So on the last day of being in Napier we took a drive out to Mangatutu Hot Springs. It was a two hour drive there. We had a picnic of cheese, biscuits and fruit and then proceeded to get changed into our swimming togs out in the open!! We spent 20 minutes in a hot spring tub, then headed back for the two hour drive back to Napier. Sounds like a waste of time, but was such an amazing drive through corrugated dirt roads with sheep walking down the road in front...

Pete & I finished work at the Portage on 29th April. Hooray!! We had an awesome time there all in all, but are really glad to be able to move on again with some money in our pocket.  On Monday 30th April we went swimming with wild dolphins in the Queen Charlotte Sound.  We had to get up at the crack of dawn to make the boat, and ended up sailing almost through to the Cook Straits before finding any dolphins.  During that time we managed with great...

Finally after living in the sounds for nearly 9 months we got round to going on a fishing trip. It was an organised trip where you go out on a rickety old boat with an "experienced fisherman" who provided all the rods, bait & even tea/coffee & some old manky looking round things that I think were called biscuits once! There was no toilet on board the boat, so we had to make sure we had proper evacutions before going out on the boat. I think its ...

We took four days off work towards the end of March to celebrate our 3rd anniversary in style. We chose Wellington to do this - and we were not disappointed! Having pre-booked our accommodation and flights from Picton we set off early on the Sunday morning. Bags packed, these got flung in the boot and into the car we got, only to discover we had a flat battery. With a bit of quick thinking we borrowed Amanda's car keys and jump started our car off her battery...

Been a while since our last journal entry. We've been pretty busy at the resort over Christmas period and January too. On our days off we have been enjoying the New Zealand summer sunshine (occassionally in liquid form!), by spending long lazy days on nearby beaches having picnics, swimming in the sea & sipping the odd cocktail or two. We caught up with Nigel & Jackie from the De Vere in Southampton at the end of November. There were loads of stories...