All Washed Up...

Hello,

I'm in Napier... arrived here from Taupo a few days ago with Chris and Becs. We hired a car and split the costs three ways. Napier is a really nice place with a quiet little high street and lots of nice places to eat and chill. The most impressive hting is the sea... as we are on the east coast the waves have been the most impressive i've ever seen and they have reached such a strength that the beaches are currently closed. As such you might think that trying to get as close to the sea as it well let you, in between waves to try and comprehend their size, would be a very foolish idea.... and as such an hour later I strolled back to the hostel in soaking wet clothes head to toe!! Three games of mini-golf in a week and I have yet to lose the title with a personal best of 43 on the Napier 18 hole mini golf course... skillo!!

Take care. toodles

Roadtrippin'

Hello to those who read this,

I'm back in Taupo - over the last 4 days I've come from Taupo stayed two nights in Whakatane then to Rotorua yesterday and back to Taupo this afternoon - it's been a great few days in the car, thankfully not in another bus. Blaire is heading back to Welly tomorrow and i'm catching up with Chris and Becky to hire a car and head to Napier and Hastings for 5 days. Then I guess it'll be back to plan A and heading back up to Auckland slowly slowly.

I'm at the counting dollars and cents carefully stage but it's all good. By the time i get back to AKL I'll have pretty much visited every town and city on the north island...

Having sampled the delights I can only conclude that all of you should definately come and visit this lovely country.... it's great!

all over the place

slight change of plans... my friend Baz bought a car yesterday - so hitched a life - Am in Taupo today - Whakatane tomorrow - Rotorua? - Napier?.... who knows - after 2 weeks in Wellington it seems i'm ready to be back on the road every day again!

i'll keep you posted from wherever I land.

toodlepip

Hurricanes!!!

Hello,

Well I guess it's just about time for me to update this lovely site. I am still in Wellington and plan not to leave until Monday (ridiculously early in the morning!) when I will head to Taupo before starting road trip 2 (with Chris and Beccy) to the East Coast(ish). There's been plenty happening in and around Wellington over the last week and it's been fantastic... possibly due to the 2 high pressures that have floated over the north island bringing a week (and hopefully more) of beautiful sunshine. [bviously there have been no hurricanes other than the Wellington Super 12 Rugby team.] There have been a few epic nights out (much of which will go down as legend), there have been a few beach moments and long walks, there was the soccer match on saturday in which the team (Wellington obviously) that I was supporting fell to an embarrasing 5-0 defeat. Had a BBQ last night - then headed inside for a few hours of card games.... it has been great fun over the last week or so but unfortunately nothing crazy has happened to tell you guys.

I'm sure there will be soon....

Take care.

Too much to say....

Hello,

Andrew - (neen's friend) - and his flat mates

Maura and Basil

Andrew (Dome) and Mariana

David and Tina

Jaime

Blaire (Baz)

For the last 5 days I've been in Wellington and have spent time with all these people. I've stayed at Maura and Basil's beautiful house in Whitby and had delicious home-cooked food... I stayed at Andrew's (neen's friend) house and went out for the night with his flat mates (my pool skills seriously need working on).... Jaime I spent two days with and have never had so much fun.... Blaire (Baz) is the laziest, funniest scot in the world. Today I went to the beach and to a car museum with Basil. Tomorrow I'm going to Te Papa museum and to David's for some food. That's as far as I have planned...

Wellington rocks!!

Home of the rubber boot.

Hello.... I'm in Wellington, or Welly as it is affectionately known.

The ferry trip back was so much more fun than before... I was feeling top of the world it was gloriously sunny and my mp3 player had more battery power... so I sat outside in the coffee shop bit and listened to the Mull Historical Society, ate sandwiches and drank cans of coke (with a straw). Then when we got into Wellington I checked in at the YHA and a guy in my room, Blaine, had his lap top so we had a good old DVD session.... This is Spinal Tap, Shaun of the Dead, Redemption (guess which 2 I chose). Then just when I thought it wouldn't get any better one of the girls in the dorm, Anna, brought out her flute and we attempted to improvise our way through a collection of rocking guitar and flute tracks... lets see we attempted most red hot chillis tracks and some jeff buckley and some disney songs..... 'under the sea, under the sea...' This morning I went down to Mr Bun's Cafe and had scrambled egg on toast with a carton of orange juice before sauntering into this delightful internet cafe.

that's the story of the last two days... night night.

Whales v Island

Hello!

I'm in Kaikoura (check spelling) basking in the glorious sunshine and taking a day out purely to wash the contents of my increasingly heavy backpack. I arrived yesterday on the bus and went.... Whale watching... I was incredibly excited and could hardly sit still. We motored out of harbour at a very fast speed (30 knots from recollection)... soon enough we found two lovely sperm whales resting on the surface. The guide with the microphone was hilariously funny and very informative.

My sightings -

4 whales

1 blue shark

3 wandering albatrosses

and apparently between 200 - 250 dolphins

the dolpins would have made even the grumpiest person smile with their crazy antics jumping alongside the boat and doing flips in the air (show-offs!) then in the evening most of the bus crew from that day went to have a delicious roast in a converted beach house... ended up back in the hostel playing connect 4 (i am the current unbeaten champion) and debating on whether or not The Evil Dead 2 was actually a good film. Am heading to Wellington either tomorrow or sometime next week... slight dilema about whether or not to wait around for the group of lovely people I travelled with in the north island who are slowly catching up (can currently be found in Christchurch).

will write again soon with, no doubt, more antics...

Guess Where I Am?!?!?

Heathrow Airport.....

April fools! No I'm (somewhat predictably) still in Christchurch taking in the mounting excitement for the annual bike race tomorrow... a kind of 'mountain stage - tour de france' apparently. Was thinking of taking part but forgot my bicycle.... again. Anyway Glastonbury tickets released on Sunday... hope you're all excited and ready to spend 6 hours on the phone... Yesterday.... yesterday I went to an Art gallery... look at me Mr Culture... and peered (rather sceptically) at a German modern art exhibition linking live performance with something or other... it was very amusing to (me) those of us that don't quite latch on to whats going on - some melted furniture.... a tv screen showing a mans face whilst he slept (on an hour loop).... a bucket of sand (one of my personal faves).... a giant size vegetable strainer.... oh the wonders of modern art. went out last night for a leaving drink with Rachel and Charlie who will very soon be flying to Melbourne for the second leg of their adventure... Beccy and Chris have arrived in Christchurch and so i might catch up with them later... kittie is around and about somewhere or other... the danes are cruising into town today, i think, if they can find a dorm room (the towns pretty busy due to the cycling fun)... so it should be a lively few days here!! am heading further north on monday - hurrah so look forward to less wittering and the chance of me having had more exciting adventures...

until next time...

cheerio.