The Land of the Long White Cloud 1

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Evening all/ Kia Ora ( mouri for hello/welcome)

So its back on the road for me now and to get myself used to long road journeys a week ago I went wine tasting in hunter valley whilst still in Sydney. The minibus took us to around 5 different wineries each of who giving a little taster of the various wines they have. Drinking so early in the morning had left me a little rosie cheeked by lunchtime, and even at lunch we were treated to more wine! I bought a bottle of pinot noir which was reduced. Drinking goon and cheap ' reserve bin' at uni had made me prefer the cheaper wines over more expensive ones- the 80 dollar bottle didn't taste as nice as the 20 :D

My flight from Sydney to Auckland was mid afternoon and due to the time difference I arrived in Auckland at about 9pm. Luckily Will, a buddy from big hostel picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at my Base Hostel In Auckland. Being tired from the previous evenings camaraderie ( works leaving drinks) I was expecting to get a full nights sleep in order for Will to take me to the bay of islands fairly early. My room was above a nightclub which finally turned off its music at 02:30am so only a few hours kip was had.

At 8am will arrived and we drove three hours north to a place called Paihia. In that particular part of NZ are a series of pretty islands that look they should be on a james bond set. We took a boat ride ( which was very full being bank holiday) around the islands and had chance to stop off on one which had sheep on it. The focal point of the boat ride was going through ' the hole in the rock'- a short cave which formed from the seas erosion of the rock. Coming back we were visited by a school of dolphins who played chase with the boat. I was feet away from a dolphin that jumped out of the water. Luckily official photographer will was there to capture the amazing moment.

Thirsty from boating we enjoyed the beautiful weather with a beer in the russell harbour before catching the ferry back to paihia. There we continued to sample the discounted happy hour local beers ( it would be rude not to) before heading to bed.

The next day we had a bit of a lie in and made our way back to Auckland via Waipoa forest to see the famous ' Tane Mahuta, a gigantic tree that is said to be the father of the forest. On the way to the forest we came across a huge sand dune in Opononi which was rather unexpected what with everything in new zealand being so green.

The remainder of Monday evening was spent at wills office making plans for my trip south. We then met up with a few of his colleagues for a beer in a cowboy bar- the weather was bad.

So today I awoke at about 8ish and had breakfast. I could see the rain lashing on the windows as i was drinking my tea. I was due to walk about 15/20 mins from the hostel to pick up my hire car ( a Daihatsu Sirion) but the rain was bad enough for me to get a taxi. Besides i didn't know where it was and i didn't want my satnav-cum-phone to get wet. I felt rather lazy that morning.

Having got the car i drove two hours south to Hobbiton- the set of the shire on the lord of the rings. I donned a costume and was treated to a free mug of ale and a cheese scone in the pub at the end to add to the rustic experience. I then drove to Rotoura ( which is about 1 hour away from hobbiton) and this is the place I currently write to you at. I haven't done anything there yet other than make a very yummy courgette and tuna pasta bake and drink Monteiths Summer ale so keep watching this space for more updates on my crazy adventures.

JJ x

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