Hey guys! Sorry i've not been on for so long but been really busy and had a few pc disasters lately so not had much access! So means got loads to write as not been on since saturday morning! so get comfy! lol. Ok, so on saturday we left Katrinas in our hire car and drove to the sunshine coast to Ali's cousin's house. I was very pleased with myself as managed to navigate us there without getting lost at all! Once we were there we spent some time talking to Shelly and her husband and then we all went for a drive to a nearby beach. We had a drink and then went for a walk around, we were actually out for 3hrs in total! The beach was lovely. That night we had a bbq which was very good. They only moved to Oz in April so we were the first visitors! It was a good day. On Sunday me and Ali left theirs and drove to the australia zoo, owned by Steve Irwin. It was quite a good zoo, though the range of animals was not as good as others I've been to. We saw quite a few shows including a crocodile one which was ok. That night we drove back to Katrinas (i kind of fell asleep during the drive home but lucky woke up just in time so navigate! lol don't think Ali was too impressed! lol) and went for a meal that night with her and Jonathans aunt. On Monday katrina drove the 3 of us to Sea World and we spent a few hours there. As well as animals they also have some rides including 2 water rides which we went on as well as some others. We left there at about 2pm and went to KIrra beach which was an AMAZING beach! Much better than Bondi! It had lovely white sand which was really deep and it wasnt at all busy so it was nice and quiet. We spent the afternoon there before going back to hers. That night her brother cooked us a roast dinner as our last meal with them :0( On Tuesday we woke at 6am :0( and headed to the airport for our morning flight to Auckland. The flight took about 3hrs and we landed at about 3pm (they are another 2hrs ahead over there so we are now 11hrs ahead of the UK). Once we landed and got our luggage we were picked up by our hire company and taken to get our car. We then drove to Rotorua where we spent the night. We were very pleased with ourselves as managed to get there without gettig lost despite it being a 3hr drive (half in the dark!) and the hostel check-in closed at 7.30pm and we got there at 7.15pm...! We headed straight to the supermarket and cooked dinner then went to sleep as we were both exhausted. We were sharing with 2 other girls but we didnt actually meet them as they arrived when we were asleep (I remember the light going on and hearing people talk but didnt see them!) and then we left before they woke. Rotorua is very smelly, can smell the sulphur as soon as you enter the town! Today we went to see the natural geysers and mud pools. We also got to meet our first kiwi bird and saw some maori's. They gave us a guided tour of the park and then put on a concert at midday which included singing, dancing and the famous hakka dance. It was really good, would recommend it to whoever visits here next! Then we drove on to Taopu. As you enter Taopu you see the lake and in the background are some snowcapped mountains, the view was amazing. It looked so tranquil. We checked into our hostel and after dinner had a walk around the town (its very small and quaint here, all the towns are). Tomorrow we are going to have a look at the lake properly and then we drive to Napier where we spend the night. We aim to be in the south island by the beginning of next week at the latest. We will end up in Christchurch and then on wednesday 9th we fly from there to auckland, ready for our flight home on the 10th. Hope you are all ok, missing everyone loads! Take care xxxxx