Hi everyone!

We have been up to quite a lot since my last blog. In Auckland we have been to the Sky Tower, where I had a major battle with my fear of heights! We went to Kelly Tarltons Aquarium, it also has a Pengiun enclosure which was amazing! We visited Mount Eden, great views of the city, and we have been to a rugby match. We have taken the ferry from Auckland over to Devonport, which has some nice galleries and we climbed Mount Victoria there too. Hard work, but worth it for the views!

We have hired a car, and drove north to Paihia. We did the Mack Attack boat ride, this has to be the scariest thing I have ever done!! Bouncing around the ocean on a super quick catamaran, the waves were like something out of the film Perfect Storm. We also went to Waitangi, where the treaty between the Maori and Europeans was signed. We took a ferry to Russel, known in the olden days as the hell hole of the Pacific, now a pretty little town. We took a coach trip to Cape Reinga to see where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. We drove along 90 mile beach, we also did some sand boarding and stopped off for New Zealands best "Fush and Chups" as they say over here.

We have also driven to Rotorua, which has a lot of geothermal activity and so smells strongly of sulphur! Still a great place to go! We went to a Maori evening on the first night. Amazing!!! We watched loads of performances including the Haka and Poi dancing, we had a lovely Hangi meal (cooked in a hole using the heat from the ground) and we saw some glow worms. We went zorbing the next day (they push you down a large hill in a giant inflatable ball). I was quite nervous when I got there, but absolutley loved it!!! We visited Rotorua museum, quite interesting. We went to Waiotapu geothermal wonderland (very eggy), where we saw Lady Know geyser go off and lots of other very unusual scenery. Finally we ended our trip in Rotorua with a Polynesian spa, and a round of mini golf-very relaxing.

On the way back to Auckland we went to the Waitomo glow worm caves. The cave with the glow worms has water in the bottom, so they take you in on an inflatable boat. There is no daylight in there, so the glow worms are absolutley amazing! Like looking up at a million stars.

We will be leaving Auckland in a few days, to continue our trip around New Zealand. xxx