HELLO EVERYONE!

Its been a while hasn't it?!

Heres a quick round up of the last month or so. When we last wrote we were in Tauranga. From there we headed to the centre of the North island and Rotorua. Rotorua is a very geothermally active area and whilst we were there we went to see the geothermic valley. We watched the Lady Knox Geyser erupt and then walked around the geothermal attractions, which were crazily coloured lakes and steaming craters. It really was like the moon - but also very smelly because of all that sulphur! We also went to see the buried village, the old site of a Maori settlement before Mount Tarawera erupted and covered the village in ash. You can still see the sites of the old hotels and houses.

We moved onto Lake Taupo next, which is very beautiful and also the biggest lake in Australasia. The town around Taupo is very pretty and we went to see the dam opening, to see Huka Falls and to taste Honey at the Honey centre. From Taupo we moved east to the coast and Napier. Napier is an old art-deco city and has the largest intact collection of art deco buildings in the world. The city was really lovely although we were suffering with a very severe bout of flu. We managed to go on a visit to the chocolate factory (and ofcourse buy some) but mostly wandered around on the beach or rested feeling sorry for oursleves. Our campsite was great though, and we saw dolphins in the sea very close by.

We were sad to leave Napier, but moved onto Hastings where we continued to feel ill. We drove up a very steep hill for great views all around. I wont bother telling you about the next couple of days as we were also ILL! We finally arrived in Wellington feeling a little better and explored the city. Wellington is our favourite city in NZ as it is really quirky and modern. We spent the morning shopping and went to Te Papa museum in the afternoon, which is massive and really up to date.The next day we caught the ferry to Picton and the South Island. The ferry crossing took 3 hours and we saw seals along the way!

Picton was a lovely little harbourside town, even in the rain. From there we moved onto Blenheim where we went to a really great aeroplane collection. The collection actually belonged to Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings movies. He and his team of designers, Weta (who worked on LOTR) designed sets for the planes to be displayed in and this made the whole museum really interesting! We also saw the local character 'eddie the eel' at our campsite and thought about bringing him back for a pet for Jazzy.She will have to wait and see if we did!

From Blenheim we moved onto Kaikoura. On the way there we saw a huge colony of seals sunbathing on the rocks. A little further along the road we saw a full carpark (unusual in New Zealand!) and pulled over to see what was going on. We followed a short walk through the forest to a waterfall where baby seals were playing. There must have been hundreds! On the way back to the car a seal sniffed my shoe!! :)Kaikoura was lovely, and surrounded by snowy mountains on 3 sides and the sea on the other. It was in Kaikoura that we heard about the Christchurch earthquake and so we altered our route and headed for Hamner Springs up in the mountains. It was quite a drive to get there up typically squiggly roads and once there we just relaxed before the next day moving onto Akaroa. Akaroa was absolutely gorgeous, and quite French! The tiny town was right on the harbour and we wandered around looking in the boutiques. Some damage had been done to the town by the earthquake and in the morning we even felt an aftershock!!

From Akaroa we moved onto Oamaru via Geraldine (yes, that's what it's called!!). In Oamaru we went to see the Blue Penguin colony! Blue Penguins are the smallest in the world and actually are blue! We saw them nesting and were told there were 5 chicks, but despite our patience, only saw the adults! We also wandered around the old dock buildings which still housed really specialist shops like bookbinders and saddleries. From Oamaru to the city of Dunedin, where we explored the city before heading onto the peninsula to see Larnach castle. Larnach castle is NZ's only castle and looks very European - but actually quite small! We explored the castle and its grounds and even went up the turret!

To celebrate our 3 year anniversary we booked a cottage in Naseby for 2 nights, called Delaneys on Avoca. It was literally perfect, with TV, Outdoor bath, beautiful garden and lovely open fire. We didnt leave for the entire 2 days and werent ready to leave when we had to!! We pressed on however to Queenstown which we didnt really like. It was very crowded and chaotic so we decided to stay in neighbouring historic Arrowtown instead, which was much nicer. It snowed whilst we were there, which was a surprise!

The next day we moved onto Wanaka, which again was absolutely stunning. A crystal clear lake surrounded by snowy mountains and a quaint little town. Whilst there we went to Puzzle World, a crazy little place. We walked around the hall of faces (which move to follow you) and went in a tilted room where it was really hard to stand up. Every room was a different illusion and we also attempted the maze, but im ashamed to say our attention didnt last to long!!

From Wanaka we moved on to see the Glaciers on the west coast. Fox Glacier was absolutely amazing and we could see the valley where the glacier was previously. We walked right up to the glacier, over ice cold streams and past waterfalls. Tom tried some of the water and said it was very fresh! From there we drove to Hokitika where we enjoyed a very nice curry for our lunch! We hadnt eaten out for ages and decided to treat ourselves! The next day we went to Nelson, a small city and then back to Picton to catch the ferry back to Wellington.

Wellington was great as ever and the ferry crossing was smooth despite high winds in the days before. We explored the rest of the museum (yes, its that big!) and we shared a pizza for lunch, which was delicious. We also bought some more vinyl - we just cant resist!!

From Wellington we drove to Wanganui and then back to Lake Taupo where we are now! Oh and by the way, this morning we both flung ourselves of a 47 metre high ledge above a raging river!!

Okay, we were attached by a rather large bungy cord and it was AMAZING but SOOOO scary. We opted for a tandem jump so we got to jump together and I just clung to Tom the entire time. Tom was the braver of the two of us although I think I may have heard just a little scream! (OK, a big one!). We were hanging upside down for quite a while until Tom grabbed the boat mans hand and we were pulled into the boat! The worst bit was climbing back up the hill to the top!! haha... We have the DVD and photos AND tshirt to prove it - just incase you think we are lying!! We will stay in Taupo for the rest of the week.

Anyway, got to go - our stomachs are rumbling and Domino's is a calling! We decided NOT to eat before the bungy - you can imagine why! We have uploaded photos and will try to upload the bungy pics and vid.

Lots of Love

Lucy and Tom xxxx The Daredevils! xxx