On Tuesday morning, we saw our last steaming, bubbling mud pool and left Rotorua (and the rotten egg smell) behind us, apart from the smell which had permeated our clothes, and headed towards Taupo. We had a brief stop at Huka falls, where light blue water runs between two rock faces making incredible 10m rapids on the way down (I'm not sure what grade this would be on the rafting scale, but apparently no-one's ever managed it!) Hazel had signed up to do a skydive that afternoon - Christine had recomended Taupo, as you can see great views across the lake as you come down. Despite my vertigo, I decided to sign up too, as it was on my list of "things to do before you die"...or while you die! The build up is much worse ... read more

This week, we've started to experience slightly more 'New Zealand-y' weather - we've had a couple of mornings spent hiding inside, waiting for the rain to let up so that we can go out exploring...I (Hazel) can confirm that my new cagoul works just fine though!! On Wednesday morning, after a one-night stop-over in Auckland, we hopped back onto the Magic bus at 7am and arrived at Thames, at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, around 9:30am. We had booked a connection bus with Go-Kiwi that afternoon and a nights accomodation to give us a day and a half in Thames, after over-estimating the excitment of the town. After three hours we realised our mistake and re-arranged our plans to spend an extra day on the Coromandel! The driver of the Go-Kiwi shuttle was really helpful ... read more

People have been asking us whether it's sunk in yet that we have a whole year off, and that we're not just on holiday...now I can happily say that it has! The other night I was lying in bed, trying to decide what to do the next day and it struck me that we could do whatever we liked, whenever we liked, for the next 365 days... And our only real concern is whether it'll be sunny enough to go to the beach or whether we should do some sughtseeing :) We arrived in Auckland on the afternoon of Monday 7 Jan. It was our first flight in an A380, which was rather exciting (and so roomy). We made our way to Ponsonby Backpackers (our first hostel), but settled into backpacking life relatively slowly, as we ... read more

Happy New Year 2013! We arrived at 9:30am on New Years Eve at the Botanic Gardens and met with Jo and Rob, who had arrived the day before from Tasmania; the queues were already massive. We spent the day picnicing in the sunshine and trying not to get too burned. It was a long day, but the Chicken Sandwiches (which Mark made) made it all worthwhile (Rob will testify to that)... and there were some fireworks too! We had amazing views of the Harbour and the Bridge, and enjoyed an impressive flying display and sky writing, from Mrs Macquarie's Point. All the boats in the harbour joined in the celebrations and were lit up with red lights. The theme was embrace, so we have tried to capture a boat with it written on the side.... read more

The last couple of days we have spent around Bondi and the city. We took a walk around the next few headlands to Coogee ("could-gee") bay on Friday afternoon, after Hazel spent the morning in the local Westfield mall (always important to know where your next shopping fix is coming from). Mark took on the chin-up challenge along the cliff-top path to Coogee - and managed a measly 4! Hazel declined to try, in case she embarassed him... On Saturday, we worked out how to take a bus, which involves buying a ticket before you board and then dunking it into the ticket machine the number of zones you want to cross. We bused to Paddington Market and had a wander around. It was similar to Greenwich market with paintings and crafts, and loads of nice ... read more