Wainui Thermal Motel Tauranga

... the different types of Kiwi fruit, how they are grown in New Zealand, what they do to ensure a good harvest each year, and we learned about the Kauri tree.  It takes over a 1000 (one thousand) years before the trees will be large enough to do anything with.  The Kauri tree in New Zealand is protected so much that if one happens to ...

... the boat while others were having a turn in the water I was still so close to them and was in awe as they followed the boat and jumped by my side! I could even hear them clicking from on top of the boat and was 110% in heaven! We were with them for about 1.5hrs but I had no idea of the time, I could've watched them forever! Then, and I funnily enough got it on film, something must have spooked one dolphin and he freaked out and swam over to the main pod ...

... morning tea - scones and tea. Here I heard stories about beetles in salads on board, and about not getting bottles of champage after complaining. The beetles were unacceptable, and I guess they deserved something for having to put up with that. There was something about the tone of the conversation though, so I left and I watched some bowls and croquet matches underway right next door, and wandered around Government Gardents. We then headed to Te Puia to see ...

... to the kitchen for a few drinking games before bed. In the morning, at 7:15, as promised, we were all woken to the sound of Uncle Boy's favourite band coming from the kitchen. Abba. It was time to leave and we said our goodbyes to Uncle Boy, showed off our bruises, and posed for the obligatory photo. He's had 350 bus trips from Stray, and many others from other companies, and he has photos of every single one. Next it was on to Taupo. To be continued in part 4....

... better than the University of Leeds back in England, where officially you're not allowed to have a waste bin inside your office at all. OK; looking ahead, it's work tomorrow morning and then the Head of Dept and one or two other staff are talking me off campus this afternoon for an in-depth discussion/debate about the state of social policy in New Zealand trip - it just happens that we're doing this in the conducive surroundings of the Kiwi House! H.x

The journey to Mount Maunganui was broken up by stopping first just outside Roturua to see some of the Geothermal activity it is known for. This was incredible to see although very smelly due to the sulpher being omited from the erupting mud pools. We then reached Roturua itself and the bus stopped here for a couple of hours around lunchtime. Although we didnīt have a huge amount of time in Rotorua it was enough for us to be able to do the legendary Luge. The Luge ...

... de moeder en Tisha, de pup, worden wat onrustiger. Zullen we dan maar even de honden uitlaten? Euhm, ja, prima... (het wordt al laat in de middag en ik begrijp dat ik het stadten wel even vergeten kan). We komen aan in een bos en lopen een pad af... en op... en verder op... en nog verder omhoog.... hijg, puf, jeetje wat een klim zeg! Sheeba heeft het gelukkig net zo moeilijk als ik en samen vormen we de achterhoede. Het blijkt dat Paul naar de rivier wil lopen. Dat betekent dat ...

... with me, but it was tough. For a few days, I ate one of the following meals: - Peanuts, raisins, and shortbread cookies - Ham and cheese sandwich, banana, yogurt - Hot ham and cheese sandwich, banana - Salami, ham, and cheese sandwich; peanuts - Hot salami, ham, and cheese sandwich; raisins I know a backpacker's diet isn't normally that great, but I was suffering big time. A few times, I had peanuts, raisins, and bananas for both breakfast and lunch. I've ...

Greetings from Tauranga! What a beautiful place this is. We woke up this morning to the sight of a huge mountain in front of our ship - Mt. Maunganui. Traveling with Mrs. Wardlow can be exhausting...you know...if she sees a mountain, she just has to climb it. So, you guessed it, that's what we did. First we ran around the base ...

... seem like a friendly lot. But it's an odd friendliness. They remind me, both men and women, of the Stepford wives. They're like computers that were programmed in the 60's. If you type in, or in this case say something with a letter or syllable out of place, the conversation goes wonky.

New Zealand is far more foreign than Lithuania, Latvia or even Russia. We've got four more days here and I'm frightened. I mustn't tell Ellen.