A day of several things. After breakfast there was some more horse riding. Rachel had a go on Mikado up and down the field being led, and then switched to the shetland, where she rode first round in a circle, and then completely free around the field. Then she had another go trotting around in a circle, but had a fall on one of the circuits that rather took her wind away. However after a couple of minutes she was back on the horse and riding again. Meanwhile Simon was up and down the field on Mikado. The session came to [View Full Entry]

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We left Rotorua in a rather grey landscape, and travelled north along the coast up to Taronga, then a bit further north for lunch. After that we head across country up to Auckland and our next stop. We arrived at the farm, and the Rachel and Simon promptly met up with two other children staying and got involved in feeding the animals. We had a huge supper after that which we didn't manage to eat all of, and then we watched the Rugby (Australia v. New Zealand) - we were supporting New Zealand, as otherwise it would be a grumpy day [View Full Entry]

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Today we focused on hot springs. After another magnificent breakfast, we headed out to Wai-O-Tapu where there are some hot springs, and a geyser erupts every day at 10:15am. We got there just in time, and I wondered how they could get a geyser to erupt on time. The answer was soon revealed, the guide told us a little about it and then put what was basically soap powder down the geyser hole. This allowed a pool of hot water to mix with the very hot water underground and for it to erupt. This would happen naturally anyway, but anywhere from [View Full Entry]

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In the evening, the people we were staying with suggested we go to a Maori traditional ceremony event. They had buses laid on to pick us up and we set off. The bus driver was Maori and was completely crazy (he reminded us of Mr P.). He greeted us in Maori "Kia-Ora" and got us all to practice saying it. Then he proceeded to explain what it meant in about 50 languages. He then went on to explain that the All Blacks were the best rugby team of all time, and forever will be. When we got to the place, we [View Full Entry]

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All written and assembled by Rachel When we landed the first thing we noticed was the smell. It smelt awful. We went into the airport and collected our car so we could drive to our lodge. In the morning we had a good breakfast before leaving for the local museum (We decided on the museum because it was raining. We also had it recommended by the people we were staying with).The museum was all about the history of New Zealand people and the world famous bath that were there. At the museum we went into a cinema before going on a [View Full Entry]

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Cath here - Just got reconnected in the North Island - its now 10.30pm Thurs evening. CLASS 3 - YOU TOTALLY ROCK!! We have been chuckling a lot and you are now definitely in the lead with comments! Thanks! Now handing back over to the others to update the diary......... On our last day on the south island we did a few things. First we had to pack up all our stuff, which mum did while we helped by surfing the internet. Then with the car loaded for the last time, we set off to look at a salmon farm. They [View Full Entry]

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Last night we decided to eat out, so we browsed through the brochures provided to see what we could find. There was a piazza place, but that was shut on Mondays. We picked on a take away for fish and chips, and walked down the street to pick it up. We found it shut as apparently they were away all July! So we moved on to another place, which it turned out was also shut on Monday. The night was quite cold, and we thought we might walk back to another place, but on the way we found the pizza place [View Full Entry]

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Golden Bay - right at the top most part of the south Island of New Zealand. We're in the town of Takaka, staying at a motel while we have a look around. Quite a frost over night and no where in NewZ seems to have central heating. So we're all getting expert at getting dressed quick! But when the sun gets over the mountain, its glorious! We've been on Taha beach today - pretty much deserted. Simon wanted to go swimming in the crystal clear sea, but a quick paddle by me(Cath) declared the water 'achingly cold'! We then carried on [View Full Entry]

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So here we are. Well there we were anyway, as we've moved on now. After leaving Christchurch we drove up the coast road. We stopped at Kaikoura but were too late for the whale watching tours, but then we weren't too sure on them anyway as its a long sea voyage and we have a couple of not so good sailors in the party. Then on up to Blenheim where we stopped for an evening Italian meal. We saw that swine flu is around and about! There we phoned ahead to Nelson to see if Penny and Mark were ready for [View Full Entry]

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Breakfast We woke up and had a lazy start to the day. The apartment is quite spacious and has two bedrooms with TV's, so the children occupied themselves rather than disagreeing! Christchurch centre We had breakfast of some sort of NZ cereal bought at a convenience store - which made a change from the restaurant breakfast. After that, we walked down to Cathedral square in the centre of Christchurch. It wasn't raining but was clear it had been earlier and the sky was overcast - it even smelled like England! We were planning to go to the Antarctic experience at [View Full Entry]

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