Burger

So yesterday we awoke at 7am and in a super-efficient manner tidied our room, checked all was packed and headed out for muffinage. Shock! The bakery was closed, it was so early! So we went to the 24hr store and got some snacks for the bus trip, then returned to the bakery at 8am and grabbed hot chocolates and muffins. Yum. After enjoying this last vestige of civilisation, we checked out of our hostel and trumped up the hill in enough weight to portray training commandoes convincingly.
We boarded the bus is a frenzy of labelling and registering and settled in for the journey. The lowpoint of this was that, for the entire seven hour trip, I felt so queasy I submerged into a dozy heap in the corner of my seat. The highpoint was that Alex managed to both find and download a full copy of Zoo Tycoon onto our laptop so we can have our own zoos. A second high point was the lunch stop. The coach came to a holt outside Dino's Diner, near Taupo and magically my appetite returned the moment I was once again on land unconnected to wheels. I had what is quite possibly the best vege burger I have ever eaten, which is bizarre as the New Zealanders are not so kindly disposed towards vegetarianism.
We finally arrived in Hastings at about 5pm, and reloaded ourselves in the manner of pack animals in order to walk the 3 kms to the campsite.
Hastings appears 'nice' - white picket fences and gardens full of delicious smelling flowers, little white postboxes shaped like Alpine chalets and an evening humidity that was not unpleasant. We arrived at the campsite, bathed in evening sunshine and bedecked with glittery Christmas decorations. The tent was duly set up and proved to be big enough for the both of us and all our stuff, which is qutie the achievement for a canvas structure. Once set up, we had dinner (lack of saucepan and other edible food led us to eat the snacks bought that morning for the bus ride...lucky that) and then went to the TV lounge to charge the laptop and fire off emails off our superior employability now that we are right in the thick of the action, so to speak. Once it was dark, we retired to bed, tricky without a torch (mine broke early on in the trip) and tried to sleep, amazed at our situation which we had not even imagined two days ago.

The night passed, eventually. Without something spongy to sleep on, the ground is rather rock hard. We had such difficulty getting the pegs into the ground yesterday it was not unexpected, but still. Alex's sleeping bag was rather thin as well, so he ended up getting too cold to sleep and spendng the early hours of the morning building his zoo on the pc. We were both woken up abruptly this morning when some rabid Kiwi's obsessed with rugby started a loud conversation about the match of the day next to our tent. Grr.
We have partaken of our remaining food (cookies!) for breakfast, and are recharging the pc and answering emails, in the search for employment.
We walked back into Hastings in order to forage for food and came away full from the superb scrambled eggs and toast, as well as carrot cake. We also secured a brand new shiny saucepan and flipper-thing to cook our food in, and enough cereal bars to sustain us through many a working lunch. We are now fully prepared. We even have a bag of water, food and suitable clothes waiting in the tent, just on the offchance that someone calls at 5am with the promise of work and transport in the next 10 minutes. We'll be ready!!!

If, by chance, reading this is a vineyard owner or orchard contractor, then we are here in Hawke's Bay, we have a tent, we'll get a car if necessary, we have work visas, IRD's and NZ bank accounts, we'll work full time, 6 days a week, we are both eager and good workers and we can start immediately!

Karma

Whoot, today has been a bit crazy on the productivity side!
We met Val for muffins again, then zoomed back to the hotel to pick up Bren and all the lugguage. We took this round to the next street to pick up their rental car and packed it up and saw them off, despite their somewhat nervous acclimatisation to the wiles of an automatic.
Alex and I headed back to our hostel, where we booked a coach from Auckland to Hastings for tomorrow morning. Then, off into town to sort out loose ends and try and get some sort of plan in motion.
We popped up to the jobseekers office to speak to Jodi again about the backpackers she had suggested in Hastings. She phoned them for us, and when they were fully booked, continued to the next place...and the next. Things were not looking great until we stumbled upon a deal with the holiday park - one week for 135 dollars! This price was beyond amazing and we were ecstatic...until we realised - that was the price for a tent pitch, and we were there with no tent, sleeping bags, or any other type of camping equipment. In a swoop of amazingness, Jodi immediately offered to go home and pick up her tent, to give to us as she couldn't remember the last time she had used it. Added to this, she popped into the hostel lost propety room and snagged us two sleeping bags. We arranged to pick these up later and left, having sorted out accomodation in one fell swoop and restored our faith in the human race. We were both just in absolute shock mode that anyone could be that lovely! Jodi is a star, no doubt about it. We decided to get her a box of chocolates as a thank you and once that was sorted, we continued on with our chores. We went to check our mailboxes (sadly, nothing there). We popped into Vodafone and sorted out a NZ simcard for Alex's phone (mine dislikes foreign simcards...) so now we have an NZ number for employers to contacts us on. We then went to the warehouse to check on prices for Christmas decorations so we know what we can get for our hotel cheer!
After all this, we returned to pick up our new house (tent!) and waved goodbye to Jodi with profuse thank-yous. We came back to our hostel in order to pack up our stuff, which has multiplied and spread around the tiny room somehow. We had a tasty stew for dinner in the bustlingly tiny kitchen and then its showers and bed! All ready to embark on our new adventure tomorrow at some awfully early hour.
'Tis gooood!

Bloom

On Thursday, Alex and I met up with Val in the Hollywood bakery for another tasty muffiny breakfast. I mananged to figure out the offer on the muffins included hot chocolate instead of the exclusive coffee I had thought it to be offering, so now I am no longer bizarrely hyper for an hour after breakfast.
We returned to the Suites to pick up Bren and sort out what we should do. We decided at length to make a trip up the hills and dales of Auckland city and go to the Domain Gardens, there to see the Victorian Greenhouses (hot and cold) and generally enjoy the sunshine that was pouring out of the sky.
The buses were (unfortunately) not working in the morning, so we struck out, up the practically vertical hills. However, luckily we did not end up taking the exact route Alex and I took earlier in the season when we visited the Domain, so we did not have to repeat the gruelling experience of the walk to K'road. Instead, we deviated from the prescribed route and meandered through Albert Park, which was much more pleasant of a hill to wander upon.
Once we had arrived in the Domain, a wide sweeping space of lush green lawns and hyperactive school kids at sports day, we sauntered about admiring the goslings and ducklings and generally cute things ending in 'ing'.
We found a little cafe, much to our relief as we were all quite peckish by this point, having hiked our way up there. We all had toasted sandwiches on the terrace, overlooking the waterbird pond and fountain, with trees swaying in the breeze and the sun keeping things warm.
After lunch, we popped into the Wintergardens. The hothouse displayed a variety of rainforest plants, many of which Alex and I have seen in their natural setting in recent weeks. There was also a fernery, filled with the green smell of foliage and curling fronds. Last, the cold house. It was a riot of colour and scent in there, so beautiful. The gladioli sprung from the ground in every colour combonation imaginable, the orchids spilling out of their containers in bright masses, the roses blooming in large, gorgeous flowers. I went into a frenzy of macro photography and emerged, blinking into the sunlight about half an hour later.

 We swished onwards, leaving the park behind and moving onwards and upwards, past the musuem and through a delightful sensory garden filled with herbs and soft furry leaves.
The buses were back in action by this point, so we caught one back into town. Alex and I returned to our dorm for showers and a change of clothes and then we rejoined Val and Bren to take a stroll around the Quay and look at the yachts. After selecting which yachts we would individually own (making up somewhat of a fleet) we selected a place to dine, called 'Meccas'. Here, we sat in an enclosed outside area, a bit on the breezy side but with a lovely view across the viaduct basin. We snacked on tasty bread and dips while the conversational waiters popped by every so often to drop tidbits of information about the food in, as well as mercilessly pick on me at every occasion. I really don't know why I provide such entertainment for these people. Doh.
In the evening, we just relaxed at the Suites, watching tv while Val and Bren planned their route with random helpful asides from Alex or myself. Then, to bed! It was a long day, and the bed at our hostel resembles nothing so much as a medieval torture device and is thus rather tricky to catch a good nights sleep in.

Zoo

After a tasty blueberry muffin for breakfast in the flouro green Hollywood Bakery, we discussed what to spend the day doing. It was beautiful, clear blue skies and sunny weather, so we took a wander round the harbour front and debated about what to do.
We located a warehouse clearout concentrating on hats so I managed to finally purchase a hat to stop my poor head constantly burning in the sporadic sun. After trying on many variations (including a multi-coloured sombrero and some floppy cowboy style hats) I bought a plain cap that should work for outside work (should we ever secure any). Val secumbed to the lure of some sparkly scarves and a lighter bag.
After some subliminal brainwashing, we decided to go to Auckland Zoo and set about finding the right bus stop. We boarded, paid (for singles, no returns in NZ for some reason) and traversed up Queen St and K'Road and on towards Motions Rd.
The Zoo was awesome. We ambled happily around in the sunshine, looking at sealions gliding effortlessly through rainbow saturated water of their environment.

 We laughed at the antics of the acrobatic spider monkeys tumbling through the air and into a bush after a plastic bottle cap. We stared, struck at the epic amount of sound that the siamang can produce from its throat pouch. We strolled over a high boardwalk looking out over mock savannah at elegant and stately giraffes, rotund zebras and the odd fluffly ostrich.

We watched as an inquisitive emu snatched food from a startled baby and as wallabies leant backwards on their knees to bask in the shade.
We took a break for lunch and then continued round, looking at the uber-cute red panda curled up in its nesting box and the crazy flying fox bats crawling about the top of their aviary looking like aging rockers in baggy leather trousers. Then we took a tour round (and under) the meerkat enclosure, crawling through tiny subterranean tunnels in order to pop our heads up into plastic bubbles and so look the meerkats eye-to-eye.

We all succumbed to the delicious ice cream on offer and watched the tigers deciding whether to come into the open or not, as well as finding a beautiful lionness sleeping right up against the glass on her enclosure. We were the thickness of the pane of glass away from her, she was so big, with cushy solid paws and twitchy sides as she dreamt away the afternoon in the sunshine.
We were weary after the day exploring various creature features and went to catch the bus back into Auckland. I somehow got hiccups (usually I get the odd, random hiccup. I do not tend towards prolonged periods of hiccupping). I was mocked by a German lady to her baby and called 'Frau Hicksy'. Sad times, I say! Mocked! In German!
We rode back on the bus and relaxed in the Suites for a bit. Later in the evening, Alex's Aunt Bren arrived from Oz. We all sped out of the apartment and towards the Skytower round the corner. It was just before dusk and we headed into the base of the tower to buy tickets to take the elevator up to the top. In the foyer, was the biggest and most glittering Christmas tree, surrounded by fairy lights. With tickets clutched in our hands, we entered the elevator, got the spiel and zoomed upwards, the glass panel in the floor showing the speed at which the ground was leaving us.
After mild confusion about the platform access, we got to the top viewing deck. Auckland was spread out in front of us, like a toy city. We could see right over the skyscrapers and gridded road systems, over to the harbours with the white sails soaring up into the sunset sky. Lines of pale lilac, pink and peach strung out accross the clouds, lit up from beneath by the fading sunshine and city lights.
As darkness fell, the city lights came alive and the whole of Auckland glittered. It was much more Christmas-like than during the daytime. It was beautiful and a lovely experience. We enjoyed the Christmas decorations up the tower.
With hunger gnawing, we grabbed noodles from a 24hr shop on Queen St and snarfed them down before retiring to bed.

Rangitoto

We rose early in time to catch the wonderful coffee and muffin offer at the Hollywood bakery on the corner of Albert St. We zoomed off down the road to meet Val, as we were running a mysterious 5 minutes late. I had a delicious frothy mochaccino and a chocolate muffin of goodness to start the day. Ah, every day needs to start with a muffin.
After breakfast we mused as to what we should do for the day. The weather was a sort of mizzling grey and we walked down to the harbour to try and suss out the weather possibilities for the rest of the day and also the timetable of the ferries.
In a spurt of decision-making firmness, we bought tickets to Rangitoto, one of the three islands off the coast of Auckland. What makes it exciting is that Rangitoto is an active volcano and no-one lives there or runs businesses there (unsurprisingly really). So, we our hastily purchased packed lunch in hand, we boarded the ferry with a group of hyperactive school kids and set sail!
Our ship was called the 'Wanderer', particularly appropriate as this is the name of the main character in the book I just finished reading. (The Host, Stephanie Meyer, Very good). We bumped up and down on a few of the wilder waves and then the captain upped the knots to about 18 and it seemed as if we flew over the waves. The foam at the back of the ship was pure, blinding white and frothy. The sky turned ever more grey and mist-like however.
We reached Rangitoto jetty and the air was clear of the lurking mist but humid all the same. We disembarked and set off to find the walk trail to the summit. The whole island was covered in rainforest (to my surprise, the guidebook issued a strong staement declaring no life on the island at all) and pumice stone. The rock was so black, and the edges of the island covered in mangrove trees which twist and curl into the water lapping against the shore.
Upon finding the trail, we started off, aiming for the summit. Rangitoto is not especially high compared to some of the mountains we have tackled, but the incline definately started to wear you down as you climbed! The ground was uneven, moderating between copious quantities of loose pumice (slippery) and large rocky formation that had us scrambling upwards. There were occasionnally the addition of steps, but the jury is out on whether these are better or worse...
We finally gained the summit and it was definately worth it. We stood on the viewing platform and watched as the sky cleared over Auckland, distant across the water.

The sun streamed down and lit up the water into turquoise and you could see the thin ribbon of the start of the trail, and the ferries coming in and out of the jetty entrance.
We had lunch and then began the climb down again. We diverted off the path a few times to explore other, less frequented paths, such as the one to some lave tubes and caves. These were pitch black, dark holes off the path and into the undergrowth and beyond.
By the time we made it back down to the start again, we were tired and our feet were starting to feel weary of the constant slide of the pumice. However, the ferry denied us entry as it was a special Harbour Cruise ship, so we went and sat on a bench overlooking the water for a while. We walked around to a Kowhai Tree Grove, dense rainforest and loud chirping crickets surrounding us.
On our return, we found another ferry, but that denied us as well as it was a different company from our tickets. Doh.
Finally, our ferry turned up, just as the weather began to turn cold, windy and drizzling. We queued (still behind the crazy schoolkids!) on the cold jetty until they let us on board. The exhertions of the day seemed to settle on us then, and we went into quiet mode.
Back in Auckland, we popped to the supermarket to stock up on some essentials so Alex and I can cook a meal for everyone tomorrow. Then we went back to the Chifley Suites for tea and some 'X Files' before heading back out this evening for Mexican on the wharfside.
This was tasty, with a view out over the harbour and the evening sunlight streaming down. After gorging ourselves on burritoes, nachos and tacos, we strolled back to the Suites for some rest and relaxation. I have hot chocolate. All is good.

Kiwi

We awoke, tidied and re-packed, scoffed our remaining yoghurts and checked out of Base Hostel. Once the important business of returning the key was done on time, we headed to the jobseekers office for a consultation.
The results were unpromising. We were told that jobs at the moment are practically endangered, due to seasonal issues and many redundant Kiwis. Oh dear. We faced absolute dread as the possibility of not being physically able to work, and therefore, the realisation that the money was out hit us.
However, the nice lady, Jodi, phoned a hostel a Hawke's Bay on our behalf. The idea here is that the hostel owners in work-saturated districts use their position as a sort of go-between backpackers and contracters. Therefore, once we have a booking in a hostel, the owner will lead us into jobs as the contractors call each day needing workers and the owner can tell them how many willing people are ready to go. This is probably what we shall end up doing, as it allows us the slim chance of work, whereas nothing else seems to hold that option. It is still a gamble though, so we have left it for a day in the hopes that something better will come along or that there will be increased chances of the venture working in our favour.
In the meantime, we popped along to the bank and sorted out our very own New Zealand bank accounts. We are now practically pure Kiwi, as many natives keep informing us when they hear how long we have been in the country.
We spent some quality time in the library again, Alex finishing up his portfolio site and I freaking myself out with the accuracy of a palmistry book.
Then, we popped along to the Chifley Suites to harangue the receptionist once again - this time, for entrance to the upper realms, where Alex's mum, Val, had arrived a few hours previously. It was bizarre being back in an identikit copy of the room we occupied back in September, but cool as well and lovely to see Val. We had tea and a chat and then Alex and I embarked on a foraging mission for pizza.
Amazingly, we managed to get lost on the way to the pizza place and discovered a whole new road in Auckland, with mosaic walls and restaurants. Once we located Dominoes, we ordered our tasty pizzas, inhaling the scent emanating form the ovens and I resisted, with every ounce of self-control I could muster, adding chocolate fudge brownies to the list of pizza and garlic bread that we bought. It was hard!
We returned to the Chifley Suites and we all munched through the yummy pizza. It was soo good! Being without an oven is not an option for the future, natch.
We have made plans for tomorrow's meeting, as phones are proving to be tricky beasts here. Its muffins at dawn and more plans from there!

City

Our hostel is over about 6 floors of a giant straight up, straight down block on Queen St, the main shopping street of Auckland. As such, the little block rooms are surrounded on all sides by more little block rooms. The walls are very thin, like paper in fact. We have a couple of stereotypical American girls to one side, who seem to constantly be drying their hair. On another side, there is a couple who keep storming back to their room and then having massive rows, seemingly oblivious to the fact that everyone can hear them. A few doors down, there is a dorm of boys who enjoy staying up until the early hours swigging back beer. To contend with this, we have a fridge that appears to be auditioning for the opera, with its continual gurgles and droning. We also face right onto the street, which, come both Friday and Saturday nights, has been filled with noisy revellers and police sirens. But nevermind, for it is comfy enough and it keeps us out of the rain which is currently plaguing Auckland.
It is strange, being in a hostel with so many people after living in the car for two months. It is like one giant flatshare, with slow elevators to take us from floor to floor (stairs are for fire escape only). The huge communal kitchen is stuffed with bags of food, all labelled and stacked haphazardly about. The lounge is generally host to a few people, kicking back and reading leaflets. The computer room is always full and there is a dark room, filled with sofas and the odd person snoring where you can go and watch a movie.
So, Saturday, we went to the library and stayed there for most of the afternoon, until it shut at 4. We found a space to work in amongst all the students studying for their finals (End of term in a few days, muchos stress and panic seething through the air for those who have not yet finished their revision) and got stuck in, jobhunting and cv perfecting and all that jazz.
Back in our room we viewed the building just over from us which spent the day having a gigantic plastic santa and reindeer and presents attached to it, to the disruption of the traffic. For some odd reason, Santa's face is entirely swathed in fabric with a sign promising that 'All will be revealed' on Sunday at 1.30. Neither Alex nor I are exactly sure what they mean by this - Santa's face is pretty much generic merry man complete with white hair and beard. Alex has a theory that it is going to be Michal Jackson's face, in memory. We shall see, anyways, later this afternoon.
We had dinner (hooray for pasta) and splashed out on cheese to make it palatable. Now we have a fridge, the sky is the limit - you have no idea how much you miss cheese until you have no fridge. Once we had washed up, we wandered into the movie room with our hot milk and cookies (!) and grabbed a sofa for optimum viewing. The film appeared to be about 20 minutes in, I'm not sure what it was called, but it was highly entertaining, involving a rogue super computer's plan to replace everyone in the chain of command in America and reset the government, using explosive crystals and a sonic trumpet. Once this cinematic gem has finished, we headed to bed, in lieu of the hostel's adjoining bar plans of wrestling for a prize.
New Zealand appears a little more conservative than England in that the shops close early on a Saturday and most don't even open on a Sunday. So with the library only open for 4 hours today, we are not entirely sure what to do with ourselves. Santa's reveal will obviously be much more entertaining than we expected, as it is likely the only thing that will occur today other than the job hunting...

So, an edit for today's happenings. We went to the library again and worked for a bit. Later on, we saw Santas face, revealed to the masses - it is overtly cheery, and his tongue is poking out. It is actually a little disturbing, but never mind. We watched the epic Christmas window display at the big department store (to rival Harrods) It consists of mechanical puppet mice working to ake presents, put on a theatre show and generally have a fun and sparkly Christmas. We'll take some pictures to put up tomorrow.
We saved on food all day and treated ourselves to the cinema this evening to see New Moon. In Alex's expert opinion the CGI was both well done (the wolves) and beyond awful (the water).
We had pasta and cheese for dinner and it was taaasty! Now an early night to prepare for the morrow!

New

So, we knew this day had to come, eventually. We had prepared as best we could and packed and preened Newt up for his grand relinquishment, back to Spacestation Auckland.
We drove back to the Penrose Spacestation and, sadly, gave up the keys to the lady on reception. The end of an era has been reached.
The loss of Newt was felt deeply and immediately, as we then had to carry our very heavy, unwieldy bags up a hill to the train station. We caught the train back into Auckland city and then spent an hour or so trumping about looking at hostel deals and prices. After an almost-cave to the enchantments of the Chifley Suites, we found Base ACB in the center of town, right on the main street. We got ourselves a room for the next two nights and were allowed to leave our bags at reception while the room was cleaned. We went off to the food courts to snuffle up some lunch, having had only a cereal bar for breakfast.
In the bustle of a busy lunch hour food court (oddly situated on the upper floor instead of the usual basement) we found pizza. It was good. We stared at the Christmas decorations swathing every possible surface in mild amazement - we know its coming, but it doesn't seem Christmassy to be wandering around town sans coat, scarf and twenty other layers. I was in sandals!
Returning to the hostel, we got to our room (a small, oddly shaped room overlooking the main street, painted a sickly cream with red velour curtains and a very noisy fridge - but still almost four times the space we had in Newt!) and dumped our stuff inside. Tired already from lugging the bags about, we had some down time where Alex became unconcious and I checked my emails.
Later in the afternoon, we went into town to check our post! How exciting! After locating our temporary address, we both found the post - two unassuming plastic boxes shoved under the desk in the corner in supposed alphabetical order - and marvellously, we have both been granted IRD numbers, so we can now continue on in the steps necessary to 'Getting A Salary in New Zealand'.
We returned, once again, to Base and sorted out dinner. Yum. We had the tag end of our packet of noodles, rehydrated with powdered tomato soup. Luckily, we also had cookies waiting for us in our room, to be devoured for afters. While we ate we had an enjoyable conversation with Paul, a traveller from Belfast who had just arrived in NZ after a seven month stint in South America. So, after many questions about llamas and mummies in Peru, not to mention Aztecs, we allowed him on his way again and came back upstairs to munch on those cookies, along with hot milk from our powdered milk stores (we ran out of hot chocolate powder!) So, now we resemble small children being granted hot milk and cookies as a treat for being good. Doh.

Trees

Sooo, yesterday rained, it poured and it thundered. Thus, the weather prevented us from our planned activity. So, instead we visited the black sand beach by our campsite and watched, amused and horrified, as surfers threw themselves about on the very high waves in the rain and the cold. Crazy. It reminded me of the black sand beach in Kawhia - so, so soft and with  purple tint.
Anyway, luckily, today dawned bright and sunny so we set off to Tree Adventures!
After driving through the dense, dark pine forest we arrived and kitted up in harnesses and helmets. We were appointed a practice session leader and joined up with a group of giddy ladies on a hen party trip to learn the basics...and find out how to stay alive high above the ground!
Once we had passed the practice course, we were released on the rest. Being us, we had decided to do all nine of the courses, each getting harder and higher. The courses started out about 8m above the ground and the last one was about 20m up. They were composed of collections of zip wires, swinging logs, various formations of walking wires, swings into giant rope nets and tunnels.

By the time we got to course 8 (the hardest physical course, 9 being more about the psyche-out aspect) we were tired but confident in our ability to leap across the void onto precariously strung up bits of wood, to crawl through madly swinging tunnels of slatted wood and to zip accross large open spaces on tarzan swings or surfboards strung up on wires.

 However, this course opened up a whole new level of exhertion, starting with a climb over a slack rope net (hard), then an attempt at the monkey bars. Now, both of us are absolute ninjas where monkey bars are usually concerned, but these were rope bars, they were high above our platform (which was, in turn very high above the ground) and so we both ended up just dragging ourselves along it...only to find the next challenge, which was to cross the gap between platforms on a sloth rope.

 


To make things easier for myself (if only!) I managed to do this backwards, which was highly painful, uncomfy and nerve-wracking. I almost ended up stuck on it as I couldn't see the platform I was trying to stand on due to facing the wrong way. Doh. Alex managed it fine, we continued on to rope swings into a giant net.

 Once we had managed to complete the whole forest of activities, we ate a muffin each in reward. I have to stop paying people to put me into bizarre situations. Although, hanging upside down on a long zip wire careering through the forest? Worth it.
We drove on and through Auckland again, in preperation for our relinquishing of Newt back to the Spaceship HQ tomorrow, in Penrose. We have spent the evening clearing out the car, packing and tidying up. We're chucking out anything unneccessary, as well as trying to find a way to pack that somehow makes things lighter...

Down

Today, the driving was all down, back down towards Auckland again.
We did manage to see a sunset last night, a golden, molten metal sort of sundown whereby the cloud was turned into a drip of hot furnace metal above the clear, shimmery grey water of the harbour. However, in being lifted up to take a good picture, I managed to whack my head on the roof which was unexpectedly hanging over the balcony viewing point. Doh. Now I have a lump on my head.
This morning, we left the campsite, waving goodbye to guitar man who has sat and played the guitar, constantly since we arrived yesterday apart from the 8 hour gap he took to sleep.
We drove round the hilly roads of Northland, marvelling how they went from windy and steep to impossibly straight and flat within seconds of each other.
We drove into the Kauri Forest first, the oldest habitat on New Zealand's shores. We stopped to trek in and gawk at Tane Mahuna, the Lord of the Forest. He was amazing, aweinspiring int he true sense of the word. You have never seen a tree this big. He was over 2000 years old, and in Maori legend is the reason the Earth exists, as it was his doing that pushed apart the Mother (Earth) and the Father (Sky) and so allowing people to come into being between them. His trunk was 13.5m circumference, 75m tall. Absolutely gigantic, especially in comparison with the other rainforest species. So large, you whispered in his presence.
We continued on through the thick rainforest, following the seemingly deserted road. Eventually, we broke out into sunlight again, the canopy no longer covering us in green light and bird calls.
We had a small lecture on Ancient Greek Theology in the car, as Alex asked about it and that fired off my blather mode. When we surfaced from the mug of ancient religious talk, we were several klicks further down the 'Coastal Highway' (still no coast to be seen! Lies!) and very hungry. We had lunch overlooking the entire valley and stayed there for a while feeling on top of the world. We passed back near the town of metal animals and then spent some time exploring down random roads. We found a lovely reserve that reminded me strongly of a lake I have visted in France a few times and we parke dup in the forest campsite for awhile, looking out over the lake and enjoying the surroundings.
Once we had peaced out, we continued onwards and eventually came to stop at a lookout for dinner. Here, we were hijacked by 10 varied and curious chickens, all beautiful, all highly interested in our car and us and all desperate to steal our food. They followed us about and made funny noises to each other, then started a rallying cry for reinforcements from the other side of the hill. We made dinner with the last of our vegetables (we have timed the finishing of food rather too well!) and made a run for it. The chickens all chased us as the car drew level with road again.
We continued on, looking for a campsite for the night. After looking for one that appears to have vanished from existence since the writing of our map, we turned tail and went in the opposite direction for a bit, managing to find one, nicely situated in a park of pohutukawa trees. We have yet to pay for this site, as the owner cannot get his card machine to work and so just waved us on through, so whether we have to do some heinous chore tomorrow to pay him back or not, we are not sure. In the meantime, our car now has a view of baby rabbits frolicking under the trees, so it should be a peaceful night.

Clouded

We set off from our idyllic seaside spot this morning into the Northland pastures new, clouded over and drizzling. As we drove, it thankfully began to clear up a little, so we were not forced to listen to the dreary whine of the windscreen wipers scrape across the glass.
We drove back though Whangerai, onwards towards Whangerai Falls. Here, we stopped for elevenses (alas, no more butter, we had dry fruit bread!) and took a walk down into the rainforest to have a gander at the Falls. These were brilliant, a full 27m drop of water, curtaining a basalt lava flow from some good while ago. The basalt had formed into 6-sided columns under the eroding effect of the water and vibrant green moss grew over the whole, adding to the 'depth-of-the-rainforest' vibe. We continued onwards, through the thickly growing trees, their roots twisted and curled upwards and over the soil. Ferns twirled and exotic sounding birds chirped. It was like being in a room with a 'rainforest sounds' CD. The water, after being churned by the falls had turned an odd, milky blueish tone and was slowly creeping on over rocks and pebbles in the way. The odd duck turned up and we spent some time trying to capture the antics of a wagtail on camera. It was oddly disturbing, the river water, reminding me of descriptions of the river Styx in Greek mythology. Never a good sign to feel as if you are heading deeper into the Underworld...However, passing out from under the trees, we found ourselves in a Springtime meadow, complete with daisies, buttercups and dandelions as well as cow parsley and tall grasses. We walked on for a while, in the sunshine that was valiently attempting to break the cloud cover, then returned (uphill) to the car.
We drove on, leaving Whangerai and continuing Northwards. We stopped in Kawakawa to see the Hundertwasser toilets, a bizarre tourist attraction centred around an artist (Hundertwasser) who had lived in Kawakawa for the majority of his life and left a legacy of crazily decorated toilets. These were awesome, made up of broken tiles and handcrafted sculpture tiles, with inlaid bottles and pottery urn columns. It was very colourful and cool, the tiles melding into the ground in a curve and the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of Moroccan art work, with a twist.
We left Kawakawa with cookies in our hands (and soon our stomachs) and continued onwards. We reached Paihia, a destination we had long been looking forward to despite its tourist status focusing on cruise ships. Paihia was beautiful - long stretches of golden sand, calm inlets and islands covered in forest just out in the bay. These were the Porr Knights islands and are apparently excellent for diving. We parked up and took a wander round, exploring an arts market that happened to be showing its wares on the green in front of the ocean that day and also sitting for a while on the beach, enjoying the sunshine which had finally turned up.
Once the sunshine disappeared once again and the clouds came back in force, we left Paihia. The air in Northland is very humid, hot and sticky, which is at odds with its grey skies. We headed on to Hokianga, in the hopes that the weather might yet clear and we would be rewarded with good weather at one of the most spectacular sunset viewing areas in New Zealand. As such, we are parked up in Hokianga now, poised with a view over the entire harbour. Sunset is at about 8.15, so we have just had dinner and are settling down to do some constructive portfolio work before the possibility of a decent sunset occurs. The sky cannot seem to quite decide what it is doing, being oddly blue one moment and misty grey the next. Anything could happen. We shall see!

North

Well, we have been relentlessly moving on up North from Miranda. After some more quality time in the heated pool, we left Miranda Springs and started back along the Coastal Pacific Highway after reading that it was a 'Thing to do before you die' route.It was nice and all, but really? A must-see? Alex and my official stance on this particular route is that it is mostly propaganda anyways - it is nearly always away from the coastline, and it merely rambles through pleasant green countryside.Not to mention, I was pulled over by a completely scary-looking bunch of police officers, who wanted me to speak my full name aloud, before letting me go on my way. Alex and I were mystified by the whole thing until we turned the radio on and realised NZ has just passed a law for the police to do random drugs tests on drivers. So yeah, that box I spoke into? Not a dictaphone recording my name as evidence in some heinous crime, just a drugs detector! Nice to know NZ police think I look high. Humph.
We eventually came to the point where we had to go on through Auckland. We stopped in Manukau first and were bowled over by the amount of people and civilisation that awaited us there. We were actually in awe of the mall, just because we have been away from such things for a good long while. They had 'Sooshi' - fruit icecream rolled up in dried fruit and then fruit jelly added to it to look like, you guessed it, Sushi. It fascinated us. They had whole counters devoted to baked goods. We sniffed the baked goodness as it wafted around the foodcourt. They had skate shops and games shops which drew Alex towards them with unholy power. I was attracted, as if I was something metallic looking at a magnet, towards shops with shoe sales and sparkly things. It was quite fun, if a bizarre way of spending an hour.
We battled it through the busiest traffic we have ever come across in NZ, along the 3-lane motorway across Auckland's Harbour Bridge. We sighted the Skytower and it was like coming home, as it was the first thing we saw when we first arrived in NZ. Such an odd feeling!
Within 10kms of Auckland, the traffic had thinned right down again, no cars were to be seen apart from the odd truck. It was as we were drifting up into the Northland, that we saw the sign. 'SheepWorld' it blared out at us. We had to stop and see. It was mandatory, having seen the sign. That was when we saw them. We had parked in the carpark, we were about to go in and have a look at prices, we heard a 'baaa', we turned.

 
An entire field of flourescent, bright, radiant pink sheep stood on our right. Pink sheep! They were day-glo! They were spectacular.
We wandered around the shop for a bit, but decided to skip the park itself (despite their having alpacas) as the ticket was quite pricey and included events that had long since finished by the time we rocked up at about 2.30. But still. We saw pink sheep, and that was hilarious enough to entertain us for quite a while.
We carried on going, aiming for Whangerai, but eventually stopping at Mangawhai Heads Beach Reserve instead.
(Sidenote: I keep forgetting to add this - The Maori pronunciation of these words is very different to how we see them spelt. 'Wh' = 'F' sound, the 'g''s are soft and bouncy sounding and you pretty much slur it all together then make it sound musical. Go with it. As such, 'Whangerai' sounds more like 'Fang-er-AY'. Its fun to play with, although you mostly get odd looks if you do it in public).
We stayed at the Beach Reserve for the night, as it was an empty car park with pretty cool views. The carpark was crazy, it had some weird parking system that no-one could actually figure out, so everyone in it was parked ina different way, at odd angles. It was quite amusing, especially when one elderly couple in a massive campervan started audibly complaining outside our window this morning that they were unable to park correctly, because of where we were parked. I should point out at this time that the carpark was huge, and at this point occupied by only three cars, including us.
Northland is rainforest extradinaire and as such, it has been humid and drizzly since we arrived. Doh. We continue however, in the knowledge that we have but one week remaining and Northland is the last part to tick off on our roadtrip.
On our drive, we came across a rather disturbing and unusual aspect of this area. Near Warkworth, the whole country side is peppered with metallic sculptures of farmyard animals. This is patently uneccessary, as NZ has more than enough real-live farm animals to maintain. Despite this however, we have seen metal chickens, goats, sheep, alpacas, cows and one very scary, freakish goat/cow hybrid monstrosity that lurked out suddenly from its vantage point of a hill and caused us to fear what we would find aorund the bend in the road.
This morning, we set off for Whangerai, looking forward to what the guidebook painted as a pleasant little seaside town with many free distractions for tourists. However, driving through it, it was more of an industrial town, with confusing roundabouts. We went to Pak 'n' Save for muffins and abandoned the place, heading out to the coast to find a campsite. We have the need to feel a bit more grounded at the moment, less transitory. We have lucked out with a lovely green place, cheap and fully kitted out with kitchens and bathrooms. The sea is breaking on the bay not ten metres away from our car and we can see right around the headland, following the curve of the land.

We have, in a moment of foresightedness, planned our itinerary for the remaining days in Newt (*sob*) and shall therefore, hopefully, be able to take things easy and absorb the best of the Northland.

We've added a new batch of pictures to Flickr, so feel free to check those out!

Still

Ahhh. Today has been good! In a manner in which I'm sure no-one will sympathise, Alex and I were tired of moving on every day, always pushing on so as not to miss anything. So we took a holiday from our holiday, as it were.
Yesterday evening, we stayed in the hot mineral pool until it closed at 10. We were in it again this morning at 7. After much steam and thought on the subject, we decided it would really be best if we remained in the holiday park for a day longer. Time to recuperate from the road, we said. Time to relax from our constant travelling. Just one more day.
Sp, instead of packing up and leaving our glamorous campsite this morning, as we were meant to, we instead stayed. We soaked in the pool. We consumed breakfast (crazy 'Weet-Bix' made up of five different things...including puffed rice? It is like eating popcorn, ricecakes and weetabix all in one compact, rectangular cereal). We donned our sports wear (or what passes for it from our lugguge) and got rackets from reception, and spent the rest of the morning playing tennis. Once we had our eyes programmed to the yellow ball instead of a red one, we got some good rallies going, played out our own little Wimbledon. I won one set, Alex the other.
Having downed an energy drink to make it through the tiring rounds of tennis, we were both still raring to go. As such, we spent a good long while on the trampoline, to the amusement of random other park denizens, who wandered past, bemused at the activity.
After lunch (last nights left-overs) and fruit bread (a friendly sparrow came within an inch of my hand to steal mine. An inch!), we went back in the pool. Three times in under 12 hours is no bad thing...
We spent some quality time with the tv and watched Fraiser, while checking emails for job replies. Now we have an action plan, which will hopefully work out. No-one can commit to giving us jobs and all recommend asking the day before we want it instead of three weeks in advance. Yay for organisation.
Then, it was a return to the trampoline. This time, we took the camera in order to share some of our crazy flying-high moves.
We had dinner (a terrible combination of chilli beans, sweetcorn, potato, carrot and the evil ingredient - tuna) and copious amounts of chocolate afterwards to ward off the tuna.
Then we have been having our 'Work' hour, where we both work on something to put in our portfolio of skills and so hopefully attract employers towards us.
I'm reckoning the pool or the trampoline will probably see us again before the day is through...There you have the run-down of our day. Hope you all have a good day too! Let us know how its going! :)

Lost

After waking to an overcast day, we embarked on a roadtrip round the coastal highway route of the Coromandel Peninsula instead of heading down to the beach again.
Now, this was purportedly a trip to admire the gorgeous coastline and discover secluded beaches...what it in fact was, turned out to be a trip down a road where houses had been built on either side, thereby obscuring the view! Admittedly, the houses were multi-million dollar mansions, which mad eup for it slightly as we plotted ambitious designs on how to secure these houses for our very own.
Once we had finished our trip around the entire peninsula however, we were still only in the early afternoon - we get up way too early! We explored the 'Warehouse' shopping centre, pawing at all the Christmas decorations and checking prices to see if we'll be able to have any tinsel adorning our Kiwi Christmas. Its weird, being out South Hemisphere way for Christmas.
After reading books we hadn't bought sneakily in the back of the shop, we moved on, and found the 'Miranda Holiday Park'. Having shaken the sheets out this morning due to the uncomfy exfoliating effect of having over half the beach inside the car (I have no idea how we trugged that much sand up the cliff back to the car, but somehow, it got in), we decided more showers were in order to rid ourselves of the sandy hair syndrome.
Now, we are enjoying some serious creature comforts in our holiday park full of random tourists who appear to have settled here.
We have sofas, tv, a kitchen, tennis courts, pentanque and (get this) our own heated mineral pool, fresh from the hot springs down the road! Good stuff! We now need to use as much of this as possible, in order to have justified our spending of ten whole pounds each for the night. Excellent!

Coromandel

After a hair-raising drive along a clifftop road, we entered the Coromandel Peninsula through a gravelled road that allowed us to bypass the blockage we had thought would prevent us from seeing it.
Wow. It is truly beautiful here. The sea, that reaches out as far as you can see is an aquamarine/deep blue, calm and endless. Scattered amoungst the waves are clump-like islets covered in rainforest. The beachs and golden and sandy. There are pleasant boulders grouped up along the shore.
After parking, we tramped the hour walk to the Cathedral Bay beach we had heard was the best. Oh, was this walk beyond tiring. Good thing there was a beach at the end of it! Considering we have survived glaciers with no ill-effect, and done much else physically demanding in the course of our travels, this track caused the disquieting feeling of one's heart expanding and attempting to leap from your mouth. Exhausting.
The gorgeous beach made up for it, as did the sunshine, heat and shady pohukatawa trees climbing the cliff faces. We lay out on the sand, composed of tiny pink pieces of shell and golden speckles, and paddled in the (freezing) clear blue water of the bay.
Having returned to the spaceship, we cooked up another brilliant stew and are now sorting through job applications and all that jazz. Exciting stuff.

I forgot yesterday, to mention some of the people we have been coming across...
In the Pak 'n' Save carpark yesterday, we managed to attach an odd elderly man to us when he noticed our car had 'Spaceships' scrawled on the side. His innocent seeming remark - 'Been far in space then?' turned out to be the start of a UFO conspiracy conversation which Alex and I just nodded along to as he vehemently declaimed the government and 'the people in charge'. He went to the extent of fetching out corralating paperwork evidence from his car to show us. Slightly concerning, but after about 30 minutes or so of in depth alien space theory, he wandered off with his trolley and engaged some staff members in conversation instead.
Alex also came across someone who freaked him out utterly, at the campsite. The women at the front desk acted rather robotically and kept having heart palpitations and wandering off during the transaction!

Rumble

There are weird, painted lines along some of the roads here and often, in order to cross and turn right, you are forced to run over these lines. They make horrible, scary rumbling noises and the whole cars makes sounds as if it is about to collapse. It is unnerving.
What is also unnerving is that we have travelled all the way up the East Coast of North Island, to see the Coromandel Peninsula, only to discover that the single entry into the National Park has collapsed and the entire Peninsula is inaccessable. Doh.
We drove from Napier to Taupo after a disquieting run-in with some threatening looking locals who scared us by following our car around and making weird gestures at us. So we ran away. On wheels.
In Taupo, we revisited our lakeside parking spot and enjoyed a truly relaxing Sunday. You may be wandering, what have we done recently that is so stressful as to deserve a relaxing Sunday? It is a valid question, but in reply, we have done lots of driving. It was Sunday, traditional day of rest...Okay, obviously those are no-fly excuses. It was sunny, we were by a gorgeous lake, ice cream became involved, who were we to argue with the idea of staying put for a day? For the record, I had passionfruit and malaga, Alex had kiwifruit and boysenberry. All four were sumptious!
We walked round some of the lake, took about an hour. It was very hot and sunny, the water was sparkling and all of Taupo's boat-touting residents crawled out of the woodwork and started displaying their machines. Bizarrely, some of the streams feeding the lake are boiling hot and steam as they run into the lake.

We have been listening to the New Zealand radio stations for a while on the longer drives - they are hilarious. They are in no way as PC as English radios are, although sometimes they just go too far. They swear, they make illicit comments, they insult everyone and yet, they remain hysterically amusing. They have terrible competitions ('What are your King or Queen of?' - 'Sausages', 'Stripping', Deepest Voice' being some of the answers) and crazy headlines - 'Seven Year Old Reicarnated Buddhist Monk'. The Dj's are not in any way reserved, speak their minds and spend a lot of time phoning random people up for no apparent reason. They also have a serious need to mock females. Like I say though, fuuunnyyy!

Anyways, we are currently in a random place (Waihi) at a campsite for showers! Yay! We are trying to work out our next move, now the Coromandel has seemingly collapsed...

Sun

Okay, so we all knew it was coming eventually, what with hemisphere differences and all. Here we go anyways: I am writing this from a sun-soaked beach in Napier, North Island. It is very hot, there is sunshine and we recently took a drive along a palm-lined avenue reminiescent of the Sunset Strip. It is possible ice-cream will become involved in the near future. Their is a lido and sun deck to the right and a lifeguard station to the left - although, the lifeguards do appear to be fishing en masse on the beach...mind you, no-one is actually swimming in the sea due to the prevalence of sharks in this area, so they probably don't have to much to do anyway.
The last three days have been bereft of internet signal, so, apologies.
We drove on towards Abel Tasman, which meant driving through Nelson again. We were both excited about this - in the last months or so of constant transit, returning to a place we had visited before was a novelty! We did our grocery shop and then onwards again! We arrived in Marahau, the tiny town at the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park and booked our kayaks for the day after. Then, we enjoyed the rest of the day by wandering up and down the sweeping, intensely golden beach and looking at the rock pools housing tiny crabs. They have shells here like England has pebbles, in every pastel hue you can imagine and probably some more that haven't been named yet.
We had to be up early the next day to check out weather conditions and decide if we still wanted to go out on the waves. Luckily, the sun dawned bright, the sky clear and the sea calm. After a safety briefing and practice session that lasted 2 hours, we were released in our kayak, onto the coastline trail of Abel Tasman.
Kayaking is hard work. Attired in neoprene splash-skirts and lifejackets, knees crooked under the rim of the fibreglass craft, we paddled the hard way, straight out into the bay across to Fisherman's Island. The water was so clear you could see right down to the wavy patterned sand beneath us. As it got deeper, the surface turned an inky green and bit rougher. We slogged on, the land appearing to get no nearer at all! Eventually we reached the island and were rewarded with sights of a large sea bird (a Black Crested Shag for those in the know) drying its wings in the sun. We zoomed onwards to Adele Island in the hopes of seeing some seals but alas, it was not to happen, they head headed off round the side and due to westerly winds we had been advised against going to the west coast of the islands. We paddled back towards the mainland coast, stopping on a golden beach for lunch. We sat on a sun-bleached tree trunk and nibbled our sandwiches and fruit, then paddled in the clear aqua water for a bit. Thousands of tiny silver fish were darting around the shallows and clusters of shells opened and closed under the surface in the wave motion.
We paddled on, keeping close to the beautiful coastline and exploring caves and looking at the wildlife. Colourful rocks under the water reared up and had to be constantly watched out for so we didn't beach ourselves or damage the kayak. We stopped at another beach and had a bit of a sunbathe and an exploration of the shoreline by foot. As it started to approach 3, we decided to start back as we had to return the kayak by 4. We paddled swiftly, starting to get really tired arms, but we made it back and cannily avoided having to drag the thing up the beach by riding a tiny inlet of water round to the tractor that came to collect returning kayaks.
We went to the Marahau campsite and had five minute showers for a dollar. Once no longer sandy or salty, we made ourselves some dinner and had a long conversation with a random local who was touring the campsite asking about people's experiences of NZ for a website called 'rankers'.

The next day was to be our last in South Island for the time being. It was another spectacularly lovely day and we set off early in the morning, reaching Nelson again before 10. We booked a ferry and made it to Picton in plenty of time, despite revisiting the most heinously steep and windy roads through the Queen Charlotte Sounds and two seperate landslides. We even got stuck behind an old bus trying to navigate the twists and turns. At one point, it was going so slowly we actually came to a halt. Nevertheless, we got to the ferry and boarded without issue.
This time round, we went with 'Bluebridge' ferries - a cheaper ticket, but a much smaller ship, with the emphasis on getting to the North Island, not sightseeing, which was a shame, we hadn't realised the difference. We got a good seat on the deck though and watched the Marlbourough Sounds recede and the North Island open up to us again.
We were hoping to catch the fireworks in Wellington and once arrived we managed to find parking, get bags together for enjoying the evening and head out to find food. We settled with a Subway as the food courts close after 5 and only the posh restaurants seemed to be open. Sadly, after we finished our sandwiches, we discovered that the 6th was only the postponement date for the fireworks and they had actually aired the night before. Oh well.
We drove on for a fair way, looking for a place to stop for the night as there is no such place anywhere near Wellington, as we discovered last time. Luckily, following the East Coast highway (Highway '2') turns out to have lots of picnic spots, so we spent a nervous night at one of those - nervous due to some sort of cow/goose/dog/donkey creature outside the car making the most awful noises you have ever heard.

This morning, we bizarrely woke up even earlier than usual (about 7) and cruised off down the highway towards Napier. This has got to be the most boring and uninteresting drive that has presented itself to us since being in New Zealand, or even, since I passed my test. Just a long, flat highway, surrounded by variously flat green fields and rolling green hills. Every so often, there was a vineyard.
Finally, we arrived in Napier. Now, this was of interest because in our original travel plan, it was high on the list to serve as our base for working. It turns out that Napier is indeed very, very nice. A weird cross between Paris, America and Art Deco Land, we traversed the streets of pavement cafes and palm lined avenues. We have stolled the Marine Parade along a strecth of pleasant (if shark-infested) coastland. We are now laying out in the sun for a bit. Alex had a moment of extreme activity in which he fired off about 50 emails to potential employers. Between us, we have now accumulated quite the list of contacts in the great job search. Hopefully, one will bear fruit. (Haha. Fruit-picking jobs...bear fruit...).

I'm sorry for spelling oddities or anything - the sun is so bright I can't see the screen! I know, I know, what stress!

Relax

We left Christchurch in a blaze of morning sunshine...very sleepy after waiting up for the F1 the night before. Well, I tried, I actually just fell into an unwakable coma just before the race started and only woke up again at 9.30 the next morning...Alex managed to stay awake however, but missed the end of the race due to rubbish streaming site. Doh.
We trundled onwards towards Hanmer Springs, feeling that a soak in hot baths would re-energise our flagging energies. We arrived at Hanmer, a pretty ALpine-themed resort with spa and springs and after sorting out the boring stuff in the library (application forms and so on) we went into the spa. This was gorgeous! Apart from a few random sulphur pools they had tucked away in a corner (there is just no contianing that smell. Eurgh).
We sat in the sunshine, under the blue sky in 41 degree water, overlooking pine trees and the odd mountain fronted by palm trees. Very bizarre to be on a sunlounger in a bikini/shorts in November and actually feeling too hot!
We padded around between the various pools of alternate temperatures, avoiding the paths strewn with cold sprinklers - a cruel necessity, as they were in place to deter all the honey bees from landing on the ground and getting squished under bare feet. The minerals in the pools make your skin feel very smooth and soft and you can even choose which minerals you want by going to different pools!
We spent a considerable amount of time in the pools, but eventually we were forced to leave by rumbling stomachs. We had a snack and got underway with the driving again, leaving Hanmer bethind and heading towards Kaikoura.
We found a lookout point to park in for the night. This got bizarrely rowdy around 8, when all the drunken patrons of the races up the road (this week is the start of race season) turned up on their way home. At last, once we had finally seen them off we settled in for the night.
This morning, we managed to drive off in the wrong direction (my skill, I apparently have inherited my dad's directional ability. E.g. nada.) Once going in the right direction again, we got to Kaikoura. This was a lovely little seaside town, I rather liked it. We stopped and had fish and chips at a wooden cafe and then tried to think of ways to see the whales and dolphins Kaikoura is famous for without spending money on a boat cruise. (Well, I say Kaikoura is famous for swiming mammals - in actual fact 'Kai' = 'food' and 'Koura' = 'Crayfish' in Maori and that is what the place is famous for. Alex and I are freaked out by crayfish, which are angry looking giant lobsters.)
We managed to find a parking spot right on the beach and unbelievably, there were two dolphins playing in the waves about 20m away from the shoreline! We sat and watched them for ages, even managing to see them do four acrobatic flips! It was brilliant, although of course the moment Alex got the camera ready to capture their flips they stubbornly stayed beneath the water. Weird, as in my experience, dolphins are usually show-offs.
We then went on to a seal colony. This was so different from the seals we have seen before, from far away at the tops of cliffs or from the road. Here, you could walk onto the rocks among the seals and get within 10m of them! We admittedly defied the guidelines and went a little closer, although not close enough to be mauled by a giant fur seal. We got some cool pictures as these seals were definately posers and couldn't get enough of the camera shutter clicking. We skipped around the rock pools and followed rare sea birds in order to try and get a shot or two of them. They were not so cooperative however.
From the seals, we moved on to Blenhiem. The countryside changed into gently rolling, although still very large, hills carpeted in lush greeness.Then, suddenly, the landscape was so flat you could see for miles and miles without break! It was really odd to go from elevated to flat so suddenly. The flatlands were covered in strict parallels of vineyards. We had entered the Marlbourough region.
We whizzed through Blenhiem, as the only thing to do there is taste wines and this was going to prove either expensive or ultimately pointless as neither of us are massively fond of wine and I was driving anyways!
Onwards then, towards Abel Tasman! We have stopped for the night up one of the large mountainous bits on the edge of the Marlbourough Sounds, which are beautiful. We watched the sun set over the nearby town of Havelock from our vantage point and watched in amusement as the giant campervans that have been cropping up ever more often as the season turns from Spring to Summer attempt to turn around in the small space.
We had an interesting supper, as we are running very low on food and need to stock up tomorrow (it involved apples and baked beans. Together.) Then we have eaten lots of chocolate. Time for bed!

Christchurch

Christchurch was founded by a group of Oxford scholars and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thus, it will not surprise you to know that upon getting into the city this morning, I was heard to remark; 'It really reminds me of home!'
It is odd - different, markedly so, but also vaguely deja vu of England. There is a winding river (The Avon) with costumed punters poling through the waters, like Oxford. There are ducks and green gardens covering many acres of the central city, like Canterbury. There is also a tram and a gondala ride, as well as crazy new metal sculptures and installations, like NZ cities everywhere. It really is most bizarre.
We had walked for over an hour from our campsite to get into town without having to then deal with the hassle of parking and so on. Once we arrived we set to exploring. Within about ten minutes, we had completed a leisurely stroll around the main centre squares and streets - another angle in which Christchurch reminds me of Canterbury.
Anyways, having just decided to stop spending quite so much money the night before when we re-did our budget, we found ourselves walking into a vegetarian restaurant, for the sheer novelty of finding that natives do not actually hunt vegetarians down and shoot them (even if they would like to) but actually occasionally cater to their needs. The Lotus Heart was a bit heavy on the new world meditational stance and had a poster boy by the name of Sri Chinmoy, who was posing serenly in various pictures with princesses, presidents and pop stars. The food was very tasty however, even if they did get a little confused as to which menus were on offer that day. We both decided to try a kefir drink after reading an extensive list about its health-giving propeties. It involved fermented milk, orange juice, grape juice and cinnamon and despite sounding a little gross was actually yum, with a weird fizz and a milkshake-like orange froth as a topper. It reminded Alex of Lambrini, make of that what you will.
After the culinary delights of vegetarian India, we progressed into the city again. We went to the library to check out printing options (exciting, I know) and sat in the park for a bit watching the Paradise ducks in action. They really do make the most peculiar noise - like a wazzoo!
Then we traversed the loooong walk back to the campsite and have since luxuriated in hot showers, hot dinner and the aforementioned hot chocolate.
Tonight will be a late one - the last race of the F1 is on in Dubai. I believe it starts at 1am. Doh.
We have not decided yet what we are doing tomorrow. We have been researching temporary holiday work for the last few days and sorting out the paperwork. Soon, after all, we will have to relinquish Newt! *sob*