Aspen Manor Motel Hamilton

... to lake Taupo and then Rotora where I persuaded Ange to go White water Rafting!! Yet another fantastic expierence safe but hairy!! after that soaked in the Thermal pools (brill) then onto John and Mels were we have visited the Waitomo caves saw the glow worms and fantastic stalamites and stalagnites. Only a few days left in NZ going North today towards the Coromandel Peninsula.

... if not insanely cold. After getting used to 20 degrees + in Edinburgh, returning to 0 in June is a real slap in the face. <br><br><br><br>Our route in the air was to head north-east towards the town of Whitianga which apparently, is full of rich people – the OC of North Island. From there we headed south east along the coast passing the hot water beach (which, if you dig a hole there in the summer it fills with hot water and is a natural ...

... whole body tattoos, chanting in their language. It was pitch dark and they had fire torches so it really felt like it would have, back then. Then they had a reinactment of their fighting techniques and basic day to day life followed by a dancing performance. One of the "famous" dances of the Maori's is the Haka, which is the war dance. Every postcard or picture of maori you see i nthe store, they are always doing the Haka. In the Haka ...

... the area doesn't allow "free camping," we rented a spot in a trailer park down by the river. I got a kick out of telling anybody we met that we were living in a van down by the river, but I'm not sure how many people actually got the joke. The travel friendship between Mikeo and I was again tested in our oh-so cozy accommodations. Okay, it wasn't really tested. We constantly joked about it. But we did have ...

Before I get going properly, yesterday was my last day at the University of Waikato. I had a great time there, everyone was so helpful and friendly. I did my bit by introducing them to the SPRU morning tea and cakes habit (here, you call it 'morning' tea to differentiate it from 'afternoon' tea). In fact, I had to leave in the early afternoon as I had a date for afternoon tea and a walk on the boardwalk with a new found friend ...

... fluid out of her lungs. I wanted to put away the suction machine, hold her hand and tell her it was okay if she didn't want to keep fighting. Watching her tiny body shake with the effort it took to breathe, I wondered if we were doing the right thing. If she could talk to us, would she tell us to keep helping her fight? Or would she just tell us to leave her alone already, she was tired of it and wanted to get on to better things. Olivia has no quality of ...

Next stop Otorohanga, which is next door to Waitomo - the place with many caves and gloworms! The bus journey was annoying as we spent more time waiting for our connecting bus then we did sitting on one! Finally we got there though and were greeted by Kathryns' mums' lovely friend Sue who we were to be staying with and who is the best cook in the whole of new zealand....yummmmmmmmmmmmm!! While we were here we did a caving trip called ...

... New Zealand have been about home. This hadn't happened since India when I used to dream that I had just popped back for a game of footy at the Soccerarena or got a flight back for the Manor Born. After the short drive we arrived in a tiny one street town called Raglan famous for its excellent beach, waves and surf culture. It is very quiet and most of people here are here to surf, highlighted by the ...

... a hammock (very torn), a bundle of glittery pipe cleaners and most of a sewing machine. She gave Jacob the cleanest and most relevant of these finds for cooking and set about evicting all of the items that were obviously rubbish. One and a half large bin bags later, covered in grime, she had organised the remainder into some semblance of order....and dinner was served. Unfortunately, at around the same time, a man in a pick-up turned up to warn us and the Americans that we ...