Woke just after 7am, immediately got up & dressed, so that we could go straight back to the beach, to find out what had happened overnight. The whale was now lying on its side, on the sands, & a couple of DoC officers had taped the area off, & were taking photos & measurements. There was a good crowd of people stood around watching, & as we approached, we could smell the reason why some people were standing well back! We soon realised that i...

Woke late, to the sound of steady rain. Unbroken low cloud all around - definitely not beach weather! Discussed our options over breakfast, & decided to stay put for the day. L set the rest of us a Spanish test (parts of the body), which spurred the kids into drawing & writing a bilingual comic for the next couple of hours. They (reluctantly) took a break for a while, when we went for a walk to the beach & then into town, to browse in a few shops...

Woke late, but still managed to get everything done by 9.30, as the incentive of a final dip in the pool spurred everyone into action! Gave back the cabin key & thanked the manager, & spent an hour relaxing in the hot pools (D&L) & playing in the big pool (J&M). Dragged ourselves away & drove north, towards the Coromandel Peninsula. Accidentally took a 20km detour towards Thames until we realised our mistake, turned around, & ended u...

Woke early, with a palpable sense of excitement in the air! Debated if we should go on a later tour, but the consensus was to go early, for (hopefully) a smaller sized group. Somehow managed to get breakfast eaten, & school work done in record time, & we were back at the i-site, in central Matamata, well before the required time of 9.15am. We paid ($66/5) & D&L signed the confidentiality agreement, which prohibits any details of the set being pu...

Woke to 90% cloudy grey skies & intermittent light drizzle. Discussed our options, & decided to drive up to Chateau Tongariro, to check out the forecast at the Whakapapa Visitors Centre. When we got there, the cloud lifting & weather clearing was now not expected until the evening. We reluctantly gave up our ideas of doing part of the Tongariro Crossing, as it really would have to be "perfect" weather for such a task to be worthwhile! Took a coup...