We have spent the last few weeks back in Taupaki in Auckland pruning kiwi fruit. It was the perfect end to our trip; we had some beautiful sunny days and some very wet days. San spent her days tying strings up and Jeff laid down canes. We had some incredible dinners at Shirley and Bruce's and Shirley took us to Murawi for a walk on the beach. It was a wild rugged day and the sun stayed shining, we warmed up with a hot chocolate. We sold our van to a guy we were working with which worked out fantastically.

So our time is up in NZ, we've been here for over a year (don't tell immigration) and are about to set off for Asia for a few months. We have been busy over the last six months.

We have; seen tens of waterfalls, walked through rainforest, learnt to surf, seen more penguins, surfed with dolphins, been to the southernmost point of NZ, been to Stewart Island, done a sunset kayak with penguins, completed the Raikura Track, completed the Kepler track, been kayaking around icebergs on a glacial lake, tried to surf in Kaikoura, had a Sheep Shagger beer, started an avalanche by shouting, swam with hundreds of dolphins, explored never ending caves in Fiordland, rode a dolphin, went to the Mussel capital of the world, saw a 200 metre limestone arch, been to the centre of NZ, had our van burgled by a Weka, walked Farewell Spit, jumped off giant sand dunes, skydived, got mugged by an eel, harvested grapes, lived with Kellie, spent weeks driving a quad bike, camped by the sea with Kellie, explored the Weta caves, completed the Tongariro crossing, looked in an active carter of a volcano, hugged a giant carrot, climbed Mt Manganui, swam in the largest hot pools in the southern hemisphere, saw a real Kiwi, picked persimmons, made our own knives, went sand boarding, went to the top of the coromnadel peninsula where we locked our keys inside our van, dug our own hot pool on hot water beach, went to the lost springs, looked for fish at goat island, saw and hugged huge Kauri trees, saw the Waitangi treaty grounds, ate fish and chips on a ship, saw a pink beach, drove on 90 mile beach, went to the northern most point of NZ, sold our van, pruned kiwi fruit, went mountain biking in national park and explored the wild west coast of Auckland.

We've been talking about the best things and places that we have seen and done since we have been here and it's a pretty big list to choose from. We both agree that Curio Bay down in the Catlin's was our favourite place where we camped right on the beach, learnt to surf and played with a school of dolphins. It was quiet and catastrophically beautiful.

Jeff's top five are, skydiving, surfing, swimming with dolphins, bungee jump and going to Stewart Island. San's top five are; skydiving, surfing, swimming with dolphins, walking the Kepler track and watching the sunset whilst having a beer with our van.

We have had an incredible year here, we have seen some beautiful places, done some incredible things and met some amazing people (far too many to name individually). Thanks for everything New Zealand you will be missed!