New Zealand!

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Hi all from New Zealand! Somehow we have managed to make it here after 4 months travelling and we are already in love with it.
We've been here about 2 weeks but we have had a little hold up so we're back in Auckland. The reason is that we had a little car accident last Saturday so have come back to pick up a new rental car. We were driving along a very small narrow, windy road in the pouring rain and lost control of the car and went head on into the side of the cliff. We have so much to be thankful for though as we are fine apart from being bruised and shaken and no-one else was involved. Lots of people stopped and helped us move the car and drive us to get phone reception and someone even phoned the police so they came with an ambulance which was rather dramatic. Issie was greatly relieved when a woman stopped and said that her daughter had crashed there the week before. The big bummer is that we have to pay $1500 excess (600 pounds) insurance which is a huge dent in our budget so it was porridge for lunch! But the main thing is that we're okay and will pick up a new car tomorrow and can set off again!!!

We began with 5 days in Auckland which was loads of time to do all the tourist things like the Sky Tower which is the highest tower in the Southern hemisphere so the views were incredible, we've been to a couple of art galleries, the museum, a park and even a lantern festival. We also spent a day on Waiheke Island which is a beautiful island only 30mins from Auckland by ferry but it feels a whole world away. Everyone is laid back, there's lots of beaches and the weather was lovely so we totally reccommend it. We were staying in a hostel in Parnell which is a nice suburb a really short walk from the city and we even saw Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster having supper at a reataurant there one night!
The weather was a bit hit and miss with lots of rain but a couple of perfect days so we feel we've seen Auckland at its best.

We picked up our car, May (RIP), who was a dark blue 1998 toyota corolla sedan, very groovy indeed and set off North. Our first stop was Paihia in the Bay of Islands which is full of backpackers and has a cool vibe. We found a lovely hostel so stayed 2 nights and went for seaside walks and a 4 hour kayak which was a great way to see the area. It was really nice and warm up there as it's called the 'winterless north' so it made a good beachy first stop.

We then went up to Cape Reinga which is the furthest north you can go in New Zealand up a dusty dirt track (took us back to Cambodia) and there's a lighthouse and a sign telling us we were 18029 km from London! We stayed near 90 mile beach on a farm stay so we woke up to a magnificent view of rolling hills and some cows! 90 mile beach was lovely so we went for a good walk, most people drive along it but we chose to stick by our car rental rules. After that we drove south to Goat Island which was NZ's first marine park where you can go snorkelling as the fish are really big and brightly coloured. So we had a great time in th Northland, it's definetly worth going up although we missed the giant Kauri forests which are meant to be awesome so maybe next time!

It was when we were driving south of Auckland when we had our bump about 20km from Raglan. Luckily our tow truck dropped us off in Raglan where we were booked for a couple of nights. It was such a fantastic place to unwind and recuperate after the shock as the hostel there is heaven so we just took it easy for three days. We were hoping to surf but we were too bruised so we stuck to walks and kayaking and will have to surf elsewhere. Raglan is a really small surf town with fantastic people, lovely cafes and great beaches and we found it very sad to leave and come back to Auckland.
We got buses back today with a friend from Raglan and are staying in the same hostel as before which is wierd but nice as the guy who runs it was very fond of us! We will pick up our new car tomorrow, it's amazing that they're letting us really and so we shall steam on undeterred!

Our view of NZ so far has been lots of sheep, cows, changeable weather, great people, very strong Maori culture and a fantastic attitude to enjoying the outdoors and making the most of the country.
We hope you're all well, we hear the weather has been good (!?), drive safely, love Cordy and Issie X

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Comments

[Howge]

Oh my goodness!
Issie and Cordy thankgoodness you are both ok! (sorry its taken me this long to write on this thing but its taken a while for blonde me to figure out how you do it!)..anyway I read all your blogs with envy but this time I must say - you poor things, you must have had a real shock. These experiences make you stronger though and I know neither of you will be deterred. We're thinking of you here in rainy and really windy Oxford and send lots of love and hugs to you both, TAKE CARE XXXXXXX