Clear View Whangaparaoa

... we had to ride through rather a deep river/stream which everyone enjoyed. Good job no one fell off as it would have been rather a wet ride and both Lucy or Dan would have had to swim as they wouldn't have been able to stand up in it :-/ The beach was as gorgeous as we had expected. Beautiful white sand all to ourselves, not another person in sight apart from our party of 6. Us and Jenny and Trev, our guides. The waves were crashing onto the ...

It may interest some of my younger friends to know that I am travelling with my rubber duck, Gertie. She is a most remarkable duck, turning magically bright pink in the bath. I've taken a picture of her sitting on my rucksack ready to set out on our journey.

So far ...

... and kayaked in the Pacific Ocean!
Today, six of us went to Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano in Auckland. It was absolutely gorgeous! The views were incredible, and we even climbed down into the crater, which we later found out we weren't supposed to (oops!). Here's a picture of the crater. You may not be able to tell, but it was very steep and deep, so you ...

... the trail and experience the adventure together. Man, what I beautiful place! Turqoise water, lush vegetation and trees, little islands, and sandy beach bays. Wanted to jump in, as it looked inviting, but alas, it is Fall down here, and yes, I couldn't tolerate the chill of the ocean. I can see why this place is so popular in summer. We met up with two Aussies and two Chileans, both named Pablo. We all ate together and sat out under the stars ...

... the only place in NZ that wasn´t beautiful...) but it does have the Monteiths Brewery.... a famous beer in NZ (and also available in Waitrose - try the Radler if you get a chance). Obviously being Greg´s name sake (surname Monteith) and also being St Paddy´s day we were treated to a few more than normal beers at the end of the tour. The long standing workers in the brewery had just found out that the original Mr Monteith himself was actauly Irish and not Scottish ...

... Hahei, that was virtually deserted, despite the number of houses, which is due to them all being holiday homes and therefore empty during the week. It had a great beach though, as well as a walk along the coast taking in other beaches, one of which had its own Cathedral Caves!! You'll see from the picture that it's not actually a cave, more of a Cathedral Arch, but impressive none the less. It also meant that we got to see some Cathedral Caves, after missing out in the Catlins, so we ...

... the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. It is not as attractive though, as it is made of reinforced gray concrete. It is, however, the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, and a really great place to take in the entire city of Auckland. I rode the elevator to the first observation platform and then another elevator to the upper observation platform. The view was breathtaking. You could see all of the city, the harbor ...

... show that evening so had just enough time to pop to the shop and make ourselves beautiful, as Bonnies Mission is to Marry a Maori man... Well the night was really good they have recrated a complete village here and introduced you to differnt aspects of the culture and how is has evolved!!!! And obvisously there was lots of semi naked men doing the haka, which always goes down a treat! And we ate from food cooked below the ground!! All very exciting!!! Then ...

... direction. They're usually high-tailing it out of camera range, and I usually just get a photo of a white butt. http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/Fauna /Pukeko.htm http://folksong.org.nz/nzchristmas/puke ko.html I call them 'blue chickens' - not because they are ...

... more old friends who have decided to swap Bedfordshire for a new life Down Under. To be honest, it didn't take long to see why! It was great to be reunited with Stuart & Queety after 4 years or so, who haven't changed a bit - well, apart from the fact that they've had another baby, and Leila now has a little brother Kyle. One ...