This morning we took in a bit of Pukekura park in new Plymouth before setting off to Waitimo. Great city park with so much to do and so little time! Defo a place to have your camera at the ready! We then stopped off in Otorohanga to go to the kiwi house there. It was amazing, I love the kiwis, they're just so cute! We also saw other birds like moreporks, got chased by wekas and got attacked by a brown teal (it had some babies it was taking good care of!). We saw ...

Today we drove back to New Plymouth on the forgotten world highway for the USA v Russia game. Great game, shame about the weather!! Don't think I've ever been that wet at a rugby game before even while watching Sale! Still, it was a good excuse for us all to go to the nearest Irish pub (thanks to Steve and Nat!) and put the world to rights before grabbing a kebab-classic!

Yes, you read our location correctly! Technically we spent tonight in an independent republic! The village (which has around 20 permanent residents) seceded from New Zealand in 1989 in a row over which province they should play rugby for! Our campsite was great with chickens, horses and goats for company (Ian says I should have written neeeeiiigghbours - hmmmm). We had a great night watching the rugby in the local hotel. During the day we drove part of the way al...

This morning we all headed off to Taranaki in search of a elusive view of the summit. We went on a loop track called the Veronica loop, about a third of the way up the mountain. We walked through the Goblin forest with loads of beardy looking trees covered in moss and lichen up above the tree line to the snow. In spite of the hail, we still got a couple of decent views of the valley and a few towards the summit (although never quite the very top - stubborn clouds...

After a particularly slow start this morning and a bit of admin we headed over to the Missing Leg backpacker place where Allen was staying. Allen managed to secure a couple of nights free accommodation in exchange for one of our spare tickets. Result Allen!! The weather has been terrible in this part of NZ and today was no exception. We couldn't see the mountain of Taranaki at all! Still, we decided a walk would blow the cobwebs away and we headed to Lake Mangama...