So we made it safely to North island. Wellington was really nice with lots of character!! However we some what unwisely decided to watch 'Wolf Creek' on our first night- not our best idea ever!! It was horrific and all we can say is thank god we didn't watch it in Oz!!! We spent a few days in Wellington and spent most of our time in Sorching Bay- just so happens that there was a cafe called 'Chocolate fish' there and was a rather popular spot with the Lord of the Rings crew, so no surprise that Thea liked it!! The highlight however had to have been the cricket!! We got tickets to see the black caps v West Indies and the day was set to be a good one- i (Lizzie) had been prepearing Thea for this expirence for some time and i can proudly say that Thea now has a new apprecation of the game! However the day was cut short due to bad weather and then bad light! But i got to see Vettori in the flesh so i was happy and just for the record he is even btter up close! We left Wellington and drove to Palmerston North to see matthew for a few days. It was so nice to have a base for a few days and get out of the car. Matthew has some what landed on his feet and is running a yard in such nice surroundings- very jelaous! It was such a nice couple of days of doing very little! We had take away, got to cook and watch some classic DVDs! We both got to ride which was nice - and Thea stayed on! It was great for me to catch up with Matthew and it gave us both a chance to recharge- plus crisis is now over as have a new supply of Marmite! From there we drove on to Taupou, which took less time than we had thought and so we found ourselves there by lunch time and by four O'clock book on to do a Ski Dive!! Has to go down as one of the most scary things ever as well as being one of the best things! We did a 12,000 ft jump- which was quite high enough! It took 15mins to get up there- semed like an life time! I was attached to a rather nice guy, Thea however had a rather intresting german man- not that i'm smug or anything!!!! Before we knew it Thea was on her way to jumping, she conveyed a sense of calm which was encouraging me- as i was far from calm. So the doors got thrown open and out Thea popped- the calmness soon went and all i could hear was her screams- oh dear! My turn, scared does not come close as the photos do show!! Thing is you dont have much warning as if they jump you have little choice in the matter, seeing as you are attched! The free fall is amazing a feeling like no other. After the excitement of the free fall its a pleasure just to chill out up there and gently float down- the views were top as the sun was setting over lake Taupou by the time we jumped. The whole thing was amazing and i think this is shown in the photots and DVD which are on the website and should give you all a good laugh- it is hard to look glam at 12,000ft!! From Taupou it was on to Rotorua- which does smell as bad as they say! We booked on to go and see the thermal springs and felt that if we were going to the effort of seeing them we may as well indulge in a little pampering at the same time! So after a soak in the mud bath, and then springs we had a good massage- you see at this stage in the trip you dont want to go over doing it! We also went Zobing- interesting concept, in lamans terms you are put in a ball and pushed down a big hill. They also add a little water to the equation and consequently as hard as you try to stand up you fail, esp when there are two of you in there! It was so much fun! From there we drove on to Auckland. We are so lucky here as Thea has a great Uncle who has let us stay in his spare flat! Such a nice area, right next to the sea and only a 5min drive into the centre! It would be a lie to even pretend that we did anything over the weekend at all- i didn't even make it out of my pjs on sat! But we did what we have craved- nothing! We ordered take away pizza, watched crap on the TV, ate loads of chocolate and enjoyed every minute! We did get of our butts on monday to go and see the ski tower- which was pretty cool and had a meal in the revloving resturant! We also went to the art gallery which was cool. We also had to part with dear maggie on monday. We were slightly concerned seeing as she had been slept in for over a month, and we had managed to take off two hub caps. We knew we had to get her back for four O'clock, we were well on time when we had the small complacation of loosing her! Now i would like to point out that there are loads of car parks in Auckland that all look the same- i did my best to find her - for all the thanks i got, granted i was two streets out but i was making an active effort! So in the end we found the car park- next prob which level? To cut it short (as i think its may be one of those stories where you had to be there!) we got in the wrong lift a few times, wrong level a few more and recieved more than the odd look along the way! We found the car just in time as now we only had half an hour left! So off Thea went to pay- just to mention it was advertised that it was $12 per day, but that did not reflect what the ticket said it said we needed to pay $36! Luckily two guys had the same problem so we drove down to the exit to speak to the office- however couldn't got through barrier so both just parked the cars there and went off to office- no response- phoned and no real progress!! Now it was four O'clock and we were facing a rather stiff fine and the line to get out of the car park was growing! The guys were getting rather pissed off so we borrwed someones valid ticket and all just go t under the barrier and legged it- not sure how wise that was but needs must when you have a fine growing! But then we couldn't find the car rental company and so th antics went on! But we got there in the end and got away with it all- they didn't look all that closely at her! We hadn't thought how we were going to get home- no car and all! Thea suggest taxi and i said 'no it wont be far to walk...' yeah right a good hour later and still not back- oh and did i mention the rain and wind! We spent the last day or two sorting stuff and packing. We went for a meal with Uncle Mike on our last night which was nice and are flying out tomorrow to South America!!! We cant wait! Though it really will be sad leaving New Zealand, we have both had so much fun here and have loved it! Now it does seem like its all coming to an end but we keep reminding ourseleves that we still have over two months left! Hope you are all well at home and will be seeing some of you in June!! take care lots of love Lizzie and Thea xxx