Whistle stop tour...

Well we had a really good day in Rotarua. We spent the morning making the most of the hotel, using the shower and watching the telly and luxuriating in a real bed, then we drove out to the luge. These are karts which shoot down a track really fast and there are three different levels. I went down the scenic route once and that was enough for me but Sam and Will spent the afternoon whizzing down the advanced track. Then they went on the sky swing, this is a huge ball which you sit in and is then launched out over a valley at about 150k in 2 seconds... I watched that one as well (must be getting old). Sam thought it was absolutely brilliant, crazy child.

In the evening we went to a Maori show - it was a right rip off. When we got there there was some maori host who thought he was a comedian and we sat in a huge marque, like being at someone you don't know very wells wedding. Then we elected a chief from the group (don't ask) and went to see where the hangi was being dug up. After this we watched a canoe being paddled in by some maori kids and then sat and watched a maori show. It was all just a bit...tacky...really. The maoris seem so proud of their culture and this just seemed like it was demeaning it a bit (not sure if that's the right word). And no Dad, it's not just me because the other couples on our table felt the same. After the show we went back to the marque and had the hangi and this is where we got our moneys worth as you can imagine, we piled our plated high with delicious lamb, chicken, potatoes and kumara (sweet potato) which had been cooked in the ground and then followed this with chocolate cake and cups of tea. Finally we went for a walk in the dark with torches and saw the glow worms and the 'comedian' told us about how the maoris used the trees for medicine etc... which was quite interesting but I'm not sure he knew what he was talking about!! The upshot - if you are in Rotarua don't pay to see the show it's rubbish just meet some real maoris and talk to them for free, much more enlightening and emotional.

The next morning we drove to Hell's Valley (think it was George Bernard Shaw who christened them this) and saw the bubbling mud pools and sulphur springs which were pretty cool, like walking on the moon with steam coming from the ground and bubbling water shooting up in a barren landscape. Then we drove to Raglan which is an excellent surf spot and a lovely little town. Will got some great surf and we spent a miserable night in the van in the rain parked outside a campsite because the gates were closed and all squashed onto one bed, but the next morning the sun came out and I spent an amazing morning wandering around the Raglan art trail which was on in all the shops and cafes whilst Sam and Will did maths in the van. The art trail was amazing and so much better without Will and Sam who would have been very bored! Then we drove to The Mount and stopped by to see Coralie (Ellie's next door neighbour) we are now parked up on her grass and will stay here for a couple of days until we head up to the Coromandel.

Mum said there are reports of cyclones and flooding in the North Island, it has been a bit wet and stormy but it's all fine now and we haven't been washed out or anything. Sorry it's been so long but have had no power for a few days.

A bed a bed a bed a bed......

Yesterday we drove from Taupo to Rotarua after Sam and Will spent the morning hitting glof balls into the lake trying to win a prize. There's a platform out to sea and you have 18 balls to try and get into the hole, the prize is $10,000!!! We didn't win but Will was very close.

The drive to Rotarua was lovely as the landscape here is very volcanic and there are lots of funny shaped hills, steaming geysers, bubbling mud pools and hot springs, however it was spoilt slightly when there was a funny noise and a grating sound and we stopped on the side of the road with a burst tyre. The next 40 minutes were spent trying to unhook the spare tyre, jack up the van, undo the bolts, change the wheel (for the dodgy looking spare) and then put the burst tyre back in the spare tyre place under the van. The whole time we were covered in little flies, it was pretty disgusting, but fortunately Will is the strongest man in the world and managed to do it all pretty quickly and suprisingly calmly. Funnily enough it was quite an enjoyable experience!! (for me anyway but I was mainly watching).

When we arrived in Rotarua we bought a new tyre and then went to the info place to arrange our activities (it's not called Rotavegas for nothing) then we narrowed down our activities to the following: Ride on the luge, Maori experience including concert and a Hungi (a meal cooked by hot stones in the ground) and possibly some other god awful extreme sport!

We then decided (and this is the best bit) to spend the night in a hotel and found a nice hotel with a spa with the natural mineral waters. So we are now sat in bed, Sam is watching Telly, Will is reading the complimentary paper and I am drinking coffee in bed (made by Will!) and charging all the electrical equipment, the only down side is we have to be out by 11:00 am so only 1 and 1/2 hours to go!!

Moving on...finally

The other day Will got up at 5am (after going to bed at 1:30) to go fishing with Malcolm out on a boat - after 5 bumpy hours they returned a little green but triumphant with three fish. Meanwhile Sam had gone to the skate park with Ben and I enjoyed a lovely peaceful morning reading in the van and then wandering along to the big wave cafe.

In the evening we went to the Art House cinema to see a film called Last Paradise which is based in Taranaki. The Art House cinema is filled with big comfy sofas and me Sam and Will snuggled up on a big sofa with a glass of wine (not for Sam). The film is about adrenaline sports in New Zealand and how they have evolved over the past 50 years, it's actually very interesting. At the interval I went to the loo and an older guy said to me 'are you enjoying the film?' 'yes' I replied 'it's really good'. 'They put the interval in a funny place' he said 'oh have you seen it?' I asked... an uncomfortable pause and some foot shuffling from him...'actually I wrote it' he said...uncomfortable pause and foot shuffling from me...then we chatted through the interval. The film was very good and I would recommend it to all.

The next day was Sam's birthady and we woke to pouring rain, so we drove to MacDonalds, had a breakfast and called the family for birthday wishes.The good news is that because it was raining Sam's friend was able to come with us and we spent a few hours at the indoor swimming pool on the slides, the climbing wall, the wave machine, floats etc. Then in the evening we went out with all the people we had met in new Plymouth for a nice (expensive!!) meal. For his birthday Sam got a camera from his Dad and us and some clothes, sweets and surfing mags. He also got money and is excited about buying new things (so far a new ipod case!)

We have finally left New Plymouth and yesterday headed for Taupo, fortunately it has stopped raining but the drive was a long one (about 4 hrs). Taupo has a huge lake (size of Singapore) and last night we free camped infront of the lake, I don't think we were really allowed to and spent the night worrying, especially as we had just watched a film which kept making us (well Will) jump. This morning we got up and drove to Huka falls. We stopped by a park and made breakfast of scrambled eggs and weetabix (not together) then we walked along the walkway to Huka falls, along a beautiful clear river (sort of a bluey green colour - lovely). The falls themselves were amazing and because of all the rain were really powerful. We stood and watched them and Sam took lots of pictures with his new camera. Then we walked back (took about 2hrs in total) we rested in the natural hot springs which ran down into the river. The springs are volcanic and the water in some parts is so hot that you can hardly sit in it. There is also lots of pumice stone and Will and Sam carved one into a heart for me (aaaahhhh!!). A Maori guy asked me where I came from, 'England' he said, 'Oh I thought you were a Maori!' as you can tell the tan is coming along nicely, although we have to slap on loads of sun lotion due to the thin ozone here. After the falls we called into Taupo Bungi and Sam really wanted to jump, but there are some things he can do when he is 18 and his mum isn't watching! Then we went to a cafe and charged the computer whilst Sam did his Maths and then we ate fish and chips by Lake Taupo. We are now parked up on a free camp site, I'm not sure about it though, it's a bit scary and there are lots of dirty people here (I'm sure they aren't really dirty people but it just feels that way right now). So that's the news, tomorrow we will head to Rotorua I think and hopefully see the Mouri village and go on the luge.

Result....

We have a result - Travel Mood have agreed to refund us the money they charged us for changing the dates on our tickets, having been threatened with exposure through the media and legal action they have fessed up that they shouldn't have charged us and are a bunch of no good idiots!! (well not quite but that's what they meant). Once the money has been refunded I will ask for a good will complimentary upgrade to 1st class on our flight home. Fingers crossed they will agree to it and never tangle again with the the Morris -Morris Hobbs - Browne Cole gang!

Yesterday Sam went off with Ben on the bikes at 10am to the local swimming pool and arrived back at 5:00. He had a great day - there were, slides a climbing wall and a wave machine in the pool as well as a huge inflatable, so I think the birthday plans have changed and we are now headed for a day at the pool.

Last night we went for tea with Al and Liz and had an amazing dinner (have realised am a bit obsessed with food as always writing what we have eaten) But last night we had home made whitebait fritters (the whitebait is not like we know in England as they are much smaller) but taste lovely (have also realised am a bit obsessed with brackets and double exclamation marks!!) Then we had a roast chicken with roasted veg a la Jamie Oliver and it was delicious, so deliciolus that we couldn't stop eating and it was another very windy night in the van (but for very different reasons). This was topped off with a home made chocolate pudding, ice cream, meringues and a bottle of wine or two. We slept like babies.

This morning Sam and Will got up and went for a surf with Al (surf picture attached). Will is now in Malcolm's bus as I write this. Malcolm and Kay are lovely and invited us in for a beer yesterday and showed us all their holiday snaps!! and we also met Keith (i think) who is Malcolm's next door neighbour and lives in a static caravan, he also invited us in for a beer.

So that's all for now off back into town again.

Important stuff

Last night was the windiest night in the whole world - the van was blown from side to side, the wind howled the rain lashed, the tarpaulin clunked on the roof and all in all it was Brilliant!!! At one point me and Sam needed a wee but didn't want to trek the 5 miles to the loo so we squatted outside the van in the driving rain it was hilarious... each time we opened the van door it was like a scene from a film where rain and wind gusted into the van and then stopped abruptly as the door slammed shut. After a while we got sick of the tarp banging against the roof so we sent Will out to untie it, he ran out into the moonlight naked and got soaked, there was a light shining by the van and it lit up his big white bum like another moon - me and Sam were in fits. Surprisingly we all slept really well and when we woke up this morning the worst of the storm had passed and it was just a bit breezy.

I spent the morning sorting out bits and pieces on the internet. We have written another email to travel mood (who's office in Bristol has now closed, but they promise to look after existing accounts like ours) they haven't got back to us so I have threatened to take things further if they don't reimburse us - will keep you posted... then I applied online for our Aussie visas, emailed a few people about important stuff and checked the accounts online. Sam meanwhile did his maths with Will (he is still a cocky little beggar - perhaps that's what happens when you're about to become a teen - not on my watch!!)

In the afternoon we walked into town and Will decided that we have eaten out far too much recently and need to cut back on our spending so we went to a cheap super market and bought lots of veggies and cooked our own tea... and actually it was lovely (but I didn't think it was the right time to ask about that perfume I wanted so will have to make do with visiting the perfume shop every day and dousing myself in the testers - best one so far, Kate Moss Vintage - I think they might chuck me out soon!!) As we ate our tea Liz and Al dropped by and invited us for tea tomorrow night, and guess what, we are having a roast...yippee!!

We have also decided we will stay until Monday - that way we are here for Sam's birthday and the rough plan is: Get up and open pressies, go to Uranganui (something like that) where there is some sort of beach thing going on and Nic and Ben are going, then in the evening we will go out for tea to Crowded House which does lovely food, sounds like a pretty cool 13th birthday to me!!

Still no photo due to silly internet connection stuff!

Wet, wild and windy

Woooo it's very wet, wild and windy up here as we get the remnants of cyclone something or other blowing up a storm. We had no idea the windy weather was heading our way until Malcolm (who lives in a bus on the campsite) said we had better not stay camped on the hill and would we like to move in by his bus which is sheltered by the trees. We drove 10meters over to his pitch and were on a bit of an angle, 'don't worry' he said and came back with some wedges to level up the van. 'Would you like a tarpaulin?' he asked, and trotted back with a tarpaulin and some rope and rigged up a little shelter outside the van. We realised that we were out of battery on the computer and asked if he minded charging it for us. 'Hold on' he said and came back with an electrical cable which he plugged into his mains and means that we now have electric in the van. Another crazily brilliant New Zealander to add to the list.

This was perfect as it started to rain last night, the storm was providing good swell, so Will went down for a surf and Sam and me settled down to watch 'Die hard with a vengence' on the computer. An hour or so later Will came back grinning from ear to ear, he had just had the best surf of his life, not only were the waves amazing but he had also been surfing with a pod of Orca Wales. All the surfers who had been enjoying the swell had come in to shore, apart from two other people and Will, who stayed out with the wales. They were swimming about 5meters away from where Will was surfing and then a pod appeared behind him, playing around and thrashing their tails. He said it was absolutely amazing, the best day of the trip so far and was so excited that he couldn't sleep... me and Sam were happy for him but very jealous, especially Sammy Attenborough... it was gutting to know that they were so close and we had missed them.

Today we had a pretty lazy day doing not very much (although I think we walked about 5 miles) and then we went round to say goodbye to Mike and Jackie who are flying back to Bristol in the morning. Sam got a telling off for being too much of a bossy-bloody-little-know-it-all and will be banned from going out with Ben on Thurs if he doesn't reign it in!! Now we are sat in the van with the wind howling, the rain lashing and the tarpaulin banging overhead, Sam has just been learning about the periodic table, atoms and elements, Will is reading and all is well (if a little wet) in the world....No picture tonight wind playing havoc with connection!!

Ahhh luxury...

Yesterday we visited the local museum and learned about the history of Taranaki, the volcano and the maori culture of the area. We have seen a few museums since we left but this one was really interesting and well laid out.

We also visited a local farmers market which was a bit disappointing as there were only about 5 stalls! When we returned we had a message from Nic and Mark to say that they were going out that evening from about 4:00 and would we like to use the house for baths, tv etc... We had such a lovely afternoon there. I had a really long hot bath and even Will and Sam jumped in afterwards. Sam watched Pirates of the Caribbean on the telly and Will watched a surfing DVD. Then we made dinner: pasta with a bacon, sausage, pesto, spinach and courgette sauce, and it was so nice to cook it on a real cooker with enough space to chop things properly on nice clean surfaces. Then we finished with a cup of tea in a china mug (not a smelly plastic one) perfect. We came back to the van and were all in bed by nine, so relaxed from the evening that we slept really well. It made me realise how nice it will be when we get to Sidney and rent a house for a month - just having our own space and not being on top of each other all the time. That said it is really nice living in the van but it will be great to be back in a house again. There is a website for house sitting in Australia and we looked on there - it would be good if we could get a house sit as you don't have to pay for accommodation and often just need to look after peoples pets whilst they are away which Sam would love.

This morning we all got up and went in the sea (even me). Then me and Sam walked up to the shops to get milk and a coffee and a chocolate croissant. When we came back Sam did his English school work and Jessica phoned as she has found some flights to Bali, flying in on 20th June...that's just brilliant as it means she will be there for my birthday and it will be really good to see her and Al. Later we are going food shopping and to get the rest of Sam's b'day pressies and this evening possibly heading back up to the Festival of Lights to see a band.

Pic attached of Will going out surfing at Stent Road - also could anyone give me an Archie update please?

Rugby, Russians and Reading...

Well it was another lazy day in paradise today. Last night we headed to the club where we drank a few wines and then Sam went with his friend Ben to play on the play station. Nic and Mark invited Sam to stay the night and so we had a Sam free night in the van and Sam had a really good sleep in a comfy bed. It was an early start all round this morning, Will arranged to surf with some of the blokes at 6am (that's right 6am!!) of course he got up quietly (not!) and I stretched out, having the van to myself and was just dozing off when the door was flung open by Sam saying 'quick Mum where's my board we're going in for a surf!'... It was now 6:45am and I realised that there was to be no more sleep for me, so I got dressed and wandered down to the beach to read and watch the surf (you may be wondering why Sam was up at 6:45, actually he got up at 6am to help Ben do his paper round!!).

At about 9:45 they came out of the sea and got changed as we were due to be round at Liz and Al's for 10:15 for home made scones and coffee - we were running a wee bit late but got around there and sat on their terrace overlooking the ocean and eating the most delicious scones with butter and jam...mmmmm. Not used to the early morning start we headed back to the van and got a bit of rest before heading back up the road to catch a lift to the rugby. We had decided to watch a match whilst in NZ and this one was a local NZ side V Russia (in training for the world cup). Again we were about 10 mins late, this is very unlike me but because we haven't had to rush for 5 months we're all on a bit of a go slow.

The rugby was great and we sat watching the game and eating a picnic (the Russian team are an ugly bunch which was disappointing because I don't really get rugby so the highlight for me is watching the nice muscular rugby players running around).

So now we are back at the van - it's 7:45pm and Will and Sam are back in the surf. I have uploaded a pic of the van parked on the hill where we are camping, it's a great spot, literally 30 seconds from the sea. The only problem is it's about 5 mins to the loo (not great in the middle of the night!)

Still here

We are still in New Plymouth, still on the same camp ground and seem unable to drag ourselves away. To be honest it's perfect for us at the moment. Sam is back from his trip to the museum and he had a great time. Yesterday was almost like a normal day in normal people's lives.

In the evening I went for a meal with about 10 girls and Sam and Will went to the cinema with the boys to watch a film... it's this normality which makes it so hard to leave. Today Sam and Will got up and went for a surf and then we drove to the supermarket to get some supplies. We stopped at a nice coastal spot and made sandwiches which we ate overlooking the sea and then we drove to the local park and hired a boat which we took out on the lake for 1/2 hour. We are now back at the campsite and Will is fixing his surf board, Sam is doing a maths test!! and I am trying to send photos to people and remove some bits and pieces from the computer as it's running a bit slow!

In terms of visas we have made a little progress. We got in touch with the Aussie embassy by telling them it was an emergency and they informed us that to get a 4month+ visa we needed to send in passports and show $12,000 in our account (yeah right) we would also have to pay $140 each to enter so we have decided to go for a 3 month visa and try and extend whilst we are there. In order to do this we needed to confirm our flight dates with travel mood. When we first booked the tickets the flight dates for the second half of the trip had not been released so they said to contact them in the new year to confirm the dates. We emailed travel mood who said it was no longer their responsability and we needed to contact Quantast directly... we tried to do this but they had us on hold for ages and so Mum stepped forward and called Quantas for us...they amended the dates as requested but have tried to charge us!!! So we are now in a battle with Travel Mood to get the dates amended for free as they promised (nightmare!)

We are going to head to the Coromandel next - if we can ever drag ourselves away from this place. Here's a pic of Sam, Ben and Megan at the museum.

Update...

Gosh it's been a few days since the last update - where to start? Well we have some new friends here in New Plymouth (the ones that Will met in the barbers) some lovely people from Bristol who have moved over here and are being visited by their relations. The great thing is, not only are they smashing (love that word) types but they also have a 14 year old who gets on brilliantly with Sam.

The days have been spent here surfing, schooling and fishing (the usual). But we have been going to the festival of lights on an evening - this is brilliant because it's in the local park and the trees get lit up on an evening, you sit on the grass and have a picnic and watch live bands and best of all it's all free. A couple of nights ago we watched a maori choir which was really moving...once the choir had finished a group of Maori kids (late teens) stood up in the crowd and performed a kind of haka to the singers who stood respectfully on the stage. Apparently it's a mark of respect and was really powerful and moving and brought a tear to mine (and Will's) eye, not Sam's though as he thought they were being aggresive and didn't really get what was going on. It's not the first time that seeing the Maori culture has made me emotional. In Mahia I bought will a bone carving pendant, it had been carved by a big maori man who was selling them and it had a beautiful meaning about sharing ones journey together etc. So I bought it and the Maori man performed a blessing, holding the pendent with me as he said the words, I was stood with Leonie, who is also over emotional and we both stood there fighting back the tears. I got back and presented the gift to Will who said...'I'm not wearing a bloody necklace!!' Ho Hum.

We have had a couple of BBQ's. A couple of nights ago at Liz and Al's house (a NZ couple) who are friends of Nic and Mark (the Bristol couple) invited us to their house and we had amazing food and Sam spent the evening in the jacuzzi with the other kids!! Yesterday we were due to borrow some bikes from Nic and Mark and turned up at 10am, had a cup of tea, then another cup, then a BBQ and didn't get anywhere on the bikes, we ended up leaving about 3:30 and then in the eve we went back to the festival of lights for reggae music, a picnic and a bottle of wine.

Today Sam has gone with Ben (his friend) and his family to a museum, that was at 10am and we haven't seen him since. Me and will walked into town and bought his some birthday pressies for Sam and will go pick him up in an hour or so (5:00). Tomorrow we are planning on doing something a bit more touristy and may go up mount Taranaki (where they filmed 'The last Samuri' i think!)

Hope all is well with you all x Sorry no pic as wouldn't upload!!

Musings continued...

Forgot to add yesterday that of course there is a lot of Maori culture here and it's interesting to see the mingle between the Maori and other cultures but still not quite sure of the mix yet. I was referring more to the European settlers finding their place in NZ. Also to add that having a newish culture here has benefits in that there is not nearly so much red tape to pass laws etc because the laws weren't made back in 1220 and don't have to be decided by lots of really old 'honorable genlemen' who shout at each other and spend all the money on themselves...so sorry if it was a one sided argument yesterday...more of a ramble as I tried to work out why I missed the dirty streets of England.

Today we surfed and fished and generally loitered around the camp site. We didn't catch any fish but caught quite a few rocks instead...hmm think we may need to work on the fishing skills. Sam did English and is getting good at answering questions, the wrong questions I grant you, but still his answers are getting better! Tonight we are taking a picnic to the festival of lights. This is an event held in New Plymouth until end of Jan and every night a park gets lit up by amazing lights and bands play from 7.30-9.00, should be fun.

Very windy today, van parked on a hill and think we might blow away.

Haircut

Huzzah today I had a haircut, it was brilliant, just like being a real live person who doesn't live in a van and wear a birdsnest on her head full of split ends, it was brilliant I had a shampoo condition and a full on head massage. Will and Sam went for a wander and arrived back at the salon to reveal a new barnet for Will, a grade something or other he had done at the salon up the road. Whilst in the barbers, Will and Sam befriended a couple of blokes from Bristol who they arranged to meet for a drink this evening (small world).

It was a fantastic day though, just doing normal stuff. We had brunch in an amazing Parisien Cafe where we ate lovely food, I drank great coffee and we looked through a book about Oceans. We walked 6K along the coastal path and then Will and Sam went for a surf. After which we met their new friends from the barbers in the local bar (Will is still there - god knows what time he will get back).

One musing on NZ I have is the lack of history here, it's such a new country that when you drive through the city's there are no old buildings, all the graveyards are new (compared to England) and it makes me appreciate the history of England and the sense of a past that it brings. The dirt and grime of England are like an anchor, weighting you to the past and giving you a sense of grounding which is not present here - it makes me wonder how the people of NZ anchor themselves.. that might sound strange but I remember speaking with a New zealander who said that without a past it makes it difficult for them to envisage the future, at the time I wasn't sure what that meant but now I understand a bit more... with no past life seems a bit floaty and I wonder what kind of a future NZ will create for itself, or indeed if it needs to, perhaps the future creates itself but the people are to busy looking for a past to notice... anyway have had a few wines so not sure if that makes to much sense... anyway must go now as Sam needs to call his Dad and I need to make the beds up. Pic of Bernard O Higgins Street, Santiago attached for Dad (better late than never) x

What a lovely day

This morning we woke up and drove back to Stent Road so that Will could have another 'awesome' surf but it was too windy and the waves were blown out so we parked up the van had our weetabix and me and Sam did some Science work, which Sam is getting on really well with. Then we drove back to New Plymouth and stopped off along the way for Sam and Will to have a little surf and I read Marian Keyes (Ah Marian Keyes what would I do without you!)

We then stopped in New Plymouth as we had to top up the internet key and try and get in touch with the Aussie embassy to try and get our visas sorted for Feb. We managed to top up the internet but the consulate was more tricky, got put through to one of those voice messages...'If you would like to apply for a visa press one, if you have already applied press 2, if you want to speak to an operator be prepared to wait 4 hours and listen to annoying music!!' It was taking up all our credit so we will try again on skype later. In New Plymouth we wandered around the shopping centre so Sam could look for birthday pressies, he really wants a snorkel set but honestly I don't know how much we can carry now we have already added a skateboard and a fishing rod to the three surfboards, 3 wetsuits, 2 backpacks and 3 day packs, we will have to start booking a crate on a ship to take our stuff from country to country!! I looked longingly in the shops but know that there is no use buying anything new, I have no idea what's in fashion now anyway...but I might get a hair cut as have split ends like never before. After the shops we had an Indian for lunch (Will's idea) and then found an amazing campsite by the sea. We are parked up on a hill with amazing views out to sea and across New Plymouth and of course of Mount Taranki (although it's a bit obscured by cloud today). We have just been for a walk and Sam a skate board along the coastal walkway. Beans on toast for tea tonight and more surf and a spot of fishing tomorrow.

West Coast

Today we left the ‘Hotel Hocking’ (Scott and Karen’s house) after a fantastic night of pampering, for me that involved a hot bath (even though it was a really hot night) for Will it was eating his body weight in Thai food and for Sam it was lying in bed with a cat, watching telly and eating chocolate covered peanuts... bliss. So we were very sad to leave all our new friends this morning and head of on our own again. As Sam said himself ‘it’s not nice to say goodbye’ but on we go to a new adventure.

We drove across the country headed for New Plymouth and wound through gorges and the usual telly tubby hills. But this time there were much more people around and towns with more than two houses and a random sheep, hoorah, civilisation! The jewel in the crown however was Mount Taranaki which is a huge volcano which loomed before us like something from a film, beautifully lit by the sun with a bit of cloud just below the peak and snow glistening around the top (and fortunately no smoke – it hasn’t erupted since the 1700’s thank god). We stopped at a campsite by the sea and Sam is now sat with Will doing his maths (well, actually Will has just made him cry) and I have been reading my new Xmas book and am about to make a salmon salad, we still need healthy food to detox from our Xmas overeating/drinking binge! Tomorrow we will continue around this peninsula along the ‘Surf Highway’ towards New Plymouth.

I wrote that the other day but we had no internet to publish so have an extra update... today we got up and drove further around the 'Surf Highway' it really is very pretty over here. We stopped at a place called Stent Road which is apparently the best wave in NZ and Will had a brilliant surf, it was a 5 star day (which means the waves were brilliant) not so amazing for me and Sam though as it rained quite heavily whilst we were waiting in the van but we passed the time by learning French and then had a bowl of porridge to warm up. After Will's surf the sun came out and we found another beach for Sam to surf at, it's nice to get back into a routine again. We are now on a campsite in New Plymouth and Will is cooking and Sam is skateboarding. New Plymouth seems to have a fair bit going on so I think we will stay around here for a while. There is a 10k walkway which has been built along the coast so we will probably have a stroll along that tomorrow as well as a surf and possibly a horse ride. Pic attached Xmas Day when we put out the Kontiki.

Happy New Year...

Sorry for the delay in blogging but we have just spent 10 days in an internet free zone in the wilds of New Zealand. We were in a place called the Mahia Peninsula and if you look at the map it's the little bit sticking out on the east coast of the North Island. Will's friend Sid, has a batch there (that's a holiday home). It's a lovely wooden building on an acre of land about 10 minutes walk from the nearest beach and is very peaceful and relaxing. Sid and Leonie had various friends and family members joining them for Xmas and the New Year and at any one time there were about 20 people there. Most were staying in tents pitched up at the back of the house, which left the front free as a frisbe ground, badminton court, football/rugby pitch etc...

The days have been spent drinking beer/champagne and eating freshly caught lobsters for lunch dipped in hot melted butter and then a humongous BBQ of steaks/chicken/chops/fish and salads, I have never eaten so much red meat in my life and need a massive detox. In amongst the eating we managed trips to the beach for a swim/surf/stroll and fishing. Sam had a fishing rod for Xmas and has been learning to use it and we also used a Kontiki, which is a motorised fishing line that gets sent out to sea with about 25 hooks attached, you leave it for an hour and then reel it back in... unfortunately the fishing wasn't great and we only caught a couple of sting rays which we had to put back.

Sam has had an amazing time, he has mowed the lawns on a ride-on mower and ridden up and down the beach on a quad bike which he thought was amazing. There have been loads of kids to play cricket and swim with and of course use the new fishing rod. For Xmas day he also got a skate board, rash vest, shorts, books and card games and was very happy with it all (although I'm not sure how we are going to carry it all).

Today we left Mahia and were invited to stay with Scott and Karen and their family. They are friends of Sid and Leonie and said we could stay and use internet/wash clothes etc... bless them, more wonderful NZ people. So here we are back in Napier and I am using the computer, Sam is watching telly and Will is drinking beer in the shed with Scott (all NZ men have a shed to dring beer in!) Tomorrow we will leave for New Plymouth and will try and sort out our Aussie Visas, which hopefully won't be too much of a hassle although I think we need to send in our passports as we are staying for longer than three months.

So a belated Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you all... May 2011 hold lots of adventures for you and bring you lots of happiness.