Village that makes the use of the area's geothermal properties. Underground stoves have been created, the hot pools provide a place to cook fish and vegetables and a place for the locals to wash. We were given a guided tour of the village & learnt some history regarding Maori life as well as watching a live demonstration on how their grass skirts are made out of a plant- really amazing stuf. We took a walk around the grounds to see the Green Lake & mud pools. We drove back to Tauranga and had our last meal with David & Maria- a delicious Roast Beef dinner!

The next day we left Tauranga and they kindly drove us to Auckland, on the way we stopped off at an amazing gorge complete with swinging bridges. The area was really amazing & the fact the sun was shining made it even better. We arrived in Auckland around 3pm and we were giving a guided tour of Auckland which was really useful. It was really lovely to see them both and to have them show us around their home.