Kia Ora Monday 12th January 2009 It will be three weeks today that Mel will start her new job so I thought I had better pull my finger out and I applied for a few jobs this morning,The humidity today was an absolute energy sapper and our main task was to secure ourselves a motel room for the 17 days that we have to move out in February and March,but things didn't start too well as everything was way more money than we wanted to pay,and the ones that were in bud...

Kia Ora Thursday 8th January 2009 Thank goodness today had arrived the bed here at Wallys has given us 3 sleepless nights.True to form by 8am the sun was blazing and we were up and showered ready for the long drive home. We had to retrace our steps up through Taupo,then into Tirau,Cambridge,Hamilton and onto Auckland.After 3 hours on the road we got to Tirau,the home of the giant corrugated dog and sheep(see photos for sheep) It is a good stopping off point so...

Kia Ora Wednesday 7th January 2009 I drew back the curtains this morning and the sun was blazing so much so that the handle to open the window was hot.This prompted us to think about taking things easy for the day.Mel had problems getting into the shower again and had to end up waiting until after breakfast when it seemed to quiten down a little. We cut inland this morning to the town of Hastings (19km away) and were not too sure what to expect,all we knew was...

Kia Ora Tuesday 6th January 2009 Mel had some trouble getting a shower this morning as it seemed everytime she tried,someone had beaten her to it,but it was funny watching her to and fro trying to get in!!! It was a short drive for the first stop on Mel's magical tours and the narrow road up to the summit of Bluff Hill caused one or two problems passing cars coming the other way but once at the top it was like dodgems in the car park as there was way too many ...

Haare Mai Saturday 3rd January 2009 Well the day we were dreading had arrived and we had everything packed ready to move out of the cottage for a week,this meant a return to the backpacker lifestyle and the prospect of this didn't excite either of us!!! Oaklands was a typical backpacker place in the leafy suburb of Mt Eden,but fairly typical as these places go,fairly plain and dimly lit,but the biggest surprise was our room which was on a slant so when you ent...