Channel Vista Whangarei

... and did one before they set a lion on us. We got back to hostel and chilled out for a while before creating some lovely pasta for tea and sitting down to watch TV with some other backpackers. A lot of British programmes are shown in both Aus and NZ which is handy, so we had a good giggle watching British Wife Swap. Forgot to mention the weather and it was a lovely day today but still not really shorts and t-shirt weather yet.

Gaz & LJ

... appeared quite
calm from the land... but it was a different matter when we got out
to sea. Once we left the Marina area we were off...Zoom! Hitting the
waves, bouncing everywhere.. it was fantastic. Ethan and Ellie optd
for staying beloe the bow of the booat, Dean braved the back of the
boat.. the coldest part, watching the waves comes at us. Some where
even hitting the windscreen. We spotted a practice rescue mission
taking place just off the shore as we ...

... but you'll have to wait to hear all about that! Promise not to keep you waiting so long for that one though! I'm afraid that I haven't managed to upload all of my photos to accompany this entry. I will get the photos of the quad biking and wedding crashing (separate activities...lol) on here as soon as I find a computer which is not so hot on checking for viruses....yep, my memory card got sick! So, now for the New Zealand stories and photos.....all 6 weeks of ...

IN SEARCH OF GLOWWORMS In our travels in New Zealand, we saw lots of tourist information about places to see the Glowworms. We found it intriguing, but weren't too keen on paying to see them. There had been a few spots along the way where you could see them for free, and in fact we meant to see them in Hokitika, but it was a rainy night and we fell asleep early We also thought about driving to Waitomo to see them, but we couldn't fit it in. So ...

... and when they arrived there, everything was covered by fog, a very rare but awe-inducing phenomenon. Diving there is indeed amazing. The islands are preserved so the fauna and flora are untouched and the fish are very friendly and follow you around when you dive. We had the chance to see lots of huge stingray fish, scorpionfish and moray eels (they bite!). We also went diving through a huge cave that was filled with ...

... been on the hostel wall map actually existed, I could make it round trip, so I went that way, leaving the mysteries or whats at Whagarei heads to someone else. * I reached Pataua, it was raining and there wasn't that much to see but there was a footbridge all be it a slightly scary wooden one over alot of very wide, very clear water. There weren't even any shopping trolleys which can mean only one thing; out here they have crocodiles mean and hungry enough to ...

... En Karibu nos quedamos una semana, unos dias pintando porque llovio muchisimo, otros cortando lenya y alimentando a los animales y removiendo un poco la tierra porque estaba preparandola para poner mas plantas. Yo no se lo que le costaria alimentar a ese cerdo, miss piggy, pero comia dos veces al dia unas siete piezas de fruta, arroz blanco, y leche en polvo, ademas de todos todos los desperdicios de cualquier comida que los metia todos en una gran cacerola y lo hervia antes ...

We set off southwards and headed back to have a look at 'Whangerai'. As we climbed away from the bay and over the hills, we were stopped at a road block. Due to the heavy rain there had been a big rock slip which had part blocked the road but had also left a tree overhanging which could fall at any time. We turned back and navigated a way through on a gravel, practically single track road across country, through forests and ...

... met some nice guys at the hut that night and the 5 of us ended up hiking out on the last day together. Jen and I then headed to the geothermally active (geysers, hot springs, bubbling mud puddles) town of Rotorua. It was nice, but reeked of rotten eggs. We stayed there for two days shopping and relaxing and walking around town. We visited a hot water creek and spent part of the afternoon soaking in the water that was almost too ...

... and the van! Anyways, we drove around the Mt.Cook national park and then decided to head to the east coast since the weather was getting kinda ****** near Mt. Cook. We drove along the coast and stopped to see the Moeraki Boulders which are cool stones on the beach. Then we stopped at Shag Point and saw PENGUINS!! Yes, I saw real penguins in the wild! It was so cool. We saw the rare ones too- called ...