Left Paihai on Wednesday and headed further north will no definate location in mind. We stopped at Matauri Bay to see a propeller from the Rainbow Warrior which lies about 2km off the bay. We are currently Ahipara, just at the bottom of 90 mile beach. This will be our first night camping but the site does have shower and cooking facilities so hoping it will not be to bad, it couldn't be as bad as our camping experience in Moab, Utah.

Left Auckland on Sunday and headed north to Paihia at the Bay of Islands. Arrived Sunday afternoon and had a look around. On Monday we went Kayaking in the bay and went out to two of the islands just off the bay, then followed the coast line andcut inland up a small estury until the tide changed and was against us. In the afternoon we borrowed some bikes from the hostel but with the combination of the bikes and the wind we did not go far. On Tuesday we tried...

Arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday (15th November), staying with my brother in Pakuranga, Auckland until Sunday then off exploring the North Island until Christmas. Have only seen Auckland so far but looking forward to seeing the rest of New Zealand. Have bought a car, its a 1997 Subaru Legacy 4wd estate, a bit of a wreck, just hope it lasts the 4 months we're going to be here for.

We left Los Angeles on Sunday evening and landed on Raratonga in the Cook Islands at 7am on Monday morning (7th November). When we got through customs it was around 7.30 in the morning and the tempariture was in the high 70's. The first day on the island we did the cross island walk with 3 others we met at the hoste, they was a Welsh guy (Dewi), an Irish guy (Paddy) and an American named Taylor. The walk goes from north to south right over the top of the mount...

Left Flagstaff on Friday morning, just in time as they gave 4 to 6 inches of snow for the area. Drove to Los Angeles, from 100 miles outside the traffic started to increase, then around 60 miles out it started to rain heavily. By the time we got to Santa Monica the car was looking almost clean, after being washed by the rain. Saturday, took car back today with 4000 more miles on it since we picked it up. After getting back to Santa Monica we went on a trip to...