Takapuna Motor Lodge Auckland

Hi everyone,

It has been great having you all following our travels around this amazing country. Thanks for all the comments. We are now sat in the Auckland boarding gate about to leave on the 25 hour flight back to Heathrow. We might have a few more pics to upload from today but this is the end really.

Sad to be leaving and returning to the real world (and a trillion emails!).

Signing off
Becky and Neil
:-(

Hello all!

Boy! Has it ever been cold, wet and windy in New Zealand for the past two weeks. The day of the sky-dive aside it's been really miserable. Fiji is singing a beautiful lullaby to me from across the ocean. Johannis, Martin and myself have been making our way around the North Island trying our best to see some places but in reality going from the car to the next Pac 'n' Save Supermarket or French Joe's and then to a hostel. We then spend the evenings making ...

It was hardly the most auspicious start to a trip. Up at 3am, taxi at 4, airport check in at 5. Plane to Sydney leaves at 7am... and not long after 10am we are back on the tarmac at Auckland airport. There were dust storms in Sydney, we couldn't land, and Brisbane was full so we had to turn round.

Being trapped in an airport isn't much fun. Repeatedly queueing to find out what is going on, onlyh to meet polite ...

... St, which is the busy street where all the hip, young kids hang out. Unfortunately since we are neither hip, nor young, finding things to do was difficult. We mostly yelled at kids for listening to "rap n' roll" and driving too fast. Oh, and also, we went to the Skytower, which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

After much more walking around we got pretty tired and decided to update our blog and ...

... mountain ranges to fiords to volcanoes to rainforests. The Kiwis are so overwhelmingly friendly and generous that you could never feel alone or unhappy over here for long. There's something very familiar and reassuring about NZ that makes it very easy to adapt to living here. As beautiful and laid back as this country is I could never live here; it's just a bit too quiet and far from the 'real' world for me.

... bus open, which exposed the courier mail he was to deliver to Milford. These nortoriously cheeky and very intelligent birds, are known to fly off with stuff and picking at car doors. When he wasn't looking, this bird swooped in from the parking lot, grabbed a letter, and proudly flew off into the Jungle. Funny, but unfortunate, especially because that letter had a passport in it. The peaks around Milford shoot straight up into the sky some 5 to 6 ...

... up though waterfalls all the a thick wetsuit and some funky shorts. It was amazing and the taster of absailing def gave me the bug to do more.... thanks sis! After the caving we heading back up to Auckland... The next day greg, jess and i flew to Nelson to begin our 2 week tour of the south island. We arrived in Nelson on the 7th of March (which was a Saturday) and luckily got our hire car upgraded to a bigger version. The town was strangely quiet so we headed to our ...

... frames the lake. It's a pity they ban photography in the church. The colour of the lake is a wonderful translucent duck-egg blue, caused by suspended microscopic particles in the glacial water. The air here is supposed to be the cleanest in NZ, which is why they built the Mount John Observatory here. You can take a 3 hour walk to the top, where you can see for miles - we drove up. This area has all year round activities - hiking ...

... good, concise, understandable directions. However, the guys at this hotel are good. They gave me great directions that got me headed in the right direction and onto the right road to get out of the city and head toward the Coromandel Peninusula. So as they say here in New Zealand, "Good on you" Crowne Plaza Concierge Services! It is a good 2 1/2 hour drive from Auckland to Hahei, where the kayak tour leaves from. The first bit is all ...

... had a harsh reaction article to it, which I found interesting. Will update pictures at a later date, don't have cords to do so at this point. Staying at Backpackers Auckland. Big hostel around hundred rooms. But clean and friendly. Got my own private room with no windows. Living the high life. That is it as of the first 12 hours. Will update sometime soon, just remind me.