Hello! God I’m so sorry its been so long, I guess the longer it got the more mammoth a task it looked to be to write everything down, so being the dutiful student I’ve left it till the exam period to maximise the procrastination efforts! I’ll start where I left off! On returning from our adventure weekend I took a few days off to recover and come off the adrenalin high! Then went about making the most of the next week off lectures by busying myself with wine tasting (I’ll be a pro when I get back…or joining alcohol anonymous….one or the other! (I promise it’s not that bad Grandad…honest! Although you did suggest a bottle of wine on the beach for Christmas!)). The next day we went to the zoo, which was really cool, we got to see them taking the elephants for a walk and crawled through loads of tunnels in the mearcat enclosure (think it was for children but being pint sized I felt bizarrely at home!). The next day me and Caroline (a medic from Leeds) went up Rangitoto, the most recent volcano in Auckland, which was really cool, you can still see all the old lava flows and everything!  The next week me and Caroline went for a wander to Mission bay just up the road for freshly caught fish and chips (wrapped in actual newspaper!) Which was amazing, its really nice that you can walk for 30 mins and feel like your completely out of the city! Later that week we went for a night out to the ice bar (where its minus 5 degrees!) and had cocktails in glasses made out of ice which was fun and added to by lots of sculptures (one of a naked man who I think was being affected by the cold below the waist (sorry again Grandad!)  The following week was full of work again but we did manage a night off to go see Snakes on a Plane, the funniest horror film I have ever seen! You have to watch it if you haven’t already, I’ve never been in a cinema where so many people were laughing! This was also the week of the formal dinner with pirate fancy dress! It was a really good laugh and they had decked out the whole great hall or Railway and everything!  The next weekend I went up Rangitoto again but with Ispace (the international student group). The weather was amazing and we had a bit longer than last time so we did a longer route which was a real trek into know where as a lot of the time we were scrambling over old lava flows or through really wild areas but managed not to get too lost and caught the last ferry back! Our trip also included a walk through the lava tunnels (not my favourite place due to all the spiders but still semi fun!). We went on a Whale and Dolphin safari a few weeks later, which was really good, I do apologise for the millions of photos…I got rid of all the ones I took of just the sea though! Be grateful! There were millions! It was so amazing to see a pod of wild dolphins; I did go a bit snap happy! Last week we had Halloween Tapaz so me and my friend Jen strayed up to K Road (a bit dodgy apparently but we were informed there was a good costume shop) but despite its bad reputation it was amazing, there were millions of 60’s shops & ethnic shops (we didn’t stray into the dodgy bit!) the good area was amazing! We never did find the costume shop as I got a bit distracted with all the 60’s stuff so I went as a hippy (I promise I’ll try harder next time Cainz!) Tapaz was really good though and we had a good night out! (check the photo album to see everyone!).  Finally I’m up to this weekend; hope you’re not bored yet! We all went to the beach on Saturday for a beach party to say good-bye to everyone and to celebrate Stephan’s Birthday! It was amazing, such a good night! We had a bonfire, two huge boxes of fireworks, loads of people, a deserted beach, vast quantities of alcohol, a clear sky and a guitar! And despite everything that could have gone wrong it was amazing and went without a problem! There were fireworks going up most of the night and we were sat around the bonfire till about 4.30am! It was amazing waking up on the beach listening to the waves too…god I sound like I’m actually turning into a hippy! Anyway it was amazing!  Just revising for my last two exams then all the travelling starts again! Will keep in touch and up to date! I promise! And thanks for all the emails! I really appreciate it! Love Sam x x x  p.s It has been brought to my attention that my spelling has been pretty poor so I did a spell check on this so hopeful it’s ok…I’m doing my best!