New Zealand - The North Island They say that Great Britain and America are two great nations separated by one language; New Zealand should be added too. Pronunciation is the key, ‘I’ is pronounced ‘u’ and ‘e’ is pronounced ‘I’ once you’ve got your head round that the rest is easy. Except when place names should finish like Kaukapakapa, Tutukaka, Whangaruru and Haruru they seem to roll off the tongue and keep rolling. AUCKLAND We got a shuttle to LAX with a lovely girl, who was supposed to be on stand-by on out flight & staying at the same hostel as us in Auckland, but once we arrived at the airport & went through customs, we never saw her again! The flight was full to busting, so I guess she never got on! We popped into ... read more

Well a long journey to the first lighthouse and a stop en route to get some supply’s , we have had enough of pasta chicken dinners, so get some minced beef for Bolognese, deodorant, they only have lady’s stick’s here, not spray’s! When I asked a lady about it she said it would be nice, so there is a marketing opportunity for the big companies out there! Also we had enough of paying for internet and as everywhere has free wifi (and everyone travels with a netbook), we decided that it would be cheaper to get our own! Good so far! Travelling up the Highway 1 at a nice even pace after dark, we get over taken at high speed by a surfer dude in a beetle! Then there appears to be lots of people in ... read more

Well to get to San Francisco we decided to take the cheapest flight with SouthWest Airlines, as recommended by Julia. To get here the time that we wanted we decided to take the flight via San Diego! Crazy I know but it worked out for us. Until that is we landed in San Diego ran to get the connection flight and were advised that it was delayed due to bad weather for at least 2 hours! We were not fazed by this and thought that it was par for the course & we had been lucky so far! But some people were having hissy fits! I am suprised that they did not throw themselves on the floor & pound it with there fists! We were lucky though, because as we were diggin into an over priced ... read more

missing photos from L. A. finally got access to download from Liam's phone!... read more

Finish work, get home, get changed, get in car and be driven to Kernow (Cornwall for the uninitiated). A bit of a test for this here bloggy type mabob, and how long a 6'5" man can be cooped up in tight spaces (plane seats, car seats, bunk beds, packing creates, jail cells), 4 1/2 hours door to door and I can still feel all my bodily particles, so 11 hrs to L.A. no sweat. William Blake was absolutely right when he said 'green and pleasant land' Crow's nest, (near Liskard) is beautiful 'her rolling fields, swooping swallows, and her playful sheep' (stand up all you Blackadder fans) And in the centre of it all a small holding belonging to Lorna and Digory (Charlotte's Mum and Step Dad) a chance to stretch our legs, as Lorna cooks ... read more