We left Auckland this morning, after Mum and Paul went to pick up the car that we will be using for the trip from Northland to Southland for the next 3 weeks, about.

We were going to get a campervan, but there are surprisingly, not any available at a decent price at the moment, but thats ok, because they managed to get a really good deal, instead!!!

By some luck, and a little researching, Paul managed to get a brand new, BMW 3 series, with all the extras, for cheaper than a camper!!! Apparently, the car place was offering them for rent on the cheap, because thay needed a load of them deliverring to the Southland forr the Summer (which starts soon, over here, even though Im finding it hard to get my head aroud, being November and all!!)as they were all deliverred to the North for some reason. Hey! Im not complaining! A little bargainous luxury never goes amiss!!!hehe.

Anyway, we drove up to Mount Eden, the big volcano that is just outside the centre of the city, although, strangely, we had a little trouble getting there!! (You would think that it would be relatively easy to locate a big mountain, but it was actually quite hard to find a road up the thing!!!!)

Anyway, we eventually did, and when we got to the top, it was another fantastic, 360 degree view of the city. However, it was SO WINDY that I was struggling not to be blown over into the crater in the middle of the thing!!! Its actually dormant at the moment, so you cant see any lava bubbling in there or anything. And there is actually grass growing up all the inside of the crater...with a load of cows grazing happily in it.... (wouldnt like to be one of those cows if the thing goes POP!! It would be Roast Beef all round!!!)

Afterwards, we drove out of Auckland, over the bridge, and didnt get that far into the countryside before disaster struck....

Mum (aka David Attenborough II-Nature Photographer) asked Paul to stop driving, so that I could take her a photo out of the back window of the rolling hillside behind us....

So, I roll down the window, and all of a sudden, there was a rather disconcerting "Clunk."

The window had dropped, and I couldnt get it to go up again!!! Doh!! Just typical that it would happen to the window that I was using, to further reinforce my total technophobicness!!!!!

We decided to go to the nearset villiage to call the car hire place, but we had to go over the motorway with the window down (obviously) which was really uncomfortable, because the air rushing through was making all our eardrums vibrate and giving us really bad pains in our ears!! Paul tried to drive as slowly as he could to make it a little better, but theres only so slow you can go on the motorway!!!!

Anyway, we eventually got to a shopping area, and called tham, where they gave us directions to the BMW dealership, where they said that they could fix it within 15 minutes whilst we waited.

We decided to have a bite to eat first though, and had our first taste of FISH & CHIPS!!!! (hark!!!) in 5 months!! (It was so good!!!!)

After revelling in the grease and calories wrapped in paper, we set off towards the dealership in fine weather.....then, about 3 minutes down the road, the heavens openned, and started an almighty torrential downpour (its true what they say about New Zealand- you can get 4 seasons in a day! In the space of a minute, you can go from blazing hot sunshine to being absolutely soaked to the bone!!! How are you supposed to plan an outfit????tssskkk!!lol) Luckily, I dont have a problem planning an outfit, because being a smelly backpacker, I wear the same things everyday, regardless of the weather!!!hehehe.

Anyway, the rain was pouring in the hole where the window should have been, and I was getting absolutely soaked to the bone!! The only thing I could do to somehow shelter myself, was to hang my coat over one side of my head (nearest to the window) and hold it the best as I could over the hole!!!(which wasnt very successful!)

Of course, Mum found the whole thing hysterical, and took some rather amusing photos of me in an utterly unimpressed state, whilst the looks of bemusement on the faces of other road users was entertaining me. They were obviously thinking "If your getting wet, why dont you just shut the bloody window???Blondes, eh.....lol.

We arrived at the dealership, me somewhat soggy, and they managed to fix it by putting a new motor thingy in it, whilst we wnt and had a free coffee at a nearby cafe. Then thay sent us on our way, and we drove for a good few hours, into the countryside.

The scenery is absolutely gorgeous-its true what people say, and I was just admiring a particularly lovely view, when all of a sudden, Paul exclamed "F******* Hell!!!" and there in the road right in front of us was a really nasy accident, and what remained of a car, scattered accross the road.

It was really awful. We only caught a glimpse of it for a few seconds, whilst we were usherred past by a witness, but I could see that the car had somehow gone accross to the other side of the road, and straight into the front of a massive freight Lorry. It had only just happened, because there were no emergency services there, but the person in the car had obviously, unfortunately passed away, because there was a blanket coverring where the window had been, and there was nobody there talking to them.

It was really bad. I dont think Ive ever seen an accident that bad before in my life.The car was practically destroyed, and we were all pretty shaken by it, I think. And it certainly made everybody that was driving behind us, and Paul, slow down.

We were quite depressed for a while after that, until Mum said that we had to put it out of our minds, and carry on. Which she was right about, although it was pretty grim.

But then, we saw the most amazing, bright, vibrant Rainbow, stretched all the way along the sky, and we admired that, and took photos for a while.

It felt rather ironic, really; seeing something so awful, and then seeing something so lovely so close to eachother. But thats just life, I suppose.

After a few more hours drive, we took the Ferry over to Russell, a place in the Bay of Islands, and by this time, it was geting dark. We drove around for absolutely ages, looking for a place to stay, as we hadnt booked anything, but they were all so expensive!! I went into one that was way above the budget, but it was easy to see why!! It was like a full apartment, beautifully furnished with upholdtered chairs, artwork, ornaments, and big, carved beds!! A bit like a country cottage!!

I wish that we could have stayed there!!!

After ages, we were starting to give up hope, and were contemplating going back to catch the last Ferry back to the mainland at 10pm, but in the last place we went to, the Russell Hotel, we managed to find somewhere for a reasonable price. (Just bloody typical!!)

I think Mum was swayed by the beautiful Bison Frische that she made friends with at the reception, called Barbie!!! But, it was an alright place, with Hot Water and a bed, so I was just glad to have somewhere to crash!!!

There's a TV in the room, along with a microwave, fridge, and facilities for making hot drinks, with free tea, coffee, and hot chocolate, (unusual luxuries), and the news has just been on, and said that in Auckland, the extra windy conditions that we experienced at the top of Mount Eden, earlier, have actually resulted in a massive storm, that has cut off loads of peoples power supply, fell trees, blown the rooves off buildings, and they even had to shut the Skytower all evening for safety reasons, even though it is designed to allow for 1 metre of sway caused by high winds!!! So, it must be pretty bad down there!! It looks like we left just in time!!Phew!!

(And here was I, thinking that it was just really windy because we were on top of a volcano......)