Barclay Motel Hamilton

So i took a bus a couple hours south to Hamilton to meet up with Tracey & Ryan but not alone i managed to find a lost soul on the way all the way from Michigan (USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!) It was a very scenic drive down, i've never seen sooo much green, sloping hills and cows, yes coes oh and sheep the welsh would love it here...remember its not gay unless you push back!! This was more of what i expected of New Zealand and was a very pleasant change from the hustle and bustle ...

... tub) and Whangamata before bearing south westerly back to Hamilton via Morrinsville. The flight was very smooth and rather surreal – there were several changes in altitudes that did stimulate mild nausea. I should also point out that some of the garages of the houses in Whitianga weren’t for cars, but for planes. <br><br><br><br>We then went to the “Pac n’ Save” grocery store which is the NZ version of Asda. It had a rather eclectic ...

... use many facial expressions to try and intimate the enemy... which is part of the reason why they have the facial tattoos as well. The dancers bulge out there eyes and stick out their tongue to try to look mean. They almost look kind of possessed so i guess it is successful in intimidating. Some of the men have full facial tatoos that represent 4 different birds, the kiwi, the owl, the parrot and the bat... all having different ...

... tug-of-war in the middle of the night over the van's only warm blanket. As we were about to leave Raglan, two heavily tattooed Maori gentlemen next to us in a parking lot asked if we'd like to try some coconut pie that one of them had baked that morning. From the hatchback of their car, they cut up the pie and told us about the morning they'd spent picking mussel shells from the bottom of the bay. The pie ...

... unlocked the stationery cupboard for me and let me loose in there - fatal, as I was always meant to work in a W H Smiths. I just couldn't resist the very last packet of post-it page markers - five different colours, how cool is that? They have a brilliant system here of coffee breaks in the morning, and tea breaks in the afternoon. The admin staff join in, too, and they also have a one-hour lunch break (which they tend ...

... I can say this with total confidence as I have seen many individuals with ABI live happy and fulfilled lives, even in wheelchairs. Olivia can't move on her own other than slight stretches in protestation when we're doing something she doesn't like (changing her 'button' for her feeding tube because it's sore or stretches). It isn't just the lack of movement, it's the breathing. She isn't on oxygen constantly (unless, like this week, she's been sick) but ...

... raft and rock, which only had the two of us taking part! This involved rappelling down into the cave, walking up stream (theres a river running though it) and along the side of the cave to where some of the glow worms are, at this point we were told to turn our head lights off and follow the guide, apart from that didn't work too well as neither of us could see a thing, so we ended up having to all hold hands which worked rather ...

... it only has one pub. We met a girl from Dundee who worked behind the bar and she loves it in Raglan and has spent most of two years here. We camped in a field under an airstrip where a squadron of old boys with lots of money had just landed their small aircraft, about fifteen of them. They told us where they had been and it was pretty much all of the North Island in two days. What a way to travel ...

... t stay there overnight as the Police patrolled regularly. The sun had set, so the view was less important. With Kirsty in the back, clutching the pan of chilli pork casserole, Jacob moved the van to a less pleasant but more legal layby. Having eaten, we went to bed, discovering that the standard of hygiene applied to the sheets was similar to that applied to the crockery. Although these stains may well not have been egg. Eeeewww. Tomorrow's most important mission is to find a launderette.