Laters Sydney
we is off back to the homeland of ESSEX
it was bitchin
All is good, BAZ xxxx



The end of the Antipodean adventure! It has been very enjoyable but Colchy is calling (to some of us more than others). See you soonest, BazMum xxxx

Hello lovelies!!

I actually lied cos today it has poured with rain! As this is the first time since the Cosy Cottage International Holiday Village, Rotorua when we were in the birdvan I think we have done very well weather wise. Today has been fun and more fun, up the Sydney Tower to the Observation Deck (could have done with Maz and Laz to have a good chat with a la Auckland Tower, but instead we took the "Oz Trek" which involved sitting in rotating seats looking at all aspects of Ozzie life (sharks, BBQs, hats with corks on, I kid you not the stereotypes were awful). Thankfully we had sheltered from the rain prior to this in the Australia Museum and had a very edifying morning of proper instruction in all things Aussie.
Couldn't resist the Aquarium AGAIN, this time much better than Melbourne but the shark talk was still ringing in our ears "Statistically, you are more likely to be attacked by a vending machine than a shark" when all over the paper are pictures of the poor woman who was walking in shallow water with her baby and got bitten on the leg. Said leg awaiting surgery to see if it can be saved!

Well must be time for me to interrupt Bryony's phone call. Only one more day and then we will be winging our way back to soft pillows, cockroach free bathrooms and freshly laundered clothes (Bryony's principle of clean body in smelly clothes no longer working for me). Can't wait to see you all and especially Maz and Laz who I will be applying to adopt as surrogate children as my own will be turning round and coming straight back!

Love you lots and see you soon!!

BazMumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello lovelies!
If the neighbour's tour was fun, the neighbour's night was hysterical. I was the only person over 20 and we were packed into the British Pub (yes, it was dirty and sleazy) like sardines. I nearly lost the will to live when Libby started yodalling her lovely Country and Western Ballads but thankfully stuck it out because after that the real fun started; Madge, Dylan, Cindy and Dr Carl came on and everyone went wild (including me, the boring oldie!!) and they then went all round the room. I gave up on ever having a cuddle with Dr Carl as he was permanently mobbed by nubile young teenagers but then I felt a tap on my shoulder and there he was!! I even got a kiss!! Bryony got her bottom felt which apparently Rusty's not too thrilled about) but he was the perfect gentleman to me!! Aunty Yoda should know that Dylan is totally gorgeous in the flesh and really sweet as was Cindy. Madge had her makeup caked on a bit to hide the smoke damaged face but the voice was still 60 a day Senior Service. All in all a fab night.
Now in Sydney and have walked MILES today. Went over to Manly beach and had the most perfect weather, blue skies and sunshine, so warm!!
Now back in hotel and having to hide in internet booth whilst the Rusty call takes place. Went and had a really lengthy shower last night to avoid eavesdropping on the lovebirds but then found and ENORMOUS cockroach the size of my hand looking at me and I nearly had a heart attack. Took ages to kill it and not before my screams had disturbed the whole hotel. How was I to know that are a normal part of everyday life for Aussies??
OOps, someone waiting, so must sign off.
Love you all, miss you all, see you soon!!
Jan (and Bryony on phone to you know who)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HELLO!
Today we did the neighbours tour which somewhat defied belief!!!!! We got on the bus painted in neighbours stuff (V EMBARASSING) and then watched some old school neighbours episodes....turned up outside erinsborough high which is actually an english language school and then went to ransmay street whihc is SO SMALL its so cute and everything is there like that stupid porch thing outside susan and karls and harolds garden etc etc....
and then we went and met JANELLE i love janelle she is a legend and i gave her a hug and got a piccy. she has HAIRY ARMPITS
WHOAH
so yeah it was amazing
and tomorrow we're doing the quiz night and KARL'S BAND ARE PLAYING and LIBBY IS SINGING and MADGE yes MADGE is rumoured to be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also Mum is pleased coz dillon will be there and she fancies him
IT WAS AMAZING
SO AMAZING

We are in Aussie land woohoo :)
Minorly (MAJORLY) traumatic day yesterday saying goodbye to Rusty and then 2 flights which made me want to die but never mind we are here now.
Have meandered around today and are going to go to the aquarium later to look at giant fish. Booked the neighbours tour and quiz night so that should be a complete delight and i am going to marry harold in the absence of rusty.
I booked my flight back out here today, will be leaving home on 11th June and returning on 17th September. It was superbargainous - 613quid! But im flying through LA on the way out to get double the baggage allowance because i am going to need lots of STUFF no more backpacking for me! eeek LA lisa and maz will have to give me tips on how to survive the walrus man.
Laters love Bry xxxxxx

My shoulders have just about dried out but my shoes are still a bit damp from the tears. Offset today by the booking to come back so really not such a big deal now. (Sorry, Bryony says IT IS A BIG DEAL!!) Felt a twinge of embarrassment at the sniggers of the tourist info clerk who booked our neighbours tour but hey, what's wrong with shallow?
We are enjoying being touroids and just getting on and off trams, wandering round and seeing the sights including a rather huge vanilla slice which was calling me personally by name.
Can't believe I'm on the other side of the world with Bryony although thse of you that remember her infancy will remember me saying "that child will end up in Australia" and here we are. I'm making the most of being with my lovely girl but wish you were all here too!!!!! (You know who you are)
Love you lots
G'day for now
BazMumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well its my last full day in NZ for this part of my trip. I have had the best time EVER out here it has been better than I could have imagined it would be :)
Me and Mum spent today in Auckland getting some souvenirs and presents sorted out and found an amazing cake shop this afternoon for a late lunch of super tasty treats to console ourselves. Rusty's driving us to the airport tomorrow and I'm sure I will be suitably emotional and hideous and Mum will have to sedate me or something...
But all is not lost I will be back to NZ in June which means getting a job out here and not just bumming around travelling wherever I feel like and doing whatever I feel like, what a shame!
I can't wait to get home and visit everyone though its going to be great to catch up, even if its only for a few weeks.
Australia tomorrow which means the neighbours tour. I'm going to get to meet Harold and Karl and all my old man friends and be one of those hideous fans who screams with excitement all the time and maxes out their credit card in the giftshop :)WOO HOO retail therapy
It was really weird today because i was buying winter clothes like jeans and jumpers with mum to leave out here for when I get back because i dont think Im going to find many of those clothes in england land of sun. Now im guna have 2 winters instead of 1!
So bye bye to NZ, hello to Australia and soon Englando here I come xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bryony's last day and soon she will be saying goodbye but actually my farewell to the birdvan was pretty emotional this morning so I feel I've had plenty of practice in emotional moments!! Looking forward to Oz and all the delights of that country. Just off to slip some anti-depressants into Bryony's tea so that tomorrow goes well.
Much love to you all,
BazMum xxxxxx

Hello lovelies,

I know that officially I am at least two decades too old to be doing this update but hey, driving around in a bus covered with birds has made me feel young again!!
NZ really is a fabulous place; the scenery is totally stunning and the people are very friendly and kind. We have covered many miles in the van and seen lots of amazing sights (and squashed possums). The weather has been great, blue skies and mostly warm; we've even swum in the sea. Having time with Bryony, Maz and Lisa has been fun and very instructive (so much to learn from them!!) and so good to know that they have taken all my motherly advice to heart (NOT). Reporting to Aunty Yoda and other interested parties; Rusty is really GORGEOUS and Bryony is the happiest I have ever seen her (apart from Hippo nights, of course).
So, she is following her heart and returning to NZ pretty much as soon as she can get a flight back and is going to spend the summer with Rusty working in Auckland and seeing how things work out. Oh the tears and the pain of the mother!!!
So, off to Oz in 2 days and more fun!!

Lots of love to you all,
BazMum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maz and I both feel rough rough rough today. This is LESS THAN GOOD seeing as we have to go to the airport in an hour, and then we have oh...29 hours of travelling ahead of us. MY FAVOURITE.
I'm not feeling tiptop and cheery today. It's going to be really weird to leave here! But nice to be home of course!
We had an absolutely lovely proper last day yesterday. The weather was gorgeous, and we went on a harbour cruise, so that was good. We learnt many interesting facts about Auckland and boats and stuff (we pretended to care) and also the water was sparkly and pretty. The harbour is called something like Waitamata harbour, which (as we all know our Maori words now) means sparkling water. Lovely! Another bonus was the fact that we didn't get hideously sunburnt and red. It will be strange coming back to a land where there isn't a hole in the ozone layer right above your head for easy-access pain and discomfort in the form of sun sun sun. We also got a free rough cookie and rough coffee! Who could want more?
We then went and had a couple of glasses of wine (from Gisborne in the Bay of Plenty, because we support good old Kiwi production. Plus, yummy wine!) and looked at the boats and stuff.
NEXT we went back to el hostello and packed. That was quite a mission, it really was! I really don't know how I managed to not break my bag but it seems ok and hopefully all the stuff I have bought (aka a lot of stuff. A LOT) will not break.
In the eve, we were picked up in the birdvan and off we went to find a nice place for food. We went to a lovely little restaurant on the Quay near the Hilton Hotel (ooooh posh, except it looks like a ferry :S). I again went for the super kiwi option and had lamb and kumara mash. It was great! Everyone enjoyed their food I think, and we had a lovely time. After our meal we went and got our coffee from somewhere unique to NZ, STARBUCKS. I know, we fail at life. Never mind.
Then we had our tearful (except not actually) goodbyes, and off we toddled home. We aren't going to see Bry and MummyBryony for 2 entire weeks! SO LONG! Upsetting. Weirder, we aren't going to see Rusty for probably 7 months, and that is craaaazy. We'll miss his funny little face and dad-dancing :P
hahaha
I've packed my camera cord so no photos for you today, maybe some at some point when we are back in Englandio.
xxx

Yo Ho Ahoy!
Wow the neglect we have shown lj is semi-shocking. MummyBryony arrived on Monday with minor baggage mishaps (Quantas are real good at making sure the baggage actually gets on the plane - not) she bought us amazing present sof joy and greatness. They included Heat magazine, lip gloss (and eyeliner for Lisa), toffee chocs and PANTS! It was all very important necessary things especially Heat....
Anyway, for the rest of Monday Lisa and I went to the shockingly bad Auckland Art Gallery and got accosted by an old christian man. I can't quite work out whether he immediately 'knew' we were Christian or if he was trying to Evangelise us. It was all very bizarre and I ended up leaving with his email address, phone number and the address of his 'open house'. WEIRD.
Tuesday all of us went up the Sky Tower in the morning and spent ages in the cafe discussing life, our trip and general nostalgia. It was very nice if not a bit sad, especially when we were asked what our favourite moments have been of Nz...there are sometimes just too many to count. The views fromt he top are pretty stunning as well, especially the one of the giant bilboard advertising some kind of underwear... onyl the model happens to be a very buff-looking dan carter. MummyBryony was shocked that this was the first thing Bry looked for at the top! Later we wandered to Parnell (I say wandered actually it was more of a trek up the hillyness that is Auckland) and had amazing ice cream in the Movenpick cafe. For all you poor uninitiated people Movenpick is Swiss ice cream, its like the best ice cream in the world ever. Lisa, Bry and I had it with chocolate brownies and it was super immense. We wandered further around Parnell's boutiquey shops before heading abck to the hostello.
In the eve we went to a nice pizza/pasta place with Rusty and had huge pizzas and then to a little cocktail bar where I had a corriander based cocktail that looked like an entire garden was in my drink. Surprisingly it was actually quite tasty!
Bry and Jan left on Weds morn to collect the sexy van, and Lisa and I were a little despondant. We were not feeling the love of Auckland, since our hostel is bang slap in the middle of the world and is bloody LOUD, all night. Its not pleasant. Also another bag of our food got stolen from the jam-packed fridges so we were less than happy. We went to Whitcoulls and bought ourselves some books to read and spent most of the rest of the day doing that!
Thursday we decided to be a little more proactive (not a lot you understand, just a little) and walked to Auckland Domain. Its basically a glorified big parkland area on which the museum is perched at the top. Unfortunately it took us rather a while to find, with Lisa exclaiming at one point ' It should be right here, we should be standing on it WHY AREN'T WE!' We did eventually find it and actually it was quite interesting (and free) with loads of stuff on volcanoes, and a creepy childrens section and a huge Maori exhibition as well.
Today however, has by far been the best day of the week. Bry had said to us before they left to check our emails as she would meet us sometime Friday eve when they were back in auckland. Accidentally we didn't check them yesterday adn so Bry was knocking on our door at 11am this morning lookign mildly surprised that we were still in bed! Apparently she had sent us an email detailing that they would take us on a day trip in the van - whoops. We got dressed super speedily and then went on a grand adventure in the van. The van is hot, it ahs birds on it, which freaks Lisa out. It also only has 3 seats in the front. So Bry drove with me and Lisa in the front and MummyBryony reclining on the giant bed in the back!
We went to Piha (not to be confused with PAihia) which is a really stunning beach. Its basically Aucklanders retreat as its a good surfing beach and its not very touristy. The sand is also really black because it has such a large iron content in it, so its really really sparkly. We had a great time sitting on the beach and paddling in the sea before going to a cute cafe/restaurant for tea and chips. The views fromt he cafe were amazing cos it was built overlooking all of Auckland and Auckland harbour. You could probably see more from the cafe than you could from the top of the sky tower!
Tomorrow Lisa and I are going to do a harbour cruise thingy and then Sunday shall be souvenir shopping and packign...fun....
MummyBryony, Rusty and Bry are off in the van to Orewa (where I have been before) to a very nice thermal pools park called Waiwera which i recommended.
Soon we shall be home, to quite colchy, my bed, people and finding a job...no more cafe stops every 5 mins, or laying in till midday...woe!

( photos )

( We went to the zoo! )
x

Hello! It feels like it's been ages since I've done an update! Weird.
Maz and I are back from Paihia and are trying out our 4th hostel in Auckland, because variety is the spice of life, as we all know. We had an uneventful and rainy last magic bus trip down today. I irritated Maz and ate chocolate, she fell asleep, so it was business as usual. Luckily we had my FAVOURITE bus driver, Ryan, so that was nice (he's the one that was Bry's first and last bus driver too!). The reason he's my favourite is that on the 8 hour trip up to Paihia last week, we got to play BUS DJ. This is where you create a playlist of 3 songs on your mp3 player and then take it in turns to play it on the bus speakers. It's very exciting. I won, because I am a complete genius and everyone should bow down to me. Ryan said it was the best playlist he's ever had! I feel so proud!
Saying that, my only competition was Maz (who's music taste I like to diss coz I'm nasty), a girl who played really boring songs, and a crazy Dutch woman who played Children are our Future by Whitney Houston as one of her songs. I'm not even kidding. I nearly died.
I was very patriotic and created a beautiful UK tracklist of Arctic Monkeys, Fratellis, and Blur (COLCHY BOYS :D). Well done me. Anyway, because I won, Ryan bought me a bag of sweets, and later that night we saw him at the bar and he also bought me a drink because I AM AMAZING.
Maz hates me. She asks me to point out that her music taste is quite good and that she played The Killers, Guns 'n' Roses, and Queen. Good work Maz :P you were 2nd place definitely.
ANYWAY moving on from how I will one day rule the entire world in DJ form, stuff about Paihia! Bry has told you what we did up until she left, so I only have Friday and Saturday to tell you about. On Friday we went to Waitangi to look at the meeting house and waka (Maori canoe) and other stuff which is there to commemorate the Waitangi Treaty. The Waitangi Treaty is basically a bit of paper signed to give the British ownership of NZ. It's VERY important stuff. So that was tres interesting indeed, plus lots of impressive Maori carvings :)
On Saturday it was a gorgeous day! We caught the ferry across the bay to a little town called Russell, which is full of artists and boats. We wandered around there for a while and looked at a few artsy shops. There was a really cool shop full of glassblown art. It was spectacular and made us wish we had a spare $7000 floating around. Upsetting.
Then we went for a pint in the pub and sat outside looking out over the bay with all it's boats and little islands. It was lovely indeed!
I'm really sorry but once again I don't have any photos for you right now because I can't use the usb thing here, but I WILL as soon as I can put a whole plethora of photos up so you can see our lovely faces.
Only a week to go! Crazy business ay?
Sweet as bro :P seeya soon!
Love Lisa xxx

Hey freakies! Bry here
We have had a bit of a hectic weekend travelling around and having way too much fun!!!
Spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in Auckland which obviously meant we had to go out for our requisite drinking session :) which was really fun. We started off in the backpackers bar because its CHEAP and we love a bargain. Then Rusty took us to a highly insane place called BOOGIE WONDERLAND (the name says it all) it was full of oldies but we had some nice cocktails and then went to another club which had a good dancefloor and a live band and people under 40 which is always a bous when you're partying (no offence parentals)
So Saturday everyone was feeling slightly peaky but we had a nice BBQ at Rusty's in the evening and watched a rugby game, which even me and Lisa are beginning to appreciate now we're out here!
ON MOnday we went up to the Paihia in the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland. Rusty got a few days off work so he drove me and him up but Lisa and Maz wanted to do the Magic bus trip because you get to stop in some cool places along the way (I did it the first week i was out here) I'm sure they will tell you all about it.
Paihia was really nice, it was sunny and hot and highly attractive as ever. We managed to visit some pretty nice places like a little Kaleidoscope maker in the middle of nowhere which made really amazing kaleidoscopes and bubble scopes and had even developed a keleidoscope which you could look at anything with even trees and sky and people because normally they only work when the object is pushed up against the mirror but they created this optics thing to mean you can kaleidoscopify stuff from far away....im rubbish at explaining...ITS CLEVER!
We also went to the chocolate factory because we are fatties. They give you free samles of to die for chocolate :) it was SO TASTY and obviously we bought lots.
On Wednesday we booked ourselves on a trip up to Cape Reinga, the most northerly point of NZ. Its where the Maoris believe their souls go where they die.
Anyway, we got on a bus SUPER EARLY whihc was a bus that is meant to drive along the beach and on sand, meaning it was the BUMPIEST thing ever to happen to the world because the suspension was weird as. So it was a vom inducing bus ride along roads and then to 90 mile beach, whihc is incidentally only 63.5 miles long. WEe drove all the way along the beach and luckily didnt get stuck (unlike some people we saw) and then even drove up a little river (there was nowhere this bus didnt go!) Our bus driver was pretty insane, we stopped off by some massive sand dunes and grabbed what look like bodyboards out of the bus, then climb up the sanddune and body baord down it. it was so so so so fun if not extremely bumpy and a sand exfoliation sensation on your face/eyes/any exposed body parts. Needless to say i went the fursthes i was pro :) but so were everyone else. apparently girls are way better than guys because we're not cocky so we dont fall off all the time from trying to go fast HAHA.
Sop that was fun fun fun.
Cape reinga itself is just a lighthouse and a pretty view, but it is cool because where the Tasman sea hits the Pacific ocean you can see the waves going in different directions and crashing into each other offshore, its weird weird to look at.
Today we went on the MACK ATTACK boat in Paihia. We had won some 2 for 1 vouchers in a bar a few nights before whilst doing kareoke (!) I didnt sing but Lisda and MAz were in there with grease, it was an amazing sight!
Anyway, the jet boat was really really really fast it was a bit painful but also exciting and way less scary than the K-Jet in Queenstown where my face was covered in hail and i thought i was going to die. The boat took us round some of the many islands and out to the Hole in the rock which was exciting. There was this little 3year old kid on the boat and it was laughing the whole way through even when i was screaming with terror. kids are weird.
This afternoon I got the bus back top Auckland to spend the weekend with Rusty but Lisa and Maz are staying up in Paihia because I already spent a week there at the start I've seen most of it already. It was my last ever magic bus journay today which was crazy because I had the same driver i had for my very first ever bus ride :)
weird weird weird
and also its the last time i will be spending backpacker style with lisa and maz :( because now i'm only going to see them every couple of days and then they're going home in 10 days :( WEIRD
Mum is arriving on MOnday which i am SUPER EXCITED about I have planned us an amazing itinerary. I just cant belive NZ is almost over! its so weird to be thinking about going home.
Love to you all, Lisa will probs post some attractive photos for you to ogle.
Bryony xxxxxxxx

Hmmmm, where to begin from our last update?
We were all in Auckland and had decided to book the Coromandel add-on MAgic pass that included a boat ride via Waiheke stopping overnight in Coromandel town before getting the coach to Whitianga (pronounced fitianga). This sounds like a good plan, and we had to be at the ferry office (right near mine and lisa's hostel) at 8.30am on Wednesday.
Lisa and I were staying in the FatCamel hostel. Its a pit of despair, worse than anywhere else we have stayed by a considerable margin. We had booked a twin room for the two nights, only to discover it had no windows. We thought that was manageable as long as it had big bright communal areas. It did not. On our floor you had a tiny kitchen and seating area (windowless), one toilet (windowless) and 2 showers (also windowless). To combat the fact that they couldn't open windows to freshen the place up, they had a bizarre Ecolab thing. It basically emitted gross smelling chemicals every 30 mins and was super rough.
So I'm telling you all this so you feel sympathetic to our plight (they also ad the nerve to charge $30 each for a twin per night) when you hear what happened next. Lisa set the alarm on her phone and we had agreed to meet Bry at 8.15 to find out exactly where we were supposed to go.....Unfortunately at 8.32am when we woke up, we had kinda missed the boat we were supposed to catch! Whoops. Somehow Lisa hadn't quite pressed he right buttons on the tempramental phone.
Luckily Rusty v kindly offered to drive us to Coromandel Town so that we wouldn't lose our money from that hostel and so we could connect with the bus the next day. We had qute a pleasant road trip along the coast line of death, where you had the cliff one side and the sea literally the other. It was in all of NZ the twistiest road we have been on, and we have been on a lot of bendy roads! We finally made it to the hostel at 9.30pm checked in, went for a walk. It was then that we realised we didn't know what time the bus arrived the next day and unlike every other place we have been to, the times weren't in the back of the Magic guide book we had been given. So Lisa and I looked on the website....nothing. So I thought it would be alright because the Magic office opened at 7am and the earliest bus we had caught was 7.30am so we would be fine.
Lisa woke up at 7am (phone worked this time) to ring the office to discover the bus was at the i-site in 10minutes. The i-site is at least a 10 minute walk from the hostel. So we literally slapped on some clothes (Bry left in her pj top!) and started to go for the bus. Fortunately it turned out the bus did actually come to the hostel so we didn't miss it. Magic didnt see fit to tell us anywhere what time and when things went or the fact that it wasnt actually a MAgic bus, it was a local bus that connected with the Magic bus in Thames!
We got to Thames and had 3.5hrs to kill so had a v tasty brekkie of french toast, maple syrup and fruit in a local cafe.
By this point we were seriously wondering why we had bothered spending $135 to run around missing or nearly missing buses but it got a lot better. We visited Hot Water Beach which was really really weird. You can basically 2 hrs either side of low tide dig down into the sand and the water is hot. in some places it is so hot you can't actually sit in it! Its really bizarre but all to do with the geothermal vents and stuff (I;m sure Lisa knows).
After that we went further along the coast line to Cathedral Cove. It was a bit of a trek down to see it but actually well worth it. It reminds me a little bit of Durdle Door in Dorset except the beach is all sandy and the cove itself is thicker and not in the water (except at very high tide). Anyway it had by now turned into quite a ncie sunny day, so we chillaxed on the beach before walking back up the hill to get the bus to whitianga.
Whitianga is also very quaint but there is not much there although our hostel was literally right on the beach.
Today we got the bus back to Auckland and Lisa and I have checked into Base. Base has this whole floor which is girls only and they give you a TOWEL!!! and free shampoo and conditioner and everything is clean and light and there are WINDOWS! Sorry slight over-excitement there! Its very nice though and we should be able to cope quite happily till Monday.
Hopefully then we should be getting the bus to Paihia and the Bay of Islands but because its now officially the low season we are havign a bit of trouble getting a bus back up when we want to....ehhh I'm sure we will sort it out somehow!
Hope you are all enjoying your mini heat-wave its only 2.5 weeks till Lisa and I are home - bet it rains!
( photos )

Buon giorno! I just finished reading a book set in Italy (The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella). It mostly made me hungry.
Ok I'm shutting up, here's stuff about NZ!
We spent the last 4 days in Mount Maunganui which is a little spit of land sticking out into Hawkes bay just across from Tauranga. It has a mountain, obviously, which is an extinct volcano. We could have climbed it but we were lazy and it was raining, so we didn't. Whoops!
We mostly just sat around as usual! We went to the beach and Maz and I found loads of really exciting shells including one with something alive and gross in it! Maz made me put it back in the sea so it would stay alive but she wouldn't touch it herself because CLEARLY it might have eaten her brains or something. The beach there has good waves for surfing all year round because they built an artificial reef there. We watched the surfers.
We also went into Tauranga a few times using the luxury of our own transport! Rusty was down for the weekend with his car :D so that was great. Tauranga is a semi big town with a big harbour and a number of shops and bars etc. We went there and wandered around one day and also went out in the eve there for a boogy around at one of the bar/club places on the harbour front. Here they don't seem to have clubs (like the hippodrome (I MISS IT SO MUCH!)) but only really have these bar club things which are like Edwards or Yates. Anyway, that's not interesting for you, so I'll shut up.
Instead of getting the magic bus back to Auckland on Sunday, we went in Rusty's car! Woooo actual seatbelts and our own choice of music! Just so we didn't feel like we were missing out on the Magic Bus experience, we did stop a number of times along the way. We stopped at an old railway tunnel that is just over 1km long, and walked through it. I was SO SCARED because I am like a little child. I held Maz's hand all the way through and didn't get eaten by rats or axe murdered or anything so that must have worked!
Next we stopped at Paeroa which is where they make L&P which is like extra tasty lemonade basically. We were really touristy and took pictures of ourselves standing next to the giant L&P bottle because we are super cool. We also went to the toilets there which were SO COOL because they talked to you! They said "Welcome" and told you when to press the button to lock the door, and told you that you had a maximum of 10 minutes then the door would automatically unlock. It also played Burt Bacharach at you! What more could you want?
Lastly we stopped at an ice cream shop shaped like a castle where we had MASSIVE ice creams for what is basically about 80p. I know you are jealous. Unfortunately I chose the orange chocolate one for some reason. It was just...so ORANGE. Way too disturbing for me, so I didn't eat that. Never mind.
We've been in Auckland for the last 2 days. It has rained a lot. Our room has no windows and we had our salad taken out of the fridge for the third time. Irritating, non? If we get scurvy I'm gonna be so annoyed!
We're off to the Coromandal Peninsula for a few days from tomorrow! That should be fun although it does involve another ferry ride, and we all know how much I enjoy them. Then back to Auck for the weekend then Paihia for a week then Auck for another week then HOME for Maz and I and AUSTRALIA for Bry! We are also muchly looking forward to the arrival of MummyBryony :D we miss having a mummy!
I apologise for the lack of photo accompaniment recently, we have had battery related issues and then the usb sockets here don't work. Irritating. Hopefully I will be able to provide you with attractive pictures of our faces soon though!
Love Lisa xxx

Hello world, its Bry back :)
We have had a fun few days, on Tuesday we arranged to meet up with this Kiwi chick called Tania we met out the other night in Napier. She took us on a really cool roadtrip around Hawke's bay. We drove out to a cheese factory for lunch which was SUPER TASTY and had a cheese platter of camembert, brie and gouda which were all locally made and came with a mountain of bread and crackers. And we liked ALL the cheeses, even the smelly ones, and even maz liked the camabert which is something of a miracle.
Tania was a real sweetheart all day. Considering we had only met her in the bar the other night she drove us around for the whole day and took us to a really nice beach which all the locals go to and up Te MAta peak (a mini mountain) which gave us a really good view of Hawke's BAy. It was so nice to be in a car for a day and not on the mahussive magic bus! Tania had a little 2yr old son as well so we got to entertain him, he especially liked throwing stuff at Lisa. So we had a great day and saw some stuff we never would ahve seen otherwise so THANKS TANIA and your great Kiwi hospitality.
YEsterday we got the bus back to Rotorua, one of our favourite places so far and we went back to our fave Italian Restaurant, Zanelli's. We ate a lot (as usual) and then had a few drinks in the LAva BAr (which I have decided i might like EVEN MORE than the Hippodrome in Colchy!) It plays really awful old music like spice girls and the bartenders there are hilarious...its just a lot of fun!
Today we have been doing a bit of shopping and we're guna get the bus to Mt. MAunganui in an hour. MAunganui is a little seaside town with good surfing and cafes and bars. Rusty's coming for the weekend too so that should be nice :)
Happy days kiddos we continue to have fun fun fun xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm doing the update again but I think it should actually be Bry.....hmmm oh well tough luck you get me!
The rest of out time in Welly was tres bon, we went to Te Papa again (the national museum) cos we had somehow missed out half of it last time, I think we got over-museumed or something!
We also went and saw Black Sheep at the really cool cinema Lisa described in the last post. Black Sheep is a New Zealand made film, about killer GM sheep. It's really really really gross as we discovered in the first 5 mins where the baddy butchers a sheep and puts its mangled skin on himself to scare his younger brother!! It was a dark comedy and in places was kinda funny ( mint sauce repelled the killer sheep, and the sheep were eventually defeated by a sheep dog and then blown up) but also far too many people got their innards ripped out, and the baddy also turned out to be a sheep-shagger. I told you it was pleasant. Anyway we have been treated to that slice of NZ culture and are now in no hurry to repeat the experience!
We got the Magic Bus to Napier on Saturday, Napier having been destroyed by a massive quake in the 1931 so the whole city was rebuilt in the art deco style. So its now known as a the art deco capital of NZ and is full of cool 30s architecture and they have an annual big festival about it. Our hostel is really nice, it has big communal areas and we are in a triple (yay no dorms!!). We went out Saturday night and met some really nice kiwi girls who bought us drinks and have volunteered to drive us around Hawkes Bay tomorrow which should be really nice.
Sunday, being Easter we ate our Easter Nests (kindly made by Bryony) as a hang over cure and then Bry and I cooked a full proper bo Easter dinner. We had roast beef, roast parsnips, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage and gravy. We also had slightly dodgy Yorkshire puddings because i didn't have a measuring jug or a pudding tin.... So I think we had a bit too much flour and as they were in a muffin tin they sort of went a bit....doughy!!! Everything else tho tasted delicious and even our lack of gravy jug didn't stop us (we used a teapot- its going to be the next big trend!). Went for a walk on the beach after lunch and then watched Harry Potter 4 and Legally Blonde.
Today we did our own art deco tour by getting a guide book from the i-site and then wandering around. This had advantages over the guided option as it allowed for shopping and cafe stops! Weather is still really sunny and nice, altho not as hot as it has been glad to see Englando is finally getting some decent weather - it needs to hot up just for when Lisa and I arrive home!
( have some pictures )

Heya
We are back in windy Wellington! It was really strange to leave the South island after nearly 5 weeks there! We spent our last days in South Island on the Magic bus as usual with Mr Maori Man as we call him, the smelliest bus driver there is. To continue the smelly theme, as we drove from Kaikoura to Picton we stopped at a seal colony place. MAN do they smell.
( smelly smelly seals )

Whiffy.

Our hostel in Picton was supercute and it had hammocks and a sofa outside so we did a lot of chillaxing.
The ferry ride was apparently rougher than the previous one, because Maz and Bry were both feeling nauseous. I was feeling really chipper though! Weird.
Wellington greeted us by raining suprememly. THANKS WELLY. Never mind, we had hot chocolate and watched ER (I LOVE ER SO MUCH) yay!

Today we got up at 7.30 am (hideous) and went on the LOTR tour around Wellington for 4 hours. It was really really fun! We went up Mt Victoria and into a forest and walked along the path next to a big hill covered in trees, and the guide asked us where we thought it was in the film, and no one knew except us genius children. It was clearly the "GET OFF THE ROAD!" bit, as we called it. So yes, they showed us photos of Frodo standing looking freaked out, and showed us exactly where he would have stood. Also, you know the tree roots where they all hide from the deatheater Ringwraith? That tree doesn't exist. They chopped a tree down from somewhere else and moved the stump there and created the extralong roots and they all just huddled on the path in front of that. The Ringwraith on his horse in that scene also didn't exist, he was put in digitally. Thrilling stuff eh?
We also visited the quarry where they built parts of Minas Tirith and Helms Deep. All that's left of them is the top of a wall and the steps where Legolas did that completely ridiculous slide down the steps on his shield. Apparently most of the footage of the big citadels was actually of "biggatures" which are big minatures. Some were nearly 6 metres tall!
Next we went to Rivendell and ran across a swing bridge (not featured in the movies) and had a quick walk around the forest (again, not in the movies) and then we went to where they had built the sets. Everything has now been cleared away and restored now though, so at one point we were standing in a grassy clearing and the guide was telling us that we were standing in Frodo's bedroom where they had the "slightly camp scene with all the hobbits on the bed" as he described it.
We went to where Isengard was and pretended to be the 2 wizards in deep discussion. We also saw where they had put the specially created trees so they could actually do the whole pulling them out with ropes thing when Saruman is making the Orc army.
We also went to one of the rivers used throughout the movie. We were shown screenshots of them in the little boats that Galadriel gave them, and told how they had done it to give the impression of a valley when really there is a cliff one side and a motorway the other side. Clever.
We were told many little facts and interesting things about the movies and about Peter Jackson and the cast etc, such as Elijah Wood was only playing Frodo 40% of the time, the rest of the time it's his stunt double. Merry's stunt double was a woman and Pippin's was a 12 year old boy. The noise the Urok-hai army (I made up that spelling so shhhhh) make before the battle of Helms Deep was actually made by a slightly drunken Cricket crowd during half time of an England-NZ match. Most of the Orcs were men from the Army, and most of the Elves were regular people like tour guides etc being extras. The Orcs had to be taught to NOT march in time and the Elves had to be taught TO march in time, by the orcs! Funny! Most of the non-hobbit characters in the first hour of the first movie were played by a 7 foot 2 Kiwi guy called Paul.
That's enough facts for you now :)
We're going to the Embassy cinema tomorrow to watch Black Sheep which is a proper Kiwi film! Also, that is where all the World Premiers of the LOTR movies were. We can sit in the actors' seats, which have little signs on! All except Orlando Bloom's seat because teenage girls keep stealing it. Stupid them, he only has 6 facial expressions anyway.
( LOTR sites )

Love Lisa
xxxxx

Well Kaikoura is very nice, we have had scorching weather over the last couple of days. After Brys update we lazed around by the big pool that our hostel has and read some of the 5 books for $20 we got.
We decided to go Dolphin swimming yesterday, but when we first rang up they had no places so we went on standby. We were worried that because there was 3 of us we wouldn't all get a place and decided that if one of us couldn't do it then none of us would. Fortunately the nice lady rang us back. She had 2 spaces for swimming and one for spectating so what would happen is that we would share the 2 swimming spaces by swapping over every so often. They have really strict laws about exactly how many people can be in the water at any one time. The only minor downside was that we had to be at the dolphin encounter place at....5.30am. Early to say the least! Especially since the meeting palce was about a 20 minute walk from our hostel. This meant we were up at 4.30AM thats EARLIER than Tescos. It was also very dark. And chilly.
Anyway we made it there (which in itself is a MIRACLE folks) and got suited up in our sexy wetsuits. They were super comfy, in a world where super clingy rubber that means you cant breathe is comfy! We also got amazing flippers and they had goggles that allowed blind people to see! Well people blind like me, it was all very exciting and great. whilst we waited fro everyone to get changed we watched a film about the dolphins and how they were wild and they might not want to play with us and we shouldn't just expect them to be interested in us. We then got on a little coach trip to the boat by this time the sun was coming up over the mountains and it all looked really beautiful and we were feeling more awake. We were told that it sometimes took a 20-25 min boat ride to find the dolphins but within 10 mins we had spotted them. We had an impromptu snorkel lesson and then Bry and I sat on the back of the boat (Lisa volunteering to be the first one left behind). Within a minute they were all literally metres away from the back of the boat! They were doing flips and full somersaults and EVERYTHING. It was unbelievably exciting!! They then sound this horn thing when they have killed the propellors and you can slip into the water. Its really really weird breathing through a snorkel and it took me a couple fo attempts (and a lot of swallowed salt water) to get teh hang of it! Once I did you have to sing or hum throught the snorkel because dolphins are attracted to sound. So the only thing that was in my head was Yellow Submarine. Yes I am cool, but weirdly enough it helped me to remember to breathe through my mouth into the snorkel! So I'm swimming along, face in the water, singing away seeing nothing but vast blueness, when suddenly there is 6 dolphins underneath me, swimming around. It was truly amazing. After 10 misn we got called back tot he boat and the boat moved on to get ahead of the dolphins again (because they are constantly moving forwards) and we were allowed in again. It worked out that all 3 of us ended up int he water as several people stopped swimming (weirdos!) Ahhhh it was so good, the dolphins would cricle round you faster and faster adn you had to try to keep up! Needless to say you failed pretty quickly!
Eventually after about half an hour in the water we were called back to the boat to get out of our wet things and warm up. They then took the boat through the pod so everyone could take photos and the woman gave some commentary about them.
It was such a great morning, seriously the best thing we have done out here by a long way. To get that close to so many (200 easily) wild dolphins who were centimetres away from your face was so cool, if occasionally a little creepy!
Anyway after that early start we were knackered and came back to the hostel and lazed in the sun, swimming in the pool.
Tomorrow we are going to Picton for a night, before the fun ferry crossing to Wellington for 3 nights.
Ahh this holiday lark is good isn't it?
( Dolphins )

Hello everyone! It's Bryony back again and we're in Kaikoura now, the whale watching dolphin swimming place with lots of crayfish. In conclusion it smells like the sea.
We arrived yesterday lunchtime and on the way you get to drive along the coast and we saw a whole pod of about 100 dolpins swimming in the sea and jumping around, was really cool. Unfortunately the beach here is very stony and also the sea is really rough so we havent swum in it, but we did go for a morning swim in the pool at the hostel which was really nice. It's about 25 C here today and nice and super hot. Luckily the internet cafe has aircon, although the guy at the counter smells SO MUCH (think Mr. Mario mum) it is making me feel nautious.
Anyway, going backwards we spent the last week in Chrsitchurch with Rusty. I think Lisa got up to about Tuesday with the last journal entry so here goes the rest of the week...

On Tuesday to celebrate our englishness we decided to get a Tram ride and Punt combo tour thing which meant we got to take the tram everywhere for the day whihc was really nice because it took us to some really cute little streets and parks and also WE'RE LAZY so lack of walking was great. The punt ride was v comfortable because Lisa tells me that in Cambridge the punts don't have nice comfy cushions and blankets...but they do in NZ. We had a Scottish/Irish guide (we can never tell!) who took us up the River Avon and we saw some creepy ducks and a rough looking eel under the water. The exertion of sitting on a tram and then a punt meant a trip to the fudge shop for more confectionery (we obviously didnt buy enough at the choc factory last week!) There were baskets of free samples and we all love free stuff so were the perfect target audience, walking away with 6 flavours!!!
The fudge shop is in the arts centre so we also had a look round theb little crafty shops and tried on some v attractive ug boots and hats made of entire possums. Ruisty bought me a little sheepskin llama to add to my collection. He picked the most stupid looking one with a spakky leg so i've called it El Retardo.
On wednesday we did a day trip to get us out of Christchurch for a bit. It was about 1.5hrs bus journey to a little seaside town called Akaroa which is where the French first landed in NZ so it is a bit Frenchy. Unfortunately we managed to once again pick a rainy and foggy day for our day trip (think Milford Sound everyone) but it didnt really matter because we just had a wander around the town and found a nice cafe for lunch. I had an amazing date pudding for dessert which was made into the shape of a kiwi bird, it was quality.
Thursday was our last full day in Christchurch and Lisa and Maz wanted to go to the Antarctic centre to see the penguins and stuff but me and Rusty weren't that keen so we went out for lunch instead in Christchurch which was lovely and then had a walk along the river.
Here is how Maz describes the Antartic centre...

Lisa and I went to the Antartic Centre, voted the best attraction in Nz. It was really good, they have done it all really well with mock ice caves leading from one exhibit to another and loads of info to read and things to play with. The best bit for me was the snow storm, where you have to put on a big coat and these protective rubber shoes and you went in this room that looked like Antartica. It ahd real snow on the floor and was about minus 8 C. Tropical. Then they play some crackly radio transmissions pretending you are on Scott Base in Antartica and they start a big wind like a storm. It was extremely cold and pretty much convinced me that Antartica is not a place I particularly wanna go! Lisa liked the penguins best I think. They had a penguin enclosure where all the 'spakky' Blue Penguins live. By the very PC term' spakky' I mean all the ones with deformed beaks and wings and even one little one with a water phobia! They were very cute and we saw them being fed as well. I learnt all sorts of educational stuff, such as the Antartic has land underneath it where as the Arctic doesnt. Also that Antartica is really dry which is weird since there is all that water around. That and the fact that the ozone hole is actually shrinking and they reckon it will be gone by 2080 or something. Lisa of course knew all this because geography is her life-blood but still thought it was a proper good attraction.

That night when they got back we went out and did a Ghost Tour of the Arts Centre which was SCARY.
We were met in this creepy old builing by a guy in a nice black top hat and got given suffieciently useless lanterns as torches. Then we were basically led around the old buildings being told scary stories. To start with you'd just notice stuff like a little doll disappearing and reappearing somewhere else but then towards the end it got a bit super freaky and we ended up in a basement in the pitch black (our lanterns had been taken away!) and some guy in black appeared from nowhere and ran through the group of people. By this point i was clinging to Rusty and Lisa was clinging to me and Maz was clinging to Lisa. It must have been a hilarious sight because we were all terrified! It was a really good ghost tour though because i'm pretty sure even everyone in the room was freaked out!
Friday morning was a bit hellish because Rusty's train left at 7am so I was up super early to say goodbye to him and then we all had to get on the Magic bus about 8ish for another joyful ride through the back and beyond of NZ.
We have another 3 nights in Kaikoura and we're going to go dolphin swimming tomorrow and then hire some bikes on Monday. We've already started planning the amazing roast dinner we're going to create on easter sunday :)
We'll be back on North Island next week so it really is dawning on me that I only have 5 1/2 weeks left...but thats great because i'm going to see Mum in a month!!
As you can see we are all alive, ever active and having plenty of fun so no worries xxxxxxxxxx

( Check out the crazy horse thing )