This is a work in progress... Thursday 8th Dec Leaving the National Park, we made our way to Wellington. I've not heard great things about Wellington and I'm not particularly exciting so I'm really pleasantly surprised when we get there to find a buzzing, bustling (by NZ standards), but equally chilled city by the sea. We book into Base hostel in the centre and get a room on the 6h floor with fantastic views over the harbor. we leave tomorrow bright and early to catch the 7am ferry but I stay out drinking with new friends regardless. We go to a weird bar called 'Alice', down a dodgy back alley and feel like we're the only ones that know about this place as we are taken there by locals. We arrive and are led down a ... read more

Tuesday 6th Dec We leave the Marae early, again, and head to Rotorua. Some people have signed up for zorbing and a small number for skydiving. I wish I had it in me (and my bank account) to do a skydive but I chicken out and go for a visit to the geothermal village in Rotorua instead, finding myself with the same group as in the caves at Waitomo. A great surprise. Whakarewarewa is an incredible place. A tourist trap, granted, but also very interesting. It's an inhabited village that every 2-3m has active geysers and hot pools...some really hot pools that reach up to 340degrees Celsius. Steam rises up through the streets and swirls around the houses. We get to eat some corn, cooked in the hangi (hot pool oven). Unfortunately we didn't get to ... read more

Sunday 27th Nov at 10.27pm Packed up my bags and started out on my epic journey along the Pacific coastal drive from Monterey to Lompoc. Eventually, I managed to figure out how to get the soft top down on the car...much to the amusement of the hotel staff. My first stop, Carmel by the Sea, was closer than expected at a massive 3 minutes down the road so I didn't get much use out the convertible but theres plenty more time for that. Carmel is a quaint, picturesque town set on the side of a hill running down to the Beach. It's streets are lined with shops selling craft items, art, antiques, generally very cute things and great cafes and restaurants. I grabbed some lunch the headed out of Carmel. Just as I was leaving, realized ... read more

Friday 25th Nov at 8.35pm Got a shuttle bus to the airport and picked up my rental car, a Mitsubishi eclipse. It may not be the fastest, sexiest convertible in the world but in garish white it's my very cool ride from San Francisco to LA. I squeeze my oversized luggage into the cramped boot space and immediately get stumped by the automatic transmission. When I eventually work out how to get it out of 'Park' and into 'Drive' I'm off...very, very slowly. The attendant on the way out, after seeing smoke coming from the exhaustI gives me some very helpful advice. Apparently you only use the break when you need to? I guess I'm just used to using both feet when driving but in true American style they can add driving to the long list ... read more

Thursday 24th Nov at 1.14pm Today is Thanksgiving which is a strange holiday celebrating, as far as I can gather, the stealing of a continent from its native inhabitants. However, it is a very precious holiday for most Americans and signifies all that they have to be grateful for which is a lovely sentiment in anyone's book. It is a time for families to be together and enjoy each others company, a time for eating lots of great food and just being together. Although it is not a holiday I am familiar with, nor have I ever celebrated, I miss my family today and I miss Ben. I have had a fantastic few days in San Francisco and tomorrow comes my time to move on. It hasn't been so awe inspiring as vegas or as much ... read more