Best Western Glenview International Hotel Hamilton

... br>To my surprise Tracey turned round and said we were heading to turange or something like that on the east coast to go and stay on Ryan's dad's and uncles boat which was friggin sweet. We arrive at about 8pm popped in to see Ryan's dad and then headed to the Hot pools! They should have these in every country, it like lots of mini outdoor jacuzzi's but they are salt water and a lot hotter. After a while i could barely see coz of teh salt water which the others found ...

... gem in an otherwise rough patch. The gardens were beautiful and each had different ethnic themes from Japanese, to Chinese, to Italian, Indian and English. Although it was winter, the gardens were still very beautiful and peaceful. Other than that, Hamilton is growing on me due to its numerous cheap eateries and the fact that as soon as you leave it the scenery becomes nice. It definitely has character unlike any other town I’ve seen before.<br>

... we have eaten in ages!!!! So needless to say we were very impressed with the show. It was more natural and less touristy then we thought it would be which was a major bonus! Today we are in Raglan, which is small surf town on the West Coast... kinda like Tofino in a way. We watched an amateur surf competition today and it was pretty impressive. We are going to stay here for a few days so hopefully we can get some surfing in ourselves!!

To get to Raglan you have to take Raglan Road (funny that)...so Michael kept singing the first line of the song On Raglan Road in his best "Dublin accent" the whole way. Lovely. Raglan Road in New Zealand though is a dirt track so it's rough going but Karol our Corolla withstood the pressure (and the singing) and we got there at about 4.30pm. A few km outside the town there's a water fall called Bridal Falls. You used to be able to swim ...

... and England got thrashed at rugby league 52-4! I'm just glad I'm not in Australia so needn't share in the humiliation. There are two big elections in the offing, one you may know about tomorrow in the US involving these two guys called Obama and McCain; the other right here in New Zealand on Saturday which you may not know about. Here, they're just hoping that the right person/party wins in just one of these places. H.x

... shift with Olivia consists of me connecting her to a machine that basically is like a steam facial, to try to loosen the gunk; tube feeding her dinner and drugs (if she needs them), putting her upside down in bed and doing percussion for almost half an hour, suctioning, turning her and percussing the other side for almost half an hour. She has a bath and if she isn't too gurgly I can read her stories or do some sensory play with her, she can track with her ...

... in the aisles. You do not allow your children to run amok and tug on the priest's robe. No, no, no. So back to this Church I went to. Firstly, it was in a warehouse. Secondly, I couldn't even hear my friend for how loud the music was. And she was right, all of the twenty-something people I haven't been able to find seemed to be here. There was a stage set up with a live band, a bunch of chairs and not a cross in sight. The minister was wearing jeans, trainers and a t-shirt that my ...

... soon we were instructed to get off the rings and pose incessantly infront of the glow worms - all very silly! Then we had a little explore around, which to my horror involved squeezing through incredibly small gaps...I did the first one but the second one was all too much! We had a look at all the cave formations including beautiful Avens- that look like your looking up into a church spire! We had a stop for some food - chocoladen ...

... and retreated to our tent. We hit the beach the next day and spent a few hours surfing. The waves were perfect and we managed to catch a few before having a picnic on cliffs with absolutely stunning views. If anyone travels around the North Island, do not miss Raglan. It is special. A guy told me it is what Byron Bay was like 20 years ago before tourism changed the face of it. Not to be missed.

The drive from Waitomo to Hamilton only took about an hour so once we'd checked into the hostel there was plenty of time to look around the city centre. There wasn't much to do so we spent most of our time shopping. The only thing of interest we found was the place where the Rocky Horror Show idea was conceived in Richard O'Brien's barbershop. The spot was ...