Arrival in Aoteora Finally arrived in New Zealand after a 28 hour flight. Having lost a day in the process of crossing the date line makes the experience even more surreal. Where did Thursday go? The flight was quite amazing though, I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to have a window seat. It was clear enough to see the rarely seen views over Greenland as well as various views of North America, including the Grand Canyo...

After two nights sleep, a quite drink or three in Petone and a major shop at 'Pak n Save' (and I mean major, this is the survival supplies for 5 people for a fortnight) it was time for the long road trip to Coromandel. We climbed into the red van that I have come to know and love and watched Kowhai house, and civilisation disapear. Everyone was pretty knackered so there was little banter, mostly just Toby telling us about New Zealand. Coromandel is about 400 mi...