Dear All,

So we've just about come to the end of our stay in New Zealand now. We're in Auckland now and fly to Fiji tomorrow (Saturday) for a week in the sun and sea, fingers crossed!

Here is what we've been up to since our last entry, enjoy.

Thursday 12th March - Taupo to Tauranga

We drove from Taupo to Rotorua where we visited the Te Puia volcanic and cultural experience. Here we saw the bubbling mud pools, the hourly geysers as well as a traditional Mauri performance (including Haka). It was amazing to see the geyser erupting with such power for so long, but you did have a constant feel that the earth could literally move at any time so it was a relief to leave without any larger eruptions! From here we drove to a town called Tauranga for the night.

Friday 13th March - Tauranga to Whitianga

Really fun day! We drove first to a volcanic dome at Mount Manganui where we did a short walk around the base, we were feeling too lazy to walk to the top. From there we drove for a couple of hours to Hot Water Beach (see pics). A pretty incredible place really as two hot springs literally come out of the beach and flow in to the sea. People flock there at low tide to dig their very own 'hot tubs' where they sit and wallow in the supposedly therapeutic waters. We got there just after low tide so most of the space had been taken up already with those who'd arrived earlier armed with spades. I tried to dig our own whole with my bare hands but soon realised that position really was the key as my small whole only filled (and collapsed) with cold water! Never mind, we managed to wade around in other pools as people left. After this we drove a bit further north to Cathedral Cove. A beautiful walk took us to a secluded cove where a huge hole had been cut of the of rock face to leave you with a perfect walk way to the next beach. From here we headed on to Whitianga for the night.

Saturday 14th March - Whitianga to Thames

We awoke to pouring rain so the drive to Thames via the northern most part of the Coromandel Peninsula was not as impressive as hoped, lots of greenery but not the views due to the mist and cloud. By the time we arrived in Thames though the rain had stopped and we took the opportunity to walk around the local heritage fair which happened to be on at the lcoal park area.

Sunday 15th March - Thames to Paihia

Having caught up with my friend Pete via text we arranged to meet up en-route to Paihia. We drove the 3 hours to Whangerei, a small town 2 hours north of Auckland where we managed to meet up with Pete and Polly after their days diving. It was great to see a familiar face and to share stories and experiences over a couple of drinks and some shared Nachos. We also felt like the uncool cousins when they turned up in their camper van and parked next to our 'granddad-like' Nissan Sunny but having smelt the internals of their van its sunday driving for us for the foreseeable future (only kidding Pete and Polly - it wasn't that bad! hahaha). We set off in the dark to Paihia and Liz took her roadkill total to 4, putting the finishing touches to a possum that had clearly been hit already but was definitely still moving until Liz got hold of it! Current score is Liz 4 Phil 1 though all the rest of the kills have been suicidal birds!

Monday 16th March - Paihia

It was nice to have a base for more than a day so we chose to simply drive a circular route to see more fo the Bay of Islands. We visited Matauri beach which was lovely and after a short but steep walk we came across the monument to the Rainbow Warrior which lay just off the coast. We also visited Whangaroa, a tiny but stunning little harbour town with amazing views again. We then drove back to Paihia and explored the town area. Though bigger and more touristy than the days other sites it was still a gorgeous place with islands dotted as far as you could see out to sea.

Tuesday 17th March - Paihia to Ahipara

Having made it so far north we decided to go right to the top of New Zealand to visit the incredible Te Paki sand dunes. On the way we stopped off at Mangonui and Cable bay for some 'wow' views. Like true travellers we have now resorted to making snadwiches for the day so we stopped at a stunning bay called Matai Bay and ate these whilst taking in our surroundings before driving further north to the top of the north island where some exhilaration awaited us. When we arrived at Te Paki we couldn't believe quite how high the dunes were and were a little more apprehensive about surfing down them on boogie boards but not enough to put us off completely (see pictures). The hardest part of sand boarding it turns out is getting to the top of the dune. It was bloody hard work getting up the aptly named "Psycho" dune where the real speed was to be found! Good fun was had by both of us on the boards and an hour was more than enough to have a good few runs and fill our pockets full of sand! Our home for the night was a little town called Ahipara which sat just on the bottom of the 90 mile beach covering the western side of the northern peninsula. We drove along to Shipwreck beach, named so after the boat which lays under the sand but part of which is still visible at low tide. Here we sat and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the bay, gorgeous.

Wednesday 18th March - Ahipara to Auckland

After a quick mornign stop at the 90 mile beach again we hit the road to Auckland knowing it would take a fair few hours. The purpose of gettign to Auckland on this day was of course the Coldplay gig that we managed to get tickets for. We headed to teh Vector arena and took to our seats. Yes, seats and yes we did feel a bit old as we surrounded by middle aged people but it was well worth it for the view we got. The gig was AMAZING. It was Coldplays first gig in NZ for 6 years so they really went for it with old and new hits. The highlights were 'Yellow' with lots of yellow balloons being sent out in to the crowd (see pic) and also the roof nearly coming off when they started to play Viva la Vida. The show was great and love them or hate them they know how to entertain. I;m very glad Liz persuaded me to part with a weeks worth of accomodation money to go hahahaha.

Thursday 19th March - Auckland

Today we took our hire car back, receiving 2 days worth of money back (result!) and hit downtown Auckland. The main street is Queen Street so we wandered around here in the morning before making our way over to Devonport on teh ferry. Devonport is a small village a 10 minute ride from Auckland city and had a lovely feel to it. We strolled along the waterfront taking in the city views before making our way to the top of North Head, a volcanic cone with great views both of the city and to Rangitoto and Waiheke islands. On our return to the city we explored the upmarket 'Viaduct Quay' area, dreaming of the food and drinks we can't really afford on a travellers budget.

Friday 20th March - Auckland

Today we've watched a mad man do the sky jump off the Sky Tower here. Despite my recent sky dive and less recent bungy jump, I have to say that that did look scary as the guy plummeted to earth with no sign off stopping until the last few feet! We've also bumped in to the lead singer and drummer from Mercury Rev (the band supporting Coldplay) and generally enjoyed the city life before we head off to Fiji tomorrow.

NB: We don't envisage having any internet access in Fiji so we'll be in touch when we hit US soils on after the 28th. We cross the international date line on the flight so arrive some 9 hours before we've left and will go from 13 hours ahead of you guys to about 8 behind, really looking forward to the jet lag!!!

That's ya lot then, hope everyone is doing well. Just want to say well done to Anna for her latest passing out parade. We're both really proud of you and can't wait to visit you on base soon. Also happy birthday to Phill G on 29th and Dad on 30th. Dad hope you get/have got the thing we sent!

Love

Phil and Liz