Brook Lodge Whangamata

... by anyone - say Hi politely while chewing the gum and tutting and thinking that saying hello to old people really isn't expected of one before noon. 3. Drag 16 plastic bags of groceries up the bus - mostly apples, avocados, breakfast bars, nutella. 4. Take seat - make young friends instantly - and compare banana bruising. 5. Throw plastic bags liberally at the feet of the weaker traveller. 6. Complain about how much everything ...

... the owners') cottage. Jayne gave up quickly whilst Steve disappeared into the distance. The water was very shallow as it was like a river estuary meeting an ebbing tide. Finally, after Steve had already carried his kayak back, Jayne got the rhythm and didn't want to come off the water. Dinner was at the cottage, drinking wine and listening to the birds whilst the sun went down. PERFECT.

... 600yr ago and is now 1.9m across. This part of New Zealand used to be covered with these huge slow growing trees but they were logged almost to the point of eradication. The trees were first cut down on a big scale by the Royal Navy to use as masts and spars on sailing ships. The oldest survivors are several thousand years old. On the East Coast, we visit the Hot Sands Beach where a section of the shore is heated by volcanic steam to ...

... It was scary to be on my own at first, but then after a while I had a lot of fun doing all the things I wanted to do. I also met two really cool guys from Argentina and England and we all started hanging out and doing touristy things together. Yesterday, I climbed a volcano(Rangitoto) off of Auckland. It was an easy hike and the view was spectacular ...

... out on the internet if you don't know what it is. apparently you can do them in Tennessee), and featured a celebrity team with Jack Osborne, you know, Ozzie and Sharon's son. We tried to convice the Zorb dudes to let us have a go, but that wasn't happening...We saw Team Jack come through. He looks like a normal guy with a lot of tattoos, nothing to write home about. We headed on the bikes up to Wyuna Bay Road where we were told there ...

On Thursday we drove across to Waitomo Caves to do the Black Abyss trip we'd booked for Wednesday but had been unable to do because of the recent rains. We were all ready to get training and go into the caves when despite the sun shining they cancelled the trip again! There had been some more rain overnight and the water in the caves was too high again. For them it was the third day in a row the caving had been ...

... tide water then you just burn your feeet like i did. It was fun though watching everyone dug holes and sit in them then get out not long after when the cool water goes and it just gets stupidly hot. We had lunch at the beach then drove to cathedral cove to go snorkelling. we hired our snorkelling gear, and took the blokes advice that we didn't need wetsuits, and set off. From the top cathedral cove is really ...

... town in the Coromandel peninsula called Whangamata. A woman that I met at the pub is letting me stay in her house for the next week, while her and her husband are in Auckland. Who does that? So, I'll be hunkered down here for a bit. It's a beautiful town and some of the locals have really taken me under their wing. It's a nice change to be in one place for a bit, I think I needed that. And, Josh is here. We are together ...

... Man". That was Monday night. Tuesday morning went for a run, didn't eat all my muesli and yoghurt at breakfast (had bought the wrong yoghurt - eugh). And left sleepy Whitianga behind... ...and just to follow on from the road-trip to Queenstown as an example of just 'going with the flow' I then proved I really am getting the hang of taking things as they come... ...I had just left Whitianga when I picked up a couple of hitchhikers - Markera and Matthieu from Prague. They were ...

... protected by a high wire fence, and its concrete layout had lost most of its paint and was choked by weeds. Along the main street now dominated by trendy looking cafes, restaurants and art and craft shops (both Whangamata and I had grown up a lot since the last time we were acquainted) it looked completely out of place, so I’m sure it can’t be long before it is torn down and a new shopping arcade is put in to replace it. But that’s ...