Nice Hotel & Bistro New Plymouth

... which has never been logged. An AMAZING area of native vegetation, ancient trees so much water everywhere that it was easy to see how the road got the nickname. All our pictures of this area are mostly of rain, water soaked cliff faces, trees, thousands of years old clumps of mosses and orchids and more rain. If you ever get the chance to drive this stretch of road do so, but be incredibly careful. The warden at the DOC office took one look at our ...

... volcanic island combined with a harbour cruise round auckland. This also included a return trip to devonport the other side of the harbour so i stopped there for lunch and climbed another volcanic peak mount victoria. Lovely views from the top there of the city and the other volcanos. Already enjoying new zealands scenery! Combined this with some shopping...needed to invest in some tights, gloves and a hat for this trip!! Next it was off to the skytower for sunset at around ...

... off by Tongariro, so Taranaki ran to where he is today and shrouds himself in tears (i.e. rain) and occasionally erupts in rage. We alternated between the high level Around the Mountain Circuit (AMC) and the low level AMC. One day we had no choice but to take the low AMC due to severe wash outs high up. The low level consisted of thick jungle bush, mud, steep gorges to cross, and many ladders to climb up and down. The high level consisted of little ...

... and other artifacts from other pacific islands as well. Just to fill you in the Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. We also went to the bus station and bought some tickets to New Plymouth for the following day. So by 7 PM that night we were exhausted. Another night without dinner, but sleep seemed to be the priority. We figure we walked at least 20 km that day. We didn't have an alarm clock so ...

... Now the pub hopping and sightseeing will commence. I have been very mellow and healthy since my arrival; getting up early and going to sleep relatively early. It has been great and I experienced exactly what I hope for and more with the farmstays, but I am excited to see more of the country now. Gonna add some photos from the last farm that I couldn't upload in the library because of time restraints. Cheers, T

... was in Welly and to see Sweeny Todd (very bloody musical with Johnny Depp, not sure if its out yet in England?) Stayed at the Lodge in the City again, we seemed to have found a bit of a home from home! Then it was eventually time to head up north again for WOMAD, we couldnt believe it had finally come around, as we'd been joking that it was eternally one month until WOMAD! Stayed at Kimberly Reserve (ORganic River Fest site ...

... lovely walk along what looked like quite a new route. Now, we first had the pool out of use, and within 30 seconds of getting onto the beachfront walkway, a bl**dy seagull decided to s**t on my neck and shirt collar !! great, cheers birdie ! And then along the walk, at a lovely bridge over a stream that fed to the sea, I saw a rat scarper into the undergrowth, and then we saw another one further down scamper ...

... untill I w*ke up in the m*rning and saw it parked *utside my tent. S* Russel Texas turned *ut t* be a pretty nice guy. Even helped us via text t* get the clutch w*rking again the next day aft** we had drivin all the way d*wn t* Mana ramr*ding the clutch and av*iding red lights and st*p signs like land mines. We survived that missi*n and then w*n the battle with Jesse's t*y*ta c*r*la (sp?) by rem*ving the start** and having it repaired f*r $140 bucks back in Wellingt*n.

... were't there. It's top 1400m is still covered in lava from the last eruption. Mum and Dad had a day on the farm with the Mogers, meanwhile Jamie and I borrowed the car and headed off along Surf Highway and made our way up to New Plymouth - a great little city. The whole area is stunning, volcanoes and the coast within 10 miles of each other. Next day we drove all down the west coast, stopping off n a few beaches, where there is black boiling hot volcanic sand, down to Wellington.

... 35 minutes each way. I thought that sounded an ideal walk and set off. The pathway was incredibly steep and my legs were a little tired from the day before. However, I carried on all the way until I came to the gorge - notorious for avalanches and rock falls. There was a sign indicating that it was a danger to loiter in the gorge, but that the risk of avalanche was small today. I saw this as a sign that I ought to continue and advanced through the ...