so we left auckland for a few days to travel up north on the magic bus. thius was great we got to meet so many great ppl and have so much fun. the bus drivers were halarious. we went up to a place called paihia via this huge kairi tree forest. the kaori trees are huge and native to new zealand so this was quite interesting. paihia itself is pretty smalll and full of the 'older' generation, however it is right on the beach and so beautiful. day two we went on a trip to some local beaches and swam in both the tazmin sea and pasific nocean in one day. we visited the famous 90mile beach which we have now learned is actually only 64miles long so false advertising. lol. it was there that we tried our hands at sand boarding. this was so much fun, we only just made it back up to the top of the sand dune again for a second go as it was so tyring trying to get to the top. however once there the thril wa amazing. throwing yourself down sand dunes is a definite must. however sand gets everywhere from down yr top to in your eyes and mouth. the next day alice and i took a trip to the famous hole in the rock where we got to see dolphions and the famous Robinsons island. from there we returned to auckland for a few days. lucky for us we returned to the start of a local pasifica festival which is a celebration festiva of the local islands ie samoa, tongo, the cook islands etc. thus we were able to view local dances taste food, it was really. gd. our highlight so far though has to be the rugby match we got to see, auckland blues vs lions super 14. this was so much fun. hopefully the fun will continue. xxxx