Karapiro Wellness Resort Cambridge

... from the chickens, and condiments that have been made by the Osmond's or "yours truly". The cows are slowly getting warmed up to the family so that they can be milked soon. That's a new endeavor! When I first arrived I was staying in a guest house with a petite French girl with very broken English. She, of course, rolled her own cigarettes. Liz, a 19 yr. old with dread locks and a story for every conversation, is too smart for her ...

... probably wouldn't have been impressed; · Lowlight...going to a local Anglican church service and mentioning to Tracy during the sermon that the reference to the "angel seeing a small pinprick of light at the end of a dark tunnel" meant that the angel had probably seen a glow worm...it made me laugh anyway; · Seeing some live kiwi birds. This is not that easy to do considering they are nocturnal and their numbers are dwindling. At one of our stops ...

... but more was to come. At 1.00 we lined up, but when it came to our turn at the counter the computer decided it didn't want to recognize my passport - Kevin's went through after only a few swipes - so 20 minutes later after much coming and going, we finally had our boarding passes and headed off towards the gate. But then came the baggage check and as we had put our suitcases out for collection the night before, we had foolishly packed our toothpaste (what else were ...

... it would be best to wait until the summer. We then drove back to Hamilton and had a lovely meal in The CazBar and Restaurant in the Marketplace, Hood Street before heading home. The food was lovely with good service and I would recommend it to others. All in all a good day out. Day Two. Drove to Torbay and Devonport and took some pictures. We both agreed they would be good places to live but would probably choose Devonport for it's views across the sea of ...

... in the recruiting firm in Auckland. Simon was supposed to be there but couldn't make it, so Dave managed to get us up there for an hour or so. I went for a wander around the ground and managed to get all the SKY Sports commentary team to sign my programme, (except for Bumble !). We went back to the Barmy Army pub after the game for a couple of drinks then left Hamilton for Auckland

... was done, this seemed like just another example of the lack of hospitality on offer here. We were glad we weren't staying. As we left, with bits of still damp washing hanging around the van (the bed linen was dry, thankfully), we thought to ourselves that it was shamefully telling: the Kiwi guy on the desk had said "Yeah, no worries!" but the British owners had been extremely unpleasant, and not just to us. No matter, we had clean bedding, and we were on the road again.

... to Taupo which is a town on lake Taupo, a very very large lake and what looked to be a very nice place that may be worth a return longer visit sometime if we get the chance. we spent the day battling the wind walking along the lake and reading on the beach, not a bad life really. Right, now to add some photos and do the next installment, sorry it's all a bit here and there, started this about a week ago! Take care xxx

It's Nikki's first Christmas outside the UK and the weather doesn't quite pull out all the stops but it isn't raining and it is comfortable to be outside. An all round warm welcome to the joys of the antipodean Christmas. Christmas day here was much like that back home with trees, presents, champagne, turkey, The Vicar of Dibley and of course great company. However, it was the little things that reminded ...

On the road again!! Arose early to a beautiful sunny morning, bag and bike all ready to go. The rest of the group will spend the day surfing and relaxing, therefore I waste no time in hitting the road to get a good days cycle in before meeting everybody in the van along the route. Once again I find myself cycling through beautiful areas surrounded by green roaming hills, vast forrests and mountain views...all the time ...

... cancelled. We had waited in the holding pens and on the boats for a total of three hours only to learn we had to be back the next day at 6:15 am for a race at 7am. We left, cold, hungry and glad to be done for the day. We woke up the next day to no wind but to rain. Rain is better than wind... Oops, the day needs to get started we're off to go explore and then to the race after party tonight so more later. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these races and NZ. Cheers!