We find ourselves in Tauranga now, the first lively place we've been to in New Zealand. In fact, everywhere has been either dreary with drizzle or empty of people, it seems this country is mostly empty. Still, we are finding many things to do. We've been canyoning down massive caves (abseiling, rock climbing, tubing and jumping into freezing water off high rocks, all in the dark with glowworms everywhere), and we went kayaking the other day. Also done a n...

I figured I should enter another entry here before it's too late. We leave Auckland tomorrow to get our campervan and head into the wilderness. If what we've seen today, going up a volcano just outside the city (Rangitoto, an island of some such), for which we stumbled through caves without a torch and myself I forgot to take off my sunglasses, then we are doomed so soon as we leave the city. Our plan for tomorrow: Goat Island. Apparently it's not an ...