Aye up!

Its that time again when we update you with whats what & whats not!!

Well, we went up to Waikoura, and we did'nt do any swimming with dolphins - I saw one at Marineland in Morecambe as a kid so wasn't too bothered. Incidently that dolphin died from some illness - not sure wether it was down to Heysham power station or Morecambe's excellent dolphin-like weather.

Instead we went whale watching and watch them we did! It was an early start - up at 6am and out on the boat - there was a big swell so the waves were quite big - up and down, up and down. As well as the boat goin up many peoples breakfasts were too - highly amusing - AAARRR!

Anway we saw three whales in total, they were absolutely amazing and yes we have the obligatory pictures of their tails - its the only thing you really see! What sort of whales were they? Well they were'nt the kind full of miners singing "there'll be a welcome in the hillside!", they were in fact Sperm Whales.

There are quite a few fish and chip shops around NZ and all I can say to them is STOP TRADING! UR A DISGRACE! Its not alot to ask to peel a potato, cut it up and throw it in a fryer! Frozen chips do not cut the mustard - in England you would be shot.

Fish is good though.

On from Kaikoura we headed up to Picton to catch the ferry to the North Island.

Being on the ferry for three hours was like taking a mini-cruise and they had a pub on board - yippee! I had a flat glass of lager.

Into Wellington - nice place. Went to the Botanical Gardens - very nice. Went up the cable car - rip-off, we should have walked. Went to the museum - rubbish (go to the museum in Dunedin and Rotorua instead). Pranged a car with the campervan - did a runner.

That prang came back to haunt me the following day as I rubbed the tyre of the van across the bumper of the car, which in turn weakened the tyre. So later that day, after receiving a speeding ticket from a kind policeman, the tyre blewout. Luckily for us we had the jack, spare tyre et al in the van.

Unluckily for us, the jack did'nt jack the van up high enough to put the spare on and the spare was faulty. Boo.

A couple tried to help us but they had the same jack - hey ho, thanks anyway guys!

Thankfully, a couple of guys in an old army jeep were heading to exhibit their vehicle in a military show (funny that). Anyhow they helped us out and we were back on the road to Taupo.

There's only one thing I'll remember Taupo for and thats the lake......no sorry, two things....the scenery......no three things, the pink plane we skydived from at 15,000ft!! Seriously this was the best extreme sport time thing ever thought of - neither of us would hesitate on doing this again and yes we have pics, dvds & free t-shirts!!! Yahoooo, I love freebies!

What are we up to now though?

Well, I've just paid my speeding fine - I will be framing the ticket and I sincerely regret not gettin Kim to photgraph the officer issuing it to me, we could have done the handshake and everything - ah, well maybe next time.

We've seen the Craters of the Moon - very good.

Saw Maori dances and had a Maori meal - can we have the meal again tonight Kim?

Just noodles? Oh, ok....

We've been to the Rotorua museum - grand!

The buried village - a bloody rip-off and not very good!

And the Indonesian Spa (this is not a small shop selling bread, milk and newspapers)

As I sit here writing this, all I can smell is that great rotton egg smell of sulphur. I don't know if its the themal springs, me or Kim.

What I do know is this, some b***** nicked our shower gel from the shower cubicle I left it in - doh! So we'll still be smelling it first thing in the morning.

Right thats all for now so b***** off and do some work or watch telly, or play on your playstation, or cook some noodles or something.

Kim have you uploaded the photo's yet?

"Do bears s*** in woods" - I don't know.

Love to you all

Rick (& the Kimster) xxxxx

PS

I wrote this not Kim, she put the photo's on.

Please North End, don't mess up this time.

Damn the mussels need to go in the fridge - aaaarrrggggggghhh!