After our mega highs at Taupo, the next part of our trip was to head south, to Wellington. The country is beautiful and we enjoyed the road trip listening to tracks such as Coldplay and The Cranberries- some of our travel tunes!! We drove for over 6 hours, stopping only for loo breaks and the occasional photo opportunity!

Arrived in Porirua- when we realised we'd had enough of travelling for one day! We set up camp (not that there's much setting up to do!), and enjoyed our left over chicken fahitas!! We watched our skydiving dvds too, re-living the moment!!

Next morning, early start to continue the travels to Wellington, arriving in plenty of time. Parked up and wandered the streets, finding the famous cable car, and took the 5 min trip to the top for lunch, and then, back down!

We visited Cuba street- a funky part of town, before getting the munchies & heading back to 'Moto' for jam sandwiches!!! We then visited Te Papa museum and learnt a bit about the history of New Zealand.

We met up with Rach's dads friend, Duncan, who treated us to a bevvie on the waterfront, until it got chilly, and then he took us up 'Mount Victoria' where you can see some amazing views of the city and beyond. We then went back to his for fish and chips and a dvd night!

Wellington Zoo was next on the agenda, heading there after breakfast Sunday morning. We were dying to see the famous 'kiwi' animal- a nocturnal bird that only lives in New Zealand, and are becoming an endangered species. We were happy when we spotted two, and then enjoyed watching the rest of the animals at the zoo- especially the crazy chimpanzees who entertained us with their moods!!

We spent the afternoon travelling up north to Waitomo. We didn't expect to arrive there Sunday night, but we didn't manage to find a site on the long road before we arrived there, so we'd actually gained a night. We made a speciality 'beans on toast and rice pudding' dinner!! True travellers!! And then watched 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'- although Ciara habitually fell asleep half way through!!

Waitomo caves were the reason we were at Waitomo, so off we headed and waited for the 11am tour. The tour included a little history into the caves and a look around, learning about the stalagtites and stalagmites, before a short boat trip to see all the little glowworms living there.

We then travelled north, heading for Auckland and stopped at Manukau for the night and another dvd 'Walk the Line'.

This morning we had to take little Moto back :-( So tonight we are in Auckland, and will be until our flight to SANTIAGO tomorrow afternoon!!

Until then....

Ciara and Rachel xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx