Tarungi to Auckland 26th February - 4th March (Waitomo-Raglan-Coromandel-Auckland)

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got to Waitomo (an 8 hour walk followed by 2 hours driving does that to you!). We crashed for the night but still had to get up quite early the next morning to go blackwater toobing (floating in a rubber ring on an underground river).

The toobing was really cool, it was more than just floating in a rubber ring, we got to explore caves, do some potholing and see hundreds of glow worms! We were underground for around 3 hours in total. Eventually emerging to daylight was a welcome feeling but we both really enjoyed being in the caves and would do it again for definiate.

Raglan was a let down as a tropical storm came in just as we arrived. The surf was flat as was the feeling at the town, we moved on the next day and hoped we'd get an opportunity to surf elswhere.

After the toobing we continued our frantic trawl up the east coast of the north island to Hamilton were we had booked seats at a super 14's rugby match (super 14's is the domestic league down here, but not so domestic as it includes Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). The rugby turned out to be a really close game and we were all biting our nails in the last few minutes of the match as the Hamilton Cheifs tried to claw back a draw from their South African opponents The Sharks.

Accomodation in Hamilton was limited and as usual we booked late so our accomodation was a 15 min drive out of town. This turned out to be a stroke of good luck as we came across a ver reasonably priced horse trek operater in the small town of Karamu where we were staying. The trek was really authentic, it was just the two of us and the dairy farmer on it, and he took us across his land which had some stunning views and pretty challenging tracks.

After the trek we got on our way to the Coromandel Peninsula with only slightly sore bums and thighs. We were destined to meet Neil and Nina at 'Hot Water Beach'. The name is literal, if you dig a hole in the sand the water can be scalding hot! The beach was great because we dug our hole, went for a swim in the sea then came back to sit in our pre-made Sauna!

On our way to Auckland on the 2nd March we finally managed to get some surfing in, wooo! The journey went smoothly, nothing like the traffic going into London!

On the 3rd of March we had a breif walking tour of Auckland and took in the main sights (harbour bidge and sky tower) and found a nice resteraunt to have a last meal with Neil and Nina before they went off to Fiji and us to Sydney. We couldnt belive we were leaving New Zealand, its such a great country with so much to see and do, we all swore we'd be back!

Love Alex and Sophie

xxxxxxx