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 the next day for all concerned! The next day after breakfast it was feeding time again, and then the other family left. That meant it was up to Simon and Rachel to help lead the ... read more

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 had to go through a traditional Maori greeting with much stick waving, tongue sticking out and gutural noises. Quite intimidating! The bus driver had picked a chief from among the men on the bus, and ... read more

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 had big pools with salmon in. One had 35,000 baby salmon, and another one had 8,000 grown salmon. They also had a lake where you could fish for salmon for free, you just paid for ... read more

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 along some more traffic free roads to meet up with a herd of cows moving fields, escorted by 2 men and 3 dogs. Great! You don't see that in West Bridgford!! We eventually got to ... read more

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 the airport, which has a shuttle bus to take you, but as we were early we decided to look at the cathedral and climbed the spire to see the views. Antarctic experience After that we boarded ... read more