29/05/2005 : Well, we're finally in Auckland! The weather is freezing and raining and we live at the top of the biggest hill in the known universe, but apart from that we're great! We arrived at 2pm today after spending over 30 hours hanging around waiting to catch our flight. We've been for a little walk down to the quayside but are going to do some more exploring tomorrow and we are also going to find out what stuff their is for us to do here. Hopefully, we are going to go exploring some of the volcano's here and take in some of the traditional Maori culture that is displayed in and around the city. We'll write again when we have some more news. Take care, K & M x x 01/06/2005 : Well today is the first time we have actually had some sunshine since we have been here. Its still really cold though. We met up with some of our friends that we met in Sydney last night, who have come over to New Zealand to watch the Lions rugby tour. We got a little bit drunk but it was a good night. Hopefully we are going to be going on a tour of the Lord of the Rings film set and also to see some volcanoes this week. The time is really flying - only 6 weeks til we get home!! Very scary! Anyway, we'll let you know when we've got somemore news to share. Hope everyone back home is alright. Lots of love K & M x x 05/06/2005 : Well we have done quite a bit this week. On Thursday we went on a tour of 'Hobbiton' where they filmed the scenes where the hobbits lived in Lord of the Rings. It was really interesting. We got to go around all of the location where the scenes were shot and see what is remaining of the sets. New Line Cinema who produced the film took away a lot of the film sets once filming had finished but there is still a lot there to see. On Friday night we went to a bar called Minus5. Its completely made of ice (even down to the glasses you drink out of!) and its flippin freezin but a good laugh. For about ten quid you get to go into the bar for 25 mins (you cant stay any longer because its too cold!) and you get to drink a vodka cocktail out of a glass made of ice. Its was definately an experience! Saturday was a very interesting day too. After deliberating over it for the past few months Karen finally got a tattoo!! Just to re-assure those of you out there (i.e Karen's mum) it isnt very big, its of a butterfly and its at the bottom of her back so you hardly even see it! And also a note to all those people who said it doesnt hurt to have a tattoo - YOU'RE ALL LIARS!!! Today we spent the day taking a last look at the sights that Auckland has to offer and we went for a bit of a hike up to an extinct volcano called Mt Eden. We were expecting something really fantastic but it just turned out to be a huge crater in the ground - worth taking a look at anyway! We are now going to pack our cases AGAIN and hopefully get an early night. We leaving for Fiji at lunchtime tomorrow and we cant wait to finally see the sun again. We'll keep you updated with our latest news when we have some. Take care, K & M x x