Hi there, Andrew here, filling in some time while we wait for our flight from Auckland to Nadi, Fiji. Since the last blog there's been all sorts going on, with each experience confirming that we love NZ!It seems so long ago that we we're in Christchurch, but it was only about 2 weeks. We finally managed to go hot air ballooning, which was spectacular but a little uneventful. Apparently the conditions are best at dawn for ballooning, which means 5.30 pick up and an even earlier start, a tall order when you've been at a boozy bbq the night before. As you'd expect we almost missed the pick up and got some stern looks from the other people on the bus. Setting up forthe flight is a long process, which everyone is expected to help out with. There are some fantastic sights as the pilot fires up the burners against the night sky, then the sun starts to poke up over the horizon. Once you take off it's a little sedate - compared to sky diving anyway - but it was a nice relaxing way to take in flying. However, the best bit of the day was when the packing up had been done and the pilot cracked out the champagne. Only a few hours after our last drink, we still got into the spirit of things and knocked a glass or two back! And to settle the arguments about how the photo was taken, there is a digital camera on a long piece of string. Sadly it isn't as impressive as albatross or penguin cam, but takes good pics!I hope you don't get the impression we spend more nights on the tiles than mildew, but we had another night out in Chch- Paddy's Day. Obviously we couldn't let this sacred day pass without a few Guinness (which is average over here) and a bit of a dance. Chch doesn't quite rate as highly in the party stakes as Newcastle for Paddy's night, but we gave it a good go. As do the locals, who didn't seem to mind that every "Irish" band that performed throughout the day played the same songs as the one before!We had our first taste of swimming with dolphins just outside Chch, in a small town called Akaroa. Just off the coast of Akaroa, small Hector's dolphins swim in small pods quite close to the shore and we were lucky enough to find a reasonable sized pod. Some of the guys on our boat decided to whistle to the dolphins, which they loved, and that brought a few more around. The only downside was that water was freezing and murky, so we couldn't really snorkel with them, just watch from the surface. It was still very, very nice to be so close to the world's smallest species of dolphin.Nic had the taste for dolphins after that (not in a Japanese sense!), so we headed to Kaikoura to have another go. I was happy to save some cash and just watch this time, while being chief photographer. During the briefing for the trip, the guide announced someone had pulled out and would anyone like to take their place. Reluctantly I agreed - I mean a dolphin is a dolphin and once you've done it once, what more can there be to do? How wrong I was! Around Kaikoura, the sea is full of Dusky Dolphins, much bigger than the Hector's dolphins and known as the acrobats of the sea. I thought this was marketing rubbish, but its true. We found a pod of around 400 dolphins (I didn't count them!), jumping around and showing off for their audience. Once we got in to swim with them, it was unbelievable. These dolphins came up close, tried to make you dizzy by swimming around you, would swim straight for you before moving away at the last minute and generally let you know that they were the cheeky chappys of the ocean. I'm so glad we both did this trip and the smiles on the boat on the way back would have put The Joker to shame. That was until I chucked up with a touch of sea sickness!Kaikoura is one of those places you want to hate. Not content with having dolphins living around the shore line, they also have a permanent presence of Sperm Whales less then 1km out to sea. We checked in at the Whaleway Station (and yes it is in an old railway station) and went out on another trip. We saw two whales during this trip, which were huge, but you only really get to se the top of them as they don't jump about like dolphins. Its still great to watch as they dive and the tail disappears behind them and listen to stories of how they were nearly hunted to extinction by the early settlers. This time, I wasn't sick. While waiting for the whales to appear (so rude that they make you wait!) we managed to get some wicked shots of various birds with Nic's new camera. It's a blessing in disguise that the old one broke, and was replaced with an all singing all dancing camera that neither of us can work!As we headed back north, we had a big date to make. I was making my international rugby debut in Palmerston North for Kia Toa. We were staying at the coach's house (thanks Tasi and Rachel) and the Senior B team (a.k.a the killer B's). I managed to get a place on the bench as chief water carrier, something I think I do quite well. 30 seconds in to the game, our inside centre put one of the biggest hits in rugby history in on his opposite number and I started to realise what I may be in for. Luckily, all the big hitters were on our team, and when I got on for the final 20 minutes, Kia Toa were 20 points up and I couldn't lose the game for them! It was great to meet up with some old friends and, as is traditionally after a rugby game, have a few beers with them, which turned into another messy night. And I was sick again.We also visited the All Blacks Museum in Palmy, which is a bit like a large cupboard of rugby artefacts. There are some genuinely interesting bits in there, along with some tat (a collection of ties from clubs around the world), but the highlight was watching a video of Jonah Lomu in action. He's obviously got some way to go before he is as good as me, but he wasn't bad for a lad with a bad haircut. Not that I'd tell him that to his face.When we left Palmy we knew that our time in NZ was running out, but we had one last trip to do. At Waitomo, we headed into the "subterranean world" to see the famous glowworms. From the masses of trips available, we decided on the Rap, Rock and Raft tour. It's not a musical tour of the caves, but an abseil (RAPpelle), caving and rock climb (Rock) and black water rafting (raft, in case you didn't guess). Anyone who knows Nic will tell you there is nothing more she likes doing than squeezing through tight, water filled, under ground caves or floating in the pitch black on a tyre inner tube hoping the guide doesn't loose anyone! The trip lasted about 4 hours and was really good fun and even Nic admitted she enjoyed it. The highlight was watching an Aussie giant (about 6ft 5 and 120 kg) pushing himself through the eye of a needle, just because everyone else had!After Waitomo we took the last long journey in Smurf, up SH1 to Auckland to try and sell the van. We'd planned for a week to sell Smurf and realised just how much of a challenge it would be when we arrived back in the big smoke. As its coming towards winter, backpacker arrivals are falling, and everyone who bought a van in the last few months is now trying to sell! It didn't help that when we were supposed to be "working the streets" to sell Smurf, I decided enough was enough with my tooth ache - 10 weeks is quite enough - and headed to the dentists. 2 hours, $960 and a little bit of root canal work later (everyone say out loud "aw bless him". Thanks.), we hit the streets. Just when we thought we wouldn't sell and were making plans to head back to Napier to leave the van with mates, we got a call from a Welsh couple inquiring about Smurf. We're satisfied that Smurf has now gone to a good new home, and I think they'll have as much fun in the van as we did.We also saw something very strange in Auckland. Professional netball. Yes, you read that right! There is a new Aus/NZ netball league just started, so after dragging Nic to countless cricket and rugby games over the last few months, we hit the Trusts Arena to watch girls in skirts! I had a great time even though the netball wasn't up to the standard I expected -can you tell I'm just repeating what nic said? I'm clueless about non-running-basketball-for-girls!

It's fair to say we've had the best 9 weeks of our lives in New Zealand and we're a little sad to be saying goodbye. We've been so happy travelling round in our little van and getting into the Kiwi way of doing things. As a great philosopher (Homer J Simpson I think) once said "Don't be sad its over, be happy that it happened". So with a bag full of happy memories and ever expanding waist lines, we're off to Fiji to lose weight playing beach volleyball. Ah that's the life…