Best Western Airport Travelair Motor Inn Mangere

... und rosemary( die gastmutter) hat uns nach takanini (zu doro, bei der ich das auto gekauft habe) gebracht... auf dem weg dorthin ging es marie-sophie aber immer schlechter und schlechter...uebelkeit...schuettelfrost , muedigkeit...<br>also haben die beiden mich in takanini abgesetzt und sind wieder zurueck nach parakai gefahren.. <br>ich habe das auto gekauft und alle formalitaeten ...

We left the house by 9am for a full day out......<br><br>We spent time in Ponsonby sorting (the boring stuff): IRD numbers, letters to post, visit to the bank....yawn, yawn, yawn! Really like going to the bank, everyone is so friendly and you actually get to talk to real people, not to a machine! We met the bank manager who is also English and arrived in New Zealand 14 weeks ago. She was really approachable and I think I may be emailing ...

... down in the corner of the shop hiding to read an art book! I also decided to brush up on my spanish with my Chilean friend Matt. I found the lonely planet phrasebook and decided to test myself on the ''lovers page'' I announced in spanish ''I'm very sorry I can't get it up'' my pronounciation must have been wrong as he snatched the book from me and announced it loudly in english without really understanding what he was saying. A few customers looked over as i grabbed the book ...

... those of you unfamiliar with this small bout of craziness, it involves climbing into a large inflatable ball filled with water and rolling down a steep hill, not an indifferent pastime to that a hamster might undertake! Getting into our swimwear in winter temperatures was no mean feat be assured, but fortunately the water was hot.<br><br>Secondly, the town is famous for its proximity to one of the world's most active thermal areas - indeed the whole town smelt ...

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... walk on the Queen Charlotte Track. It was torrential rain when we started and it doesn't help when you stand in a bog up to your ankles when you're 5 minutes in! It was a 15km walk and it ended with a pint so its all good. It was time to say goodbye to South Island and head north in search of some better weather - nae chance!! Arrived in Wellington (nicknamed Windy Wellie for a reason) and it was still raining, and hasn't stopped since ...

... trying t find the hot water and find the main event where water is pouring out at a scalding 75oC. As the tide makes the area more accessible people begin to form holes with barriers to rogue waves and get their hot pools dug out. We pick a spot near the vent but not too near as I manage to burn my foot initially. We get digging with our hands and occasionally borrow a spade from nearby diggers. We eventually get a pool that's big enough for us both to lie in with a wall protecting us ...

I have no idea if I'll be able to write in this thing as frequently as I'd like when I start my journey outside of Auckland, so I might as well take advantage of the internet while I have it. Okie doke, so what happened... umm well I got to go to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World, which is basically an aquarium made out of recycled sewer pipes... It's built inside this hill so all you can see from the outside is the entrance/exit. It wasn't your ...

... minutes later and a hatch opens revealing an officer holding my tent. It's clean. Shocker! I drag my gear over to the information desk wanting to ask them if there was anywhere I could use the internet and also to charge my iPod. Who is it that helps me but Les, he's a quick mover or I have been ages in bio-security I think the latter. Les lets me use the plug socket next to his desk, it should only be used be cleaning staff but he said it would be fine. His colleague it turns out ...

... I could imagine as not being too far off from hell. Everything was hot, and sticky. The ground seemed to be always shifting spouting up steam here and there releasing heat and horrid smelling gas. It must have been strange to be the first people to come over these mountains. To come from such lush green areas that just seem to be like heaven on earth to valleys that are home to huge mud fields that boil and sputter as if something could climb out of them at any time. But it was really ...