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Well...the end is nigh!!! Can't believe we're already at the end of another country! New Zealand has been fantastic and even more stunning than I anticipated. We've been in The Lost World, Middle Earth, The Piano and every other breath-taking place you can imagine.
We left Nelson and took the ferry across to Wellington. The crossing was beautiful as we sailed out between the Sounds, although it was windy and Vicki almost had a jandal emergency! Wellington was ace! It was full of quirky and arty shops and was definitly where the "artists' hang out! Oh, that's what I was going to say - the artwork is fantastic! There's murals everywhere - on the sides of shops, on toilets in the hostels...so looks like no work for me here then!
We spent a couple of days in Wellington and then managed to get a car rellocation - this is where a hire car needs rellocating from one major city to the next. Luckilly one needed taking up to Auckland over 48 hours so we got a really good deal. Looking back I know now why the guy in the hire car place gave me a funny look when i asked if our Ford Falcon was "any good" and "had a radio"!!! :D We even had an inbuilt computer!
We travelled up to Auckland via Routaroa and the "thermal highway". This was quite a disappointment as you had to pay a really high entry fee to anything remotely "thermal". In the end we found quite an impressive bubbling mud pool on a little road behind one of the main attractions, and then sat (with the other cheap-skates) with our feet in a thermal pool in the middle of a park!
After a few nights of uncomfortable sleeping in the car and rat encounters (video to follow!), we finally got to the "city of Sails" - Auckland. Erm, there isn't much to do in Auckland but there is a big sailing competition on at the mo so we were able to snoop on some of the teams preparing the boats down in the harbour. We managed to get our "naked bus" ( a great disappointment!;P) tickets to Touronga (spelling!?) and Stu, katrina and Olly/Ollie.
We had a lovely week of fun, wine, facemasks, murals, wine and HUGE UP-HILL WALKS and the five days flew by. Thanks again for letting us stay :) We also managed to schedule a proper day at the beach, swim in the sea, and further practice of the underwater camera - ready for Thailand snorkelling! A hike up the mount gave us superb views of the coast line and surrounding island. (still haven't seen the outline of a shark OR a really impressive spider!)
And now we're in Auckland again, all checked in for our flight to Bangkok via Sydney tomorrow. Had a slap up mexican meal and enough dollars left for a farewell breakfast.
New Zealand has been awesome and everything I hoped it to be.. I'll be back, with a campervan, millionaire and a paint brush. Farewell Middle Earth xxx
Lou x
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