Kia Ora from New Zealand!

We are having an absolute blast!

We arrived in new Zealand last Thursday after being a little sad to leave Melbourne and arrived in Auckland to stay in a very central hotel near the harbour. We had a few days free before our tour so spent that having a look around and sampling the nightlife. Phil said that it was like Manchester without the charm, but we managed to have (lots of) fun none-the-less and did plenty of mingling with the locals. Having a partner in crime helps. We also spent a lovely afternoon in a little bit called Devonport and climbed up a dormant volcano to get great views of the city.

We met our tour group on Saturday night. My last experience in New Zealand was with a bunch of 18-19 year olds who had just left school and wanted to backpack round and get pissed all the time. This time I seem to be on a tour with their parents – or grandparents. Still this means that we get to stay in nice accommodation and Phil is a hit with the pensioners. He isn’t exactly swapping make-up tips and outfits yet, but it feels like that’s not far off and the bus is getting pinker by the day.

Our first stop was the Bay of Islands, an absolutely beautiful part of the world. Imagine all the nice bits of England/Ireland coastline chipped off and dropped in a blue ocean, bathed in gorgeous sunshine and peopled by chilled out friendly locals. We went on a tour that took in the most northerly point of New Zealand, Cape Rainga where the Pacific meets the Tasman Sea and you can actually see the oceans clash. Awesome views of coastline and “90 mile” beach, which in true Kiwi fashion isn’t really 90 miles, more like 90 km. But still stunning none the less and we got to drive along it in the bus at 110 km an hour and race another tour bus. Safe to say no one was sunbathing or they would have been run over.

Phil was doubtful about doing any “extreme” activities in New Zealand, but he took to “sand boarding” like a….like a….well he had a bloody good go at it – not willing to be outdone by the pensioners who are surprisingly sprightly. Don’t get between an old lady wielding tongs and the last hash brown at breakfast for example. So we ended up “surfing” down a huge sand dune on our bellies on a sort of surfboard. It was great fun. I managed to build up quite a bit of speed – maybe too many good breakfasts adding to my mass. Phil managed to fill his pockets (and his mobile) with sand. Unfortunately (!) the phone seems to have survived.

We went on a boat cruise and were fortunate enough to happen upon a pod of dolphins. There were dozens of them leaping out of the water around our boat and chasing us as we sailed around the islands. It was a truly amazing sight and we even saw a mother and baby dolphin swimming together right beside us. Hopefully I’ll get some photos uploaded soon. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime chance encounters and all the guides said that we were very lucky.

We returned to Auckland and picked up some new passengers, then set off south towards Rotorua – basically a town inside the basin of a volcano. There’s lots of thermal activity due to the thinness of the Earth’s crust. I’ve been here before but I must admit seeing it a) in summer and b) staying in nicer bits makes it seem like a whole new experience.

Oh and we saw “glow worms” in a cave in Waitomo, larva of insects that catch prey by dangling glowing bits of poo in caves. There are millions of them and you go through the limestone caves on a boat and look up at the cave roof covered in a million living fairy lights – maybe they are fairy lights and it’s all a big con!

Tonight we are having a traditional Maori meal and the group had to choose a “Chief” to represent us to meet the Maori chiefs before we can sit down to eat. Our chief has to rub noses with their chief, lead us in song and look butch.

So Phil has been voted Chief for the day and is leading us in song with Cliff Richard’s “Summer Holiday”.

Today the coach was speeding down the motorway with Phil at the front on the microphone schooling his pensioner-subjects on the words.

There’s more, lots more, but that’s just the highlights. .

It’s getting so surreal…

More photos soon!