Hello everyone,

Well I made it to Wellington although it feels like I've just made it to Antarctica - it's freezing here! I took a 12-hour train from Auckland yesterday, it left at 7:30am and got here about 7:45pm. The train ride sure was long but it was great - I really enjoyed it! It was an epic 423-mile trip across the whole interior of the North Island, and I saw pretty much every kind of scenery possible - the cities, volcanoes, mountains, really lush grass and farmland (and sheep!), industry, coastline, and New Zealand bush. The train snaked alongside the Waikoto river which is the longest in NZ, some staggering river gorges and snow-capped mountains sacred to the Maori - wow! We went over 362 bridges including 14 mega ones with some amazing viaducts.

Best of all was the layout of the train, it was really old-fashioned but at the back was a lounge area with panoramic glass windows where you could sit and take in the views (and get bored by posh English train-spotters zzz...!), and at the front between the 1st and 2nd carriages there was a small open-air walkway where you could stand and watch the world whizz by - it was so cool, if a bit windy! I spent ages out there and made sure I was there when the train did a series of hairpin bends at this section called the Raumiru Spiral - it climbs something like 700 feet in 3 miles! The train twists, turns and doubles back on itself and zooms through long, noisy tunnels - which gave me a fright as I was waving to the sheep! Also, I shoud mention that I ate a NZ pie - apparently it's a tradition on the Overlander to eat a pie, so although not my usual grub, I did and it was yummy - and I have photo evidence!

Back to Auckland, and after a slow start, I have some exciting things to report back on. One day I headed to the Auckland Museum (nice although I'm a bit museumed-out after the States) and the main park in Auckland. The weather improved a lot towards the end of the week and it was really sunny but still cold. On Friday I climbed a volcano! I took a ferry over to Rangitoto Island - it's the largest but youngest volcano in Auckland (only 600 years old). The climb to the summit wasn't overly challenging but the views from the top of the harbour were fab, and bizzarely enough as I was up there I bumped into someone I had met in Fiji! I did a load of smaller trails, into some cool lava caves (my head torch came in handy) and went exploring some really creepy derelict 'baches' - tiny holiday homes from the early 20th century - they were so cool though as you could peer into the windows and go into the back gardens and outbuildings - I found a newspaper from 1986!

Over the weekend I caught up with a friend I had met in the States - she zoomed me over to some of the beaches along the east coast and then over to some lovely viewpoints in the Whaitakere Ranges. I stayed at her house on the North Shore on Saturday - and we went glow worm hunting along a stream in the 'bush' after dark, it was pretty cool if a little creepy as it was Halloween! Plus we watched the big rugby game of the weekend - NZ vs Australia - and NZ won - yipee!

I'm taking a ferry over the Cook Strait to Picton, at the northern point of the South Island tomorrow and then hopefully a bus over to Nelson. I'm a bit worried as Dad has informed me that there is a gale warning for tomorrow...but I have a super cheap non-refundable/changeable ticket so I'll just bring a few bags and avoid breakfast. It's a 3 hour ride so not too bad...

Hope everyone is well. I'll try to update some photos but have picked up a virus on my menory stick so I'm a bit stuck but will think of a plan.

Grace xx