Classic Motel Hamilton

... askew, mouth slightly open. When we go to sleep (grampa has dissapeared) there is a messy attempt to hide the beer cans, or at least make them look neater... Ha ha.. if you can imagine a group of people in their early twenties trying to sneak into their room without giving away that they've been drinking, even when we know its stupid, even when we know after twenty one years of life we have earned the right to shamelessly have a beer... mustn't wake grampa!... ha ha..

... n'hi havia unes 12000 en aquells moments-. Importaren un gran roure des d'Anglat**ra i també altres plantes i arbustos de la Xina... Ens expliquen el gran montatge que van f** de transformació. Originàriament hi ha el llac, les muntanyetes, i l'arbre de la festa! -L'arbre sota el qual en Bilbo va cel.lebrar el seu 111è aniv**sari i va desaparèix** davant de tothom al posar-se l'anell-. Univ**sal Studios tenien el pacte amb el gov**n de NZ de destruir tot el ...

... good. They have also got a zip-slide here which we had some fun with in the afternoon. We also came back after dark looking for glow worms and did the zip-sliding again in the pitch black! Not the cleverest thing to do, but dead funny as you couldn't see the end of the slide until you hit it!! For dinner this evening we went down to a local chippie for fish & chips - spot on. They were grand. In the evening a few of us had a couple of beers, played pool and watched a movie - very chilled.

... when I want to do it. That my life isn't a stereotypical neverending backpacker party. And that at twenty-four, I sometimes wish I weren't so responsible. So cautious. But a female traveling alone really can't afford to be anything but. Of course, with anonymity comes loneliness. There is a large difference between -alone- and -lonely-. I am often alone and I enjoy it. But there is nothing enjoyable about loneliness. I have learned one important thing in my time living here, it ...

... me and let me tell you, there is an art to walking and texting! I think I'm getting the hang of it though the predictive text irritates me sometimes and when I'm really frustrated I have to spell out the swear words because they don't have them in the database.... which only takes longer! (haha) So here's my rant: (You knew this was coming.) Communicating with people seems to have only gotten easier what with texting on cell phones and ...

On to Hamilton to meet Todd, then Raglan for some actual surfing (as I had a cold in Mt. Maunganui, and didn't feel like getting wet...) Stayed in Eagles Nest Backpackers in Hamilton (only did a day-trip in Raglan so didn't stay there overnight). Eagles Nest is run by an a lovely older couple. Quiet and relaxed, let's say.

... it. I'll keep you posted on our progress! The other bonus here is that the players and TV commentators are just wondering around the town. So far we have said hello to David Lloyd, Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom - in fact Hoggy popped his head in the window of our pub on the first night to see what the Army were upto!! Although he didn't partake in any drinking. Currently David Gower and Sir Ian Botham are sat outside a restaurant on the other ...

... kitchenware while Jacob fried stuff. Bacon, eggs, black pudding and sausages, with lashings of brown sauce, all washed down with tea, Earl Grey, hot. We began to discover a problem with New Zealand cuisine. A sausage should be made of pork. If it's not, it should be called a beef sausage, a lamb sausage, or whatever: a basic, common or garden sausage is made of pig. The great sausagey nations of the world (the Germans with their millions of different varieties, the ...

... in the van, and hit the road. We drove out of town, heading south for Hamilton. Reading our guidebook as we went, we realised that the series of bays and clifftop lookouts around the coastal town of Raglan (near Hamilton) sounded nicer, so we made for there instead, taking a small diversion via the Bridal Veil Falls. We had no intention of going to the falls until Kirsty spotted a sign for them and thought they sounded nice. We wouldn't have had freedom like that on a tourbus. We ...

... There weren't enough waves which made it more difficult (thats our excuse and we're sticking to it!). Despite our failing to master the waves, much fun was had, and we weren't at work. Returning the van tomorrow - It's safe to say we've got no regrets from this little journey around NZ, and have crammed in as much as we could. Quite looking forward to not having to worry about banging our heads whenever we move though!