So....here we are in the Land of the Long White Cloud and already we have done so much in just a week. We weren't ready for sight seeing a city so after landing in Auckland we hired a bright orange people mover car/campervan AKA Major Tom, and headed off exploring the northern peak. The drive was spectacular through rolling green hills and negotiating herds of sheep and cows...very amusingly New Zealand. Our home for 5 days was very comfortable, and even had a dvd player for our cold nights in, a pull out stove for our repetitive pasta and carrot dinners, and MP3 connection so we could properly Thelma and Louise it! Being true travellers we didnt stay in camp sites and therefore had to depend on public conveniences next to car parks or the side of the road, which naturally did not have showers. Yes, we are ashamed to say we scummed it for the whole 5 days-ew! It was all well worth it though. We stopped off at the Treaty Centre to learn about the Maori culture and origins. We also managed to see the Bay of Islands after a 1 1/2 hour hike to the top of Mount Bledisloe to later discover when returning to the car rather tired, that there was a signpost saying it was a 5 minute return journey in the oposite direction! Hmm...Liz and Chez moment! Back in the car, we continued driving and went as far north as is possible to Cape Reigna. Here the views were breathtaking and there was even a full arc rainbow that was visable for most of the day. By this time we were on to our second viewing of the only 2 DVDs we had with us and getting bored of pasta and carrots, we headed south. Another stop took us to the giant Kauri trees one of which was around 2000 years old....it was huge. Lots of windy roads down the mountain, Liz was looking rather green. Our last morning we treated ourselves to a cafe breakfast-yum, and woohoo no carrots! A few hours later we made it back to Auckland and said our farewell to Major Tom- boo! and had a well deserved shower! A day of sight seeing and a night out in Auckland to take in the ambience (and watch Australia get BEAT by the All Blacks, dad that is for your benfit!) later, we are getting ready to move on to Hamilton (we think!?) the bus leaves at 8am anyway!............catch you later x