Last day in the old NZ today. We have done so much since we last updated this (apologies for the lack of communication - internet has been stupidly priced. the highest at $8p/h. we just refused to pay that)

After Tauranga we drove around the Coromandel which was really nice - unspoiled gems and beaches including Cathedral Cove which was just amazing. You do have to walk a fair way through a bit of woodland before you get to it but its totally worth it. We didn´t stay there too long though as we then headed upto the Bay of Islands (which was just beautiful) but stopped off at Whangarei for a couple of days where we went to Zion Wildlife Park which was so cool. We saw white lions, barbary lions, white tigers, a black leopard and more. Just a bit gutted I couldn´t get any pictures because of the enclosures but its somewhere I definatly won´t forget. But yeah headed to the Bay of Islands, where it took us a wee while to find a campsite as most just charged through the roof but we eventually stumbled across one that was nice enough and had friendly staff. Whilst there we went on a sailing trip on the R.Tucker Thompson in which we took a ferry over to Russel and then boarded the ship. Once on that was it. We were made to hoist the sails which was just the most amazing experience (well it was for me been the pirate fan i am). We sailed around the bay for a few hours before the crew dropped us off at a beach for 45mins before picking us back up and serving lunch for us - which was a very nice chicken salad and bread. We headed back after that and got told about the history of some of the islands which was cool.

After that we went upto Cape Reigna where we saw the lighthouse and the signpost (which you will see when we get round to uploading more pics onto here. Just need to find a quick connection) We only stayed there for a few hours and then headed back to Whangarei for a night before heading off to Auckland where we camped for a few nights before selling our gear and heading to the hostel. We didn´t really do much here. Just looked around the city which is really cool. Although you forget just how busy they are after staying at smaller places! Got quite annoyed trying to do the shopping around people who decided not to move or walk in front of you! On our last full day there though we went on a Whale and Dolphin Cruise which at first seemed as though it was going to be really disappointing as we couldn´t see anything. But as we got further out we found not only a pod of dolphins but a whale as well! Who didn´t stay with us much but it was just amazing, and the dolphins jumped out of the water next to us and swam at the front of the boat....and just wow!!!. The whole experience of been on the boat and getting thrown around and sprayed by the water....quite heavily....was cool too. Makes you realise what you miss out on when you watch it on TV.

All in all New Zealand has just been amazing. 6wks was definatly enough time to see everything in but you could quite comfortably spend a lot longer here seeing everything over a longer period of time and not having a time limit on it all. It is definatly somewhere that i recommend to other people....so if you haven´t been then go!! There´s not only loads of natural things to see but also loads of adventure trips to do.....you just need money to do them! Anyway, goodbye New Zealand.....Hello Chile! That´s where our next big adventure starts. Wish us luck!