Afternoon all!

Probably best to put the kettle on before settling into this one... Quite a lot to report.

Auckland-Two nights in quite a nice hostel. Very rainy and cold, but that failed to dampen the spirits and we had a good wander around. We ended up in a place called the London Bar on the first night-how patriotic eh?! Later that evening Matt and I sat in a really nice place that had a sort of Night and Day vibe only quite a lot cleaner. It turns out that Tuesday is not a party night in Auckland, so we were in bed by around 12. The following day we found a good second hand shop where I bought a nice green coat. That evening I went to see the New Zealand Ballet and Auckland Philharmonia performance of Romeo and Juliet, which was really nice. The girls had food poisoning by the time I got back! We did our best to look after them and they are now as good as ever, which is great! I liked Auckland and would have stayed a little longer, maybe to see how things are at the weekend.

The start of our camper van adventure came on the following morning. It's great sitting in the back taking in the views New Zealand has to offer. The weather was cold, sunny and just really lovely. The roads are insanely windy and steep in places. It got dark so we stayed on the side of a mountain for the night. In the morning we drove to Mercury Bay, where the water, sun and islands are all stunning. My new camera had been well and truly tested by now.

Next stop Hamilton. I suddenly realised that Chris Greenslade, an old friend from college used to live in Hamilton. I called him on the off chance and that evening we were sat having drinks in his house along with the lovely Bridget who is six months pregnant! Really nice to see them both and catch up. They invited us for brunch the next day, which was also great. In the evening we saw The Dark Knight, which we all really enjoyed. Lee Marks-I would be interested to hear your opinion on this... I loved it. We missed the best part of a 'cyclone' during the film, which was fine by me.

After a few days, I started getting used to staying in different campsites, parks, roadsides etc for one night before moving on. We visited Hobbiton and saw the remaining Lord of the Rings film set. I hadn't seen the films at this point, but a really nice lady in a camp site gave us a TV/DVD and Lord of the Rings DVDs the following night!

Watching Matthew and Carol Zorb down a massive hill in Rotorua like a pair of demented Hamsters was amusing. The Zorb was filled with water so they would slide around. It looked fun but not really for me. Rotorua is full of volcanic hot pools and the place smells of Sulphur in certain areas. Matt and I swam in a hot outdoor pool, followed by a painfully cold walk back to the indoor swimming pool.

Taupo next. We met with Jenny and Kate in their hostel and had a nice meal together. We ended up quite drunk later that evening. It would seem that many people take dancing quite seriously in Taupo, and it was hilarious watching them. The following afternoon, Carol and I emptied our pockets and jumped off a platform over lake Taupo with a bungy rope attached to our ankles. Bungy jumping is great fun. I liked it more than I thought I would have. Taupo was great, lots of nice little independent shops and and the lake itself was lovely.

Our second night in Wellington tonight and I am sure it's going to be a quiet one after last nights antics. We went out with Jenny and Kate along with a few others from their Kiwi bus. We ended in a club at an album lauch for a band called Ginger Brown who were very good. They played a ridiculously long set. Matt and I got completely lost on the way home until a drunk man holding a Cosmo magazing pointed us in the right direction.

We crossed to the South Island yesterday morning. The weather is much better and we have had a fair bit of sunshine (although it is quite cold). We spent our first night on the roadside in the Abel Tasman National Park, which was amazing! We were told off by a rather irate young man this morning as apparently we should not have been parked where we were. He looked like he was into nature, a fair bit more than me (and I am quite into nature if you didn't already know). He cursed something under his breath about along the lines of "You English don't know these things..." As far as we were concerned, it is OK to park somewhere where there is an abscence of NO PARKING signs. Oh well...no harm done!

This afternoon Liz and I put some silly gear on, got into a plane and jumped out at 13,000 feet! It was fantastic and the head rush was immense. I'm still feeling a little phased out two hours later. Everyone should do a skydive in my opinion. Of course it is a bit daunting, but you'll be happy once you have landed back on the ground as the freefall (50odd seconds in this case) is unlike anything you can imagine!

Moving South along the West coast tomorrow. I shall see you all here again soon. Best wishes!

x