Mon 24th Nov Rotorua to Waitomo It was another fairly early start this morning and once Rich was on the bus, he announced to us that he’d not slept very well that night. Before he could go on, I noticed a very shamefaced couple sitting not too far away from us. It turns out that Rich had gone to bed and could hear a couple getting very amorous in the pool right outside his window. He’d tried to ignore it but he said they were so loud that in the end he thoug...

Sun 23rd Nov Mercury Bay to Rotorua Good job I had an early night as it was another early start and there’s a real pressure not to be last on the bus. I think people are getting earlier and earlier and will soon be waiting for the bus an hour before it’s due to leave. Rich has started to notice that Kate is not the earliest of people and has specifically started to look out for it. This morning I had to go and hurry her up as we nearly left without her. Back...

Yes, yes it has been a ridiculously long time since I updated my blog and I have so much to catch up on it’s going to take a while. I’m about to leave Australia (uh huh I know…lots to write) so I thought maybe I should write at least something. Mercury Bay Saturday 22nd November We had another early start from outside the hostel the next morning and this time had a new driver called Rich. The other driver had told us that Rich was a newbie and this was...

Paihia, Bay of IslandsThursday 20th NovemberWe'd looked into camper vans and cars and came to the same conclusion for each, that they were too expensive to hire. I was really disappointed as I would have loved to hire a camper van but hopefully we will in Oz at some point. I was very apprehensive about the Kiwi Experience bus, which is basically a big green bus that takes you from place to place and can guarantee accommodation for you in hostels along the way. Yo...

Auckland (13th Nov - 19th Nov)Have started to put dates on so you don't get confused about where I am when.The flight passed quickly and I arrived into Auckland airport on time. As I was queuing at passport control, I got chatting to an American guy who had also been in Fiji but had been couch surfing (ie staying at people's houses for free thanks to the website couchsurfing). He said he'd had an 'interesting' stay in Fiji, had met the mayor, stayed in a shack an...