Hey everyone, here we are in a somewhat colder New Zealand. It's been abit of a shock to the system leaving the 25C - 30C which we've been used to for the last two and abit months. So it was jeans on, thermals out and hoodies on!!

We arrived in New Zealand and recieved a free cup of tea at the airport, a good start by anyones standards. Especially Beckys! After finally clearing customs after having our tent and boots cleaned by Bio-Security we got on the bus to Auckland. The city of sails. When we arrived at our accomodation we found ourselves in one of the 'penthouse apartments' - thanks to an Expedia error for that one. We didn't complain and thought of it as a nice treat for my birthday.

Our first day involved the usual wondering around finding our bearings whilst enjoying the feeling of being in a city.

The second day dawned with a happy birthday cake (cheesecake, i do like those!) and blowing out of the candles!! Beck had done a great job sorting out my card, party balloons and banners to decorate the room and suprise me. We went down to the viaduct where we tried to get a trip on one of the Americas Cup yachts. Unfortunately we were told they needed 7 people to have booked before they consider going out, the next trip that was possible was the Tuesday after. So that was that, I had to wait. We went for lunch in a place called the Waterfront, which was a nice restaurant on the harbourside. We treated ourselves to a great meal using some of my birthday money and we both fully enjoyed it. Following lunch we went to the Maritime Museum, it was an interesting place where they had exibits from all over the Pacific. The second disappointment of the day was that the Peter Blake section had been closed for refurbishment. We finished our first day off with a hot chocolate before heading home.

On Monday we walked down the famous and rather posh Ponsonby Road. Renowned for it's boutiques and fine dining. We managed a small panini for lunch and then spent a small fortune in a nice Deli. Luckily Beck managed to keep our budget in check even though she was tempted by a nice pair of jeans.

Tuesday we made our way back down to the Viaduct to find that we would be able to go for a sail. It was blowing 25 knots and the sun was out - perfect! We left the harbour grinded the sails up and in, soon after we were travelling east, upwind out towards Rangitoto island at a brisk 11 knots!! Rangitoto is New Zealands youngest volcano, only 600 years young! After four or five breathless tacks using the "coffee grinders" we passed to the west of Rangitoto and headed out toward the Hauraki Gulf. We eventually turned and headed back toward the city, this was now our time to helm. Beck went first and did a great job, I think my team talk helped, "you'll be fine it's like a car, left for left and right for right." I took the helm next and took us back in toward Devonport. It was a great feeling being in control of an actual America Cup yacht, something we will always remember. After we had our chance at helming we moved further forward to sit and enjoy the ride. The boat is still very much in it's original form with only two additions, an engine and small guard rail around the aft section of the cockpit. We still don't know how the foredecks stay onboard as there is nothing to hold onto except a ridge on the deck. Perhaps thats why they get paid so much!! The day continued in high spirits when we met up with an old friend Dave and his lovely wife Jen. We caught up over a few vodka's and went for a great meal at a tapas bar. Needless to say we drank too much, ate too much and talked too much and then paid for it the following day.

Wednesday came and we embarked on a little hike up a hill called Mt Eden. It's a volcanic mound a couple of miles away from the city centre. From here you get a great view of the city and the suburbs which flow away from it. After taking up the view ( and catching our breath) we descended the hill and made our way through a few quiet suburbs until we reached Auckland Museum. We spent a few hours wandering around the 3 floors in a bit of a daze as a result of the Vodka and Stella the night before! Later we had planned to head over to the observatory but alas the New Zealand clouds had the last laugh!!

Following our Hillary-esk asent of Mt Eden the previous day we decided on a day out window shopping in Devonport. The lure of the quaint, cosy shops proved too much and Bec had her first hair cut!! Bout bloody time!!! After that we walked up another hill and managed to glimpse a few yachts racing in the harbour, before wandering back down to catch the 10 min ferry ride back over to Auckland.

The following day we walked down Queen Street stopping in the shops to avoid the showers! Not long after, we were walking home with a few extra bags in tow!! Tip of the day - if you want to hold on to the budget, never walk down a street full of shops in the rain!! That evening we had organised to go out to the cinema with Dave and Jen and see the premiere of District 9. We spoilt ourselves by going "gold class" this is where you watch the film in a reclining armchair and recieve waiter service at the push of a button! It was a very funny experience - a revolution in cinema going! Perhaps in 30 years the Palace might catch up???

Saturday dawned very early (06:00) ready to catch our bus to Pahia at 07:30. We had a comfortable trip up North to the Bay Of Islands over some beautiful countryside, a contrast to the city sprawl we had been in for the last week. Once we had arrived our driver took us for a quick tour through Paihia - it's a very small town on a beachfront, similar to Tenby we both agreed.

On Sunday we took out the free bikes the hostel had and headed off to Hakura Falls. We ended up trying to cycle down the "walk only" route before being made aware that "we couldn't take those down there"! Oops!! We found the correct route and set back off on what turned out to feel like a mini Tour De France!! About an hour later we finally arrived at the falls and a welcome rest. After the usual photo shoot we headed back towards town and had an ice cream as reward!

The next morning we had arranged to go on a dolphin watching boat trip around the islands and then out to the "hole in the rock". The early morning trip gave us great views out across the bay, we came across Mr SKY TV's hidden pad - you can see where your subscription goes!! From here we travelled through the islands and lucky for us spotted some dophins. It was nice to be around them in their own habitat, seeing them for what they really are rather than a staged tourist attraction like some things we have seen! They stayed around our boat for about 20 minutes, ducking, diving and playing with seaweed giving us plenty of photo opportunities. Sadly we had to leave the dolphins and head further out to sea to attempt the hole in the rock. Upon reaching the point you can see the lighthouse looking out over the sheer cliffs of the east coast, being battered by some raw white water - it was quite a view!! We are told you can stay at the old lighthouse keepers hut for 12 dollars a night! Just offshore there is an outcrop of rock with a large hole in it at one end. With a 2 meter swell running and the wind up the captain thankfully decided against going through and so we headed back towards the inner islands and more sheltered waters. Before returning we had the chance to get off at one of the small islands to have a walk around.

The following day we travelled across to the West coast to a place called Hokianga Harbour. This place has a population of 480, no public transport and no taxis!! It is one of the deepest natural harbours in New Zealand and was made famous in the 50's by Opo the gay dolphin! Opo was a lone dolphin that came into the harbour and over time started playing games with the swimmers. Across the other aide of the Harbour are a huge set of sand dunes, in summer you can board down these, like snow! At the mouth of the harbour there is a large sandbar. When the tide is flowing hard it creates huge overfalls, quite a sight.

Once we had got rid of our bags we decided to buy a hand fishing line and a bit of gear then go for a walk along the coast and try our luck. We found a nice spot and a couple of hours later we had something extra for tea, an Australian Salmon (Kawaiha)! Must have been lost! The next day we went for a 2 hour walk up a rather large hill to get a good look at the harbour, then back to our spot for some more fishing - there is not much else to do! We were lucky again and this time took home two fish, a Salmon and a Trevally. On our walk back across the beach we saw some huge stingrays just yards from the beach, a great sight to finish off our day.

We left Hokianga and headed back to Auckland to catch our coach South. From Auckland we travelled to a place called Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga). On our way we stopped at Hot Water Beach, this is a strange place where one hour each side of low tide you can dig around in the sand and create your own hot pool. It's something to do with the underground volcanic activity, and it is very very hot up around 70 degrees C! So even in the middle of winter you can go down to the beach in your swim gear and sit in these hot pools, quite funny! After we were sufficiently hot we got back on the bus and headed for Cathedral Cove. We are told that this cove features on one of the Lord Of The Rings films, that was great except the hour long walk there and back!

We only had one night in Whitianga before heading further South to Waitomo and the famous glow worm caves! There are plenty of adventurous things to do here but we settled on a night abseil. Before we could begin we had to don overalls, wellies and a helmet, very nice! We had to make our way down a muddy track and stand on a rickety old platform directly above a 50 meter crack in the ground. A bit nerve racking! With the pitch black below we could not see the bottom. It is always un-nerving finally letting go of everything and just dangling above the blackness. Once down inside the cave the view was quite amazing, pitch black, you cannot see anything! Except of course the glow worms. The sides of the cave arw covered woth these little specks of light. When you are dangling around it feels like you are looking up at the stars, quite surreal.

We're now in Rotorua - the cultural capital of the north island and home to natural hot water pools and mud pools. Looks like fun........we'll let you know in the next blog!

As always take care......