Ok, so I have been extremely lazy and haven't done any blog entries for ages. But internet time here is expensive, so I have a bit of an excuse.

So my last venture I told you about was Wanaka. I shall give you the rough details of places/activities for now and then hopefully pad it out at a later stage...

After Wanaka I headed to Oamaru to see the Little Blue Penguins, which were very cute. We all had to be quiet when they came trundling up from the sea and we couldn't take pictures. But when we left they were wondering all over the car park and jumping up and down the stairs to the gift shop, so they weren't that affected by human interaction!

Next was Lake Tekapo on a cloudy day, but warm. I went to the hot pools in the afternoon and in the evening our bus driver did us a BBQ and we had a few drinks and watched a film, and I went out for a wander by the lake.

Sunday we drove into Christchurch and I picked up a car and drove to Akaroa and back to the hostel I stayed in over Christmas. It was lovely to see some familiar faces and go back to a familiar place and to chill out. On the Monday I drove round the peninsular to Okaines Bay, of which there are 2. A little one and a big one, but not many people know about the little one, so I went there. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so no sunbathing. I also found a Little Blue Penguin on the beach, but he was an ex-penguin, so not that great.

On Tuesday I went to Akaroa and had a walk round and then just went and chilled out and chatted with people in the evening.

Wednesday (1st Feb) I dropped the car (and 2 Germans) off at Christchurch airport and flew up to Auckland and stayed with Piers, who I'd met on the Magic Bus on the South Island.

Thursday I went to a gallery and walked around the town and found a really good record shop and just mooched about the city.

On Friday I caught the Magic Bus to Rotarua. We stopped off at Hobbiton on the way and I did the movie set tour, it was sooo cool, seeing all the little Hobbit houses. No Hobbits though. Then on to Rotarua - It's the town with a lot of geothermal activity so it smells quite bad, and also has a Maori village/ghetto, of which I did a tour on the Saturday.

On Sunday we left for Taupo and from there I caught another bus to Hastings to stay with Ashley, who I met in the South Island.

On Monday we went to the spa in Napier and then found a sports bar so Ashley could watch the Superbowl and the lady in the bar let us bring in takeaway fish and chips, so it was a good afternoon, even though I still didn't understand the game! That evening we rented movies and ate cake!

Tuesday we did an Art Deco walking tour of Napier, which was really boring, so not much to report there!

Wednesday we didn't do a lot and then I caught the bus back to Taupo for the night.

The next morning I got the bus to National Park, stopping at Waitomo to see the Glow Worm caves. We then had a mammoth journey of nearly 12 hours which should've taken only 2 hours as the bus driver was sooo useless!

Friday I headed to Wellington - with the same driver. Pretty boring drive and when I got there my hostel was awful, so I managed to get checked into the YHA for the following nights. Then I went to see a little local band at the theatre foyer and had a drink.

Saturday I changed hostels, then went for a walk around the town and then went to Te Papa, the National Museum. In the evening I bumped into some people I'd been on the bus with a few days before, so we all went out for drinks and late night take away...very late night.

Sunday I walked round the shops with some of the bus people and then I went down to the harbour and watched another band and laid on the grass for a bit. In the evening I started chatting to a guy in the hostel and we went for a walk around town and back to the harbour.

Monday I had a long morning, but that's another story, and in the afternoon I went to the Archives museum and then for another walk around. In the evening we had a nice meal and a bottle of wine and went to a few bars.

Tuesday I had another epic bus journey back up to Auckland.

Wednesday I had a lazy morning, then went into town and then to the Auckland museum. I then got caught in the rain and walked around the shops again.

And that's about it. Tomorrow is my last day in NZ and it's gone sooo fast! Onto America!