New Zealand

---

We are at the end of our third stop now and it's starting to go a bit too quickly for my liking!
We started off in Aukland for two nights which was surprisingly good. The hostel room was the size of a double bed but we were barely in it so it didn't bother us too much. The first day we sorted out the rental car and ferry in the morning and then went into town for the afternoon. The best bits were the sale at the caterbury shop and bar minus 5, which is a bar made completely of ice!
The next stop was Bay of Islands which is at the top of the north island and a bit of a beach place. We only had one full day there so there was no lazing about! The first evening we cycled down to where the treaty of waitangi was signed. That's right Jem was on a bike, wearing a helmet, it didn't last long. The next morning I was up at 6 to go fishing with Captain Bucko! That was a brilliant day and we caught loads of fish, about 3 stingrays and a shark. We let the stingrays and sharks go but not before having a good look at them first, I obviously kept a bit of distance away from the shark! I'll try and get my photos up on here especially of my little beauty of a catch!
The next stop was Rotorua and there isn't much to say other then it smelt (so much so I actually felt sick) and we went in some thermal pools. Between Rotorua and Taupo was a volcanic reagion which was pretty cool to look at and we saw a mini eruption from a geyser.
Next up was Taupo and my skydive. The day we arrived we decided to just take it easy and we had free passes to a gym and free internet so I was gonna hit the gym and Jem was gonna sort some hostels using the internet. Just as I was about the walk out to the gym Jem asked it I wanted to ask about my skydive. In 24 style, beep beep beep 2:45. I thought I might as well so I asked which company she recommended and decided to go with freefall. She then offered to ring about booking one for the following day. 2:50. She then came back saying they actually had one going at 3 that day and with the forcast looking bad for the following day she slowly convinced me to do it! So after the mandatory use of the toilet I got picked up for my skydive. 3:00. After some briefing and of course another toilet stop I was getting kitted up and before I knew it was in the plane. After about 10 mins of flying I was looking out at the beautiful scenery and also thinking f**k this is high! My tandem partner then informed me we were at 5000ft, oh only 10,000 to go them. We got to 15,000ft and I felt surprisingly calm......until my legs were hanging over the side of the plane! The freefall is absolutely amazing and lasts about a minute then the parachute bit is really cool cos of the stunning views! I have a DVD and photos so all are welsome to laugh at me trying to look cool in the freefall.
Next up was Wellington and other than Te Papa museum this was a bit of a disappointment, we just walked around in the wind really.
The south Island came next and the first stop was Renwick in the Marlborough wine regions. Needless to say I drove (it was raining to much to cycle) and Jem enjoyed about 6 wineries each with atleast 3 wines to try! It was a great day though and I finished it off with a steak so i was happy. The room here was also incredible and looked like a 100 a night room in London wuith ensuite!
The penultimate stop was Kaikora and the obvious activity was the dolphin watching. Whale watching was too pricey but we had a great time watching the dolpins anyway. We saw them doing some flips which was my main aim so all good.
And finally we are now in Chrictchurch which it actually really nice and probably the best cuty we have seen! We went out for a great meal last night, Jem enjoyed the waiter and he complimented me on how clean I left the bones of my lamb shanks so we had a great time!So we are now on our final day before we fly to Sydney and no real plans so iyou'll here from me at some point in Oz! My phone also works like it's in England so anyone can call (me or Jem) and we will actually pick up cos its free!

---