After breakfast we left Waitomo and started drving towards Taupo which is home of New Zealands largest lake.  On the drive into town, Mum got her first sighting of a snow covered mountain.  We had lunch in Taupo then Andrew went off in search of a golf course whilst Mum and I walked around the lake a little bit.  The first time I was in Taupo with Contiki, I don't think I had ever really noticed the view but the scenery here is beautiful. ...

We were picked up at the hotel by the car rental company at 10am.  I was pleaseed to be getting out of the city.  Auckland is a nice city but I have seen most of the things it has to offer and was looking forward to getting out on the road and revisiting some of the places I'd been to 3 years ago.  We collected the car and set off down highway 1 towards Waitomo.Our first stop of the day was a place called Ngaruawahia.  The Maori Queen had ...

I spent the morning running around Auckland trying to get prices for flights and trying to find a bikini.  Emma had invited me to go to Fiji with her and I was very tempted to go with her.  The plan was to chat to Mum about it and see what she thought, then if I could afford it I would go.  I caught the bus out to the airport to meet Mum and Andrew.  I had to wait about half an hour before they came out and I had my little welcome sign ready t...

Well seeing as I haven't added an entry for a while, thought it was about time to do so!!! After my fantastic weekend in Wellington I caught the bus back to Auckland and then a bus up to KeriKeri which is just past Paihia in The Bay of Islands (up North). I was staying at a place called the Hideaway lodge. I met two English girls who had told me about this place saying that the the guy who runs it find peope work in the local area and seeing as I had three...

Well after a slighty stressfull bus journey, I'm in Wellington for a flying visit.The bus to Wellington left Auckland at 7.50pm on Friday night. At first I was sat on my own which was fine but then a man got on and sat next to me. He didn't talk for the first 40 mins then as soon as I closed my eyes he started a conversation, just the normal questions ie Where are you from? Why are you in New Zealand? etc. After 10 mins he moved onto - Can I have your pho...