We've packed on a lot of clicks and just arrived on the South Island. The sketchy weather, apparently a cyclone, chased us here so we've got sore bums from all of the driving. We went on a 20km hike yesterday that would normally have given us spectacular views of Mount Taranaki (a still active volcano) and the Tasman sea, but instead we just got quite wet, tired and achy. Nonetheless, it was great to get out and be in the wilderness. It is, however, somewhat diff...

Self-cleaning clothing I just wanted to update the rest of the world on a miraculous discovery I've made. As I'm sure you've seen; it appears that I'm wearing the same old clothes day after day. In fact I've found that if you wear a shirt for 2-3 days and it becomes...gamey, push on. Often by the 4th day the shirt will actually start smelling better. If not, it's time to rest that shirt for a day. Apparently clothing gets tired too, so leaving a shirt lying arou...

Finally uploaded some pictures!Well - we are getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road - one instance of facing an oncoming car teaches that lesson quite effectively. Jason has also figured out that turning on the windshield wipers as a turn signal is not sufficient. We've had some good "touristing" north of Auckland. Our micro camper turned out to be just that: micro in price and size. It has also already a name: The White Bullet and its ma...

Hi from civilized New Zealand. We arrived after 10 really nice days in the Cook Islands. Very relaxed, and VERY tropical. We were 2 sweaty little Canadians. We spent most of our time on Rarotonga with a short side trip to Aitutaki. The people in the Cooks were unbelievably friendly. Like no other place we've ever been. You could walk up to what would normally be surly teenagers and just start chatting to them about the surf conditions. The local cuisine left a lo...