We were greeted at Auckland airport by my Auntie Cath (Dads sister) which was lovely and got on our way to their beautiful home in the country just outside the city in a village called Brookby. I havn't seen my 2 cousins, Ben and Jamie, for over 2 years and havn't seen my Uncle Doug for about 8 years so it was great to catch up with them! Thank goodness North Island isnt as cold as the South so it was the first time in a week we didnt need our thermals on! During the evening they took us to a local pub they own and although it wasnt like our english pubs, we had fantastic food and they have some great plans for the place.

The following day we did some sightseeing around Auckland, down to the waterfront which overlooks the extinct volcanoe, Rangitoto, and around to the city where we met my second cousins, Katie and Aimee Sherning. They were great tour guides and showed us the famous viaduct where the Americas cup yaughts were kept. We then drove over the famous bridge (Slightly different to Sydney!) and around to a place called Devonport which is very pretty and you get views over to the city from the top of North Head. There are also small beaches over this side but it was way too cold to enjoy them!! During the evening we had dinner at their family home (Dougs brothers) which was just lovely. Jack fitted right in and was trying to get into their famous national sport of Rugby!!

On Monday Auntie Cath, Jack and I got the ferry from the city over to Rangitoto island and trekked to the top of the volcanoe! The journey up was pretty tough and after that im not sure i could do Kilimanjaro Dad! The crater was pretty huge and you could just imagine the lava flooding out! Rangitoto is the youngest of the volcanoes in North Island being 600 years old and as New Zealand is in the famous 'Ring Of Fire' there are a number of volcanoes that still show signs of activity! Luckily for us Rangitoto is pretty dormant! During the evening the family had dinner up the Sky Tower which looks over the whole of the city. The restaurant slowly rotates which was pretty cool.

Yesterday Jack and I drove about 2 hours South to a town called Rotatrua which is pretty famous over here as it holds many natural geothermal parks. It is where the geysers are and you know you are getting close to them as they stink from the sulphur being let off!!!! Geysers are basically hot springs of water erupting from the earth that let off lots of steam and are formed in volcanic areas. (I googled!!). They are pretty fascinating! We also saw bubbling mud pools and pools of boiling hot water!! We also went to a Moari show here which was fantastic ands Jack got to see the famous Haka which was actually pretty intimidating!! From now on he is going to do this when someone annoys him in a game!! We then went in a hot spring spa which overlooked some geysers and was very relaxing!!

Tonight we are going to my cousin Jamie's house music concert with the whole family before jetting off to Fiji tomorrow. We have loved being over in Auckland and seeing everyone we miss back home but we are now ready to sit on a beach and do nothing for a week!! We have packed so much into 5 weeks and have enjoyed every minute but we now need some sun!! The next blog may be pretty boring.....