Today we have arrived in smelly Rotorua, which has hundreds of thermal springs (hence the smell). On our way here we passed through a national park that was used as Mordor in Lord of the Rings. With its mixed vegetation and looming volcanoes it was easy to see why. Although that being said, I think the whole of NZ looks like it was used in those films.

So what else have we been up to this week? Well we started off by going whale watching in Kaikora. That was really really good. We saw three sperm whales, a couple of Hectors dolphins (a rare breed), a seal feeding as well as loads of other seals and sea birds. Thankfully I had bought some famous locally-made sea sickness tablets called Kaikoura Crackers, and survived without redecorating the boat.

For lunch that day we stopped at this amazing beach BBQ where a guy just cooks fish fresh to order, while you sit overlooking the beach. I had the biggest and most delicious garlic mussels, all for a measly two quid! Bargain. As we drove on after the whale trip we stopped at a little cove to see the baby seals that were sleeping there. 'Cute' is not the word! Beautiful. Funnily enough Dan decided to stay in the van while I cooed over them.

The next day the plan was that Dan would go on a wine tour to be educated about the stuff, while I went horse riding, but the weather and the fact that I had developed a nasty cold put a stopper in that. Oh well, I just had to go drinking with Dan. It turned out to be really good actually, although we still don't feel like we know much about wine, even though that was the half the point of us going on the trip. We were actually pretty tipsy by the end of it, which we hadn't really expected. Stupid, I know. Some might say that I was a little rowdy and spouting crazy talk about having McDonald's for tea. (I NEVER go anywhere near the place normally.) In the end Dan managed to get me into a nice Thai place where I sat and quietly drank some water and had a pad thai.

Amazingly we woke up without hangovers and I even managed a little run. We then headed towards a beautiful park called Abel Tasman. It was only on our way there however that we discovered that there are no roads round that national park, and that the only way to get around is by foot, kayak or water taxi. By the time we got there we would not be able to get a water taxi out to the walks, and as I was feeling pretty rubbish, we decided to have an afternoon and evening chilling in the van.

The next day we set off bright and early and jumped into a water taxi. The rain had eased off and it was a beautiful sunny morning. Our taxi pulled into the bay the walk started in, and we had to jump to the shore from the end of the boat to save from getting our feet wet, but it was like we'd jumped into Thailand. The sand was a rich gold, the landscape was dotted with limestone casts and the sea was the most gorgeous turquoise. We spent the next four hours hiking back to our campsite through amazing jungle and alongside the most exotic looking beaches. New Zealand really does have everything. Why the Kiwis ever need to go abroad I don't know because it seems that this relatively small country has all of the world's terrains within a few hours of each other.

The day after that we awoke to reports that New Zealand's biggest storm in ten years was on its way. And we were due to cross to the north island in a day's time. Great! We made our way to Picton, where you get the ferry from, fully expecting to be stuck there for days. I was really suffering with my cold at this point and after we realised that I hadn't eaten red meat in a long time we decided be better go for a steak. For just eight quid we both had a massive rib eye steak while looking out over the marina. That was the highlight of Picton! There really isn't much else there.

The next day we rocked up for the ferry expecting to be turned away again, but it was actually only delayed for 1.5 hours. After a couple of cups of coffee we were on our way. The crossing was really rough and loads of people were ill, but thanks to my Kaikoura Crackers I was once again fine. Brilliant.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand but judging by the amount of people we saw there you wouldn't think it. While there we did a tour of their parliament including the Beehive. Dan had been the one who'd wanted to look around it (you might have guessed) but I actually found it really interesting too. Their government is far more open and liberal than ours. We also had a look round Wellington's city centre, including their massive museum, Te Papa, before heading north.

Last night we stopped in a little place called Palmerstone North, and found a cafe that did the most amazing cakes (I seem to have been talking about food loads in this blog, maybe I'm hungry). We then set out in search of the internet cafes LP (Lonely Planet) had promised us, and which had been our reason for choosing that town over others, as we were due to Skype home. After walking round in the rain for a while it became apparent that the we'd been promised, had in fact closed down, and that there were no replacements. We were both gutted as we'd both really been looking forward to talking to our folks.So we wrapped up last night with wine and Dan watching Star Wars, and delayed our call for a day. Rock and roll.

Anyway, I think I better go find some food so that I stop talking about it. Hope you guys are all well. Email us.

Big hugs,

Lauz xx