And here we are in NZ! We arrived just before Christmas and have been staying with Mark's mum and dad for the last two weeks. It's been lovely - beautiful bright and breezy days, with walks in the hills for views across the harbour, catching up with Mark's old friends, and just pottering at home. It's been nice just staying put for a bit and doi...

On Saturday we went to the main racing event of the year for Wellington, the Wellington Cup Carnival. This is similar to Ascot, where most people dress up, and I saw plenty of hats. We caught the train and got a deal on the tickets that included entry to the races as well. We actually caught the 'express' train to Trentham (where the race ground...

Not much of any significance occurred today. After a quick run to town to pick up some vitals, I spent most of the afternoon trying to plan my month on the south island. Most of the multi-day hikes on the south island require booking campsites or huts along the way. Since January is the busiest month, this is often nothing short of a monumental ...

Hello We have spent 2 weeks travelling around the North Island of New Zealand, from Whitianga we travelled south to Rotorua. In Rotorua there are a lot of geothermal areas where there is bubbling mud, geysers and steaming pools of water, some of the pools are over 100 degrees!! We went to Hells Gate and Wai-O-Tapu which are both geothermal reser...

So, another week has passed. Life goes on as usual, I've really gotten to know some of the long termers better and it is awesome being here. I've now gotten in on the group dinners which is excellent (coming home to a home cooked meal!) the only downside being soon it will be MY TURN! But I have an idea, thanks to Steph always trying out recipes...

Hey everybody... Hope you are all well. Having been in New Zealand now for over a month, I thought it time to provide you with one of my much anticipated and celebrated blog entries. The only problem being the fact that I've done so much in this amazing country that I hardly know where to begin!! We arrived in Auckland 21st March on a daytime fl...

Today we drove in to Wellington City, we are staying 13km from the city centre.... only a 15min drive, so not too bad. The weather has been lovely today.... loads of sunshine. We went to the Te Papa Museum, which is fantastic, it dominates the waterfront... it has loads of information on the Maori culture, it even has mock-up meeting houses, whi...

Yesterday was a long drive from Taupo to Wellington. The road follows lake Taupo before going through a national park where we got some amazing views of the snow covered mountains. We then traveled down what is known as the 'desert road' by virtue of how barren it is. However it is not a desert (too wet), the inhospitable conditions are caused b...

Finally on my way. There's been so much to do, I only had an hours sleep last night. My hands are numb, I'm tired and I feel like I've just finished a long haul flight, not about to start one. Thanks to everyone who has helped me get away or will be tidying up my loose ends after I go.

oh my good never thought i would miss writing in the log for over two weeks, but sure you now the saying i was having to much fun to care. There is so much to let all you folks out there, so i advise you go grab a cup of tea and settle down for robbie to let you in on his crazy adventures of the last 2 weeks. firstly this has been the best fortn...