We had an inkling before we arrived, but the fact of the matter is: New Zealand is not in South America. Slightly unfairly perhaps, we held this fact against the City of Auckland upon our arrival. It was slightly colder than we had got used to, but, worse still for us, the airport, street signs (same colour, font and of course language), bus and general ambience had the whiff and efficiency of Stansted airport about it. Surely we don't need to explain the connotations this had in our heads.

After sleeping on it, albeit in a no frills hostel where we had to PAY FOR WIFI, bag storage and every other little service - and pay what felt like a lot - we were slightly more hopeful and positive and set about learning what makes New Zealand-ness what it is… The -ness is of course Indian food. Our mood was significantly less glacial after a chicken balti - the first for a while - as well as some great weather and a walk in the central park. We had an OK couple of days over Easter, and walked around Auckland and its sites. There are nice bars and restaurants, a sky tower and an excellent museum. We found our first extremely helpful i-site (tourist information) and tried to sort out cars and vans with not much luck.

What struck us about Auckland was family life, it came across as a great place to live a pleasant life, not too big, kids can slide down grass hillsides in cardboard boxes, walk on nearby islands (Rangitoto volcanic island and slow paced Devonport on the North Shore) and generally get outdoors and get their knees muddy without fear. There are also loads of sailing boats, apparently the largest number per person of any city in the world.

Next we went southeast to Rotorua. Put generously, this very touristy town smells like bad eggs. Little pockets of sulphur gas lurk on every corner, up every alley and next to every person; it's a bit grim. The reason is, as we have learned, that New Zealand is awash (or apong?) with geothermal activity - on the count of it being the product of a rift between the Pacific and Australasian plates about 14000 years ago. Geologically therefore, it is still a very young country and with that comes volcanoes, geysers and bubbling mud pools.

We visited a geyser in Rotorua, on the grounds of a Maori owned tourist centre called Te Puia. The museum and geyser and surrounding mud pools were really interesting, enough to make anyone want to be a geography teacher, we even made educational videos (of a sort) in case Mich's brother Dave (who is a geography teacher) wanted to show them to his kids. Our "Maori experience" was not too tacky either, we saw a show with the haka and saw some traditional carpentry and weaving. Before we left we walked around a giant redwood forest, and left on the bus feeling better about being in New Zealand - although we were still a little low and seeking culture and highs in line with our South American experiences.

To try and kill this malaise we went skydiving in Taupo, our next destination. NZ is a thrill seekers paradise, and neither of us had done it before, so why not? We thought of a few reasons why not, but did it anyway, it was tandem so not too much to worry about - it was easy, nothing to a pair of well traveled thrill lovers like us. Believe that, or not, as you please.

After the skydive we got dropped off at a bar on the Taupo lake (biggest lake in NZ, made from a MASSIVE volcanic eruption thousands of years ago). We had a couple of beers and realised that the bar rented out sailing boats for about 15 quid an hour. We hadn't sailed before but gave it a crack and had a great time… that about did it, any country that is relaxed enough to let anyone - even poms who had no experience and had been drinking - get out and about and enjoy the great outdoors must be OK by us.

Next day we went to Palmerston North to meet up with some of Michelle's long lost family who had moved out to NZ in the 1960's. We had a very pleasant day with Anne and Denny in their home, and got treated like two of the family, which was awesome. We also met Michael, their son, who was really nice and great to meet. After Palmerston North we headed to Wellington to meet more of the extended family, Annette her husband Gary and daughter Anna. It was lovely having been away for so long to have time as an extended part of a family day out. They showed around the town and the bay, which was beautiful, and then we spent the afternoon with them at their home and went for a walk in the forest with their cute dog Monty. We look forward to meeting their sons in the south island and getting some student knowledge of Christchurch.

We stayed in Wellington for a couple more days, and really liked it, we had great weather (which may have been unusual, but the waterfront, bay area, museum (Te Papa) were really pleasant. The views you get out over the bay - from most places in Wellington - are incredible. The night out we had too suggested it was a fun place to be. We also went to a working museum - Weta Caves - of a film studio that did lots of work for LOTR, it was a nice insight into the NZ film industry (mostly based around Peter Jackson) and predictably named "Wellywood". We left Welly on the bus and boat towards Christchurch, where we were to get our van and meet up with friends Chris and Diana whom we had met at the Bolivian border.