When we got up this morning we rang Sean again and we got talking to Aoife and Kathleen as they were all up there for his birthday. We laughed as Fiachra asked to speak to Shane and Lorraine and they were gone

When we got up this morning we decided to stay another night since it was so quiet here and we would get loads of the blog written up on the laptop and start sorting the rest of our stuff out too. Fiachra went and paid the owner again for another night.

Later the owner came over to go up into the

We slept in a bit this morning and only had time for quick showers before the 10am check out time. We then went to the kitchen area and met Neil again. While making breakfast, the owner came in and told us

We weren’t sure where to go today but we met Neil and Dave again and they were planning on driving to Cape Reinga at the northern tip of New Zealand and coming back to stay in the hostel outside Pukenui. It sounded

This morning we took a stroll down town to discover a country and rock music festival was taking place. There was a huge crowed around, country music was blaring from the erected speakers and there

We were leaving Whitianga today and since we had done a good bit of research on the internet looking for a new laptop we had decided to go to Auckland and call into PBTech as they had a brilliant deal on a Toshiba. We were glad we were

Today when we got up we decided to continue with all the exercise we had been doing and hired some bikes from the hostel. We cycled out of the hostel and turned left to cycle alongside Buffalo Beach. We had travelled about 3km out

After breakfast we decided to make use of the free kayaks the hostel offers. We put on some clothes that we didn’t mind getting wet and then loaded the double kayak onto the little

Today we decided to take another chance on the Coromandel Peninsula as the weather was terrible the last time we drove there. We packed up, had a bit of breakfast and set off on the long drive to Whitianga on the east coast of the Coromandel.

A few hours later we reached

We were up early this morning since we had to be up at the Waitomo Adventtures office for nine. When we got there, there were three other coupes going on the Tumu Tumu Toobing Adventure. Our guides Dean and Lewis joked

We woke up this morning to discover it was a beautiful day, perfect for jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet! At first Fiachra had wished it was cloudy for an excuse not to do the jump but when he saw the glorious day he changed

Fiachra was up early to check the weather but it was very cloudy. He rang Skydive Taupo but all jumps were cancelled for the day, so he put his name down for ten o’ clock the next morning. He said he had trouble

Aoife’s last day! We drove out to the Airport and Aoife went and checked in. We went upstairs then and grabbed a bit of breakfast. Fiachra was recognised by a couple of English people as being

Being Aoife’s last full day, we took it easy. We got the bus into town, strolled along Queen Street doing some window shopping and Aoife had to get a few bits of stuff before she went home. We then went for lunch in

Today we took a drive to Mount Eden or Maungawhau in Maori. The views from here were excellent. We walked around the crater but didn’t venture down as it is highly ‘tapu’ (sacred) to the Maori people.

From here we drove across the Auckland Harbour Bridge to

After breakfast this morning we went for a drive along the scenic Tamaki Drive, which curls along the east coast from Auckland City to Achilles Point. We started at Achilles Point. The lookout here offered great views of the city and Rangitoto and

Today we didn’t really do anything. I think we were all just wrecked from the last few days with some long drivers. Later we went up the road to go on the internet for awhile but we didn’t stay to long as it was a crap place with really slow connection.

We then went and done a shop to last us for

When we got up this morning we were surprised that the smell didn’t seem as bad. But by the time we were checking out it was worse again and we assumed that it must get worse as the day goes on. As we left “Rotten-rua” our little name for the place, no prizes

Today we left Taupo and Fiachra declared that we may have to come back as he was seriously considering doing a skydive. As we got nearer to Rotorua we could taste the sulphur rich air and unfortunately every breath we took we had to agree with so many before us in the sense that it reminded us of a horrible eggy odour, it was disgusting. We ended up

Chelmswood Motel is situated about 3 km outside the town centre of Taupo and Aoife decided to go walking into town to the internet cafe and when Fiachra and I were ready we would follow. The weather was a bit crappy today so Fiachra was glad that he hadn’t booked to do his skydive.

As we set off to walk to town, we

Today we were going to go to New Plymouth but after a few hours driving we decided to go straight to Taupo instead. On our way to Taupo we passed through Tongariro National Park and got to see

When we were all ready today we went into Wellington City. When we got the car parked up we went for a walk along the quay and the wharf. It was really refreshing but the wing would nearly blow you away and we now understood the nickname of Windy Welly!

We then decide to go into

This morning we went on the internet for awhile before we had to make our way to Picton to catch the ferry at twenty five past two to Wellington. The ferry journey took about three hours and it

After we checked out we drove out to the lads house to say goodbye. We knew Barney was working at the pool but we guessed Munchkin was still in bed and it after eleven! We knocked on the door a few times but there was no movement. We just left a note with the remains of Aoife’s cake out the front door thanking them for everything.

We just spent the whole day in the car and by about half eight that night we had arrived back in Kaikoura. We had made arrangements to stay in the Bay Cottages again and I picked up some chips to go with the left over chilli con carne while the others didn’t want chilli so got some burgers instead. Fiachra went and booked us on the ferry to the North Island and then we all just enjoyed our food on front of the TV.

Lots of love

Fi & Fi, xox

Today was another write off as we were still recovering from Aoife’s birthday celebrations. We all just kinda hung around for the day and Fiachra and I done all our washing. Later Fiachra and I went

We were all wrecked today so everyone had a good lie on. Aoife went down to the internet later to put up the photos from last night while Fiachra and I just chilled out in the room.

Later Fiachra went and got us a

Got up early this morning and started breakfast and instructed Aoife to get into the shower as she probably wouldn’t have time after. It was brilliant because she hadn’t a clue what was going on and seemed very excited! We were too and we just hoped

As it hadn’t being easy the last few days to get away from Aoife to organise some stuff for her birthday we just told her that we needed to go off on our own. I’m sure she suspected we were up to something. She had said to us a few days previous

We drove out to Munchkin about twelve, Barney was working. We stayed here chatting for awhile before he gave us directions to the Warehouse out in Frankton. We went out there then as Fiachra needed to look for some new runners. He did find a pair he liked but

We were only able to eat about half of the cottage pie last night so we decided to bring the rest with us; however this meant we had to ‘borrow’ the casserole dish! God we are awful…

We drove north and arrived in Queenstown at about twelve o’ clock. We went

We left Dunedin this morning and headed for Invercargill on the South coast of New Zealand. We took the scenic route through the Catlins region. It was a beautiful drive along the coast at times and at others through sloping farmland or rugged mountains. We stopped off at

Today was Easter Sunday and we were all looking forward to eating our easter eggs that Fiachra and Aoife had bought while doing the shopping last night. After breakfast this morning we took a drive out to Baldwin Street. This street is famous because it

We left Christchurch this morning, our destination being Dunedin on the Southeast coast. Before we left though, we stopped into the city centre and went for a walk around the Cathedral and the Square. It was a beautiful morning and the city centre is

After we got up this morning, Fiachra and I went for a drive, while Aoife sat out back of motel enjoying the sunshine. We headed east for about ten minutes through a tunnel and arrived in the harbour town of Lyttleton. From here we took the Summers Road and drove out to

We headed out for a drive to Akaroa today. The town is about one and a half hours from Christchurch and has a huge French Influence. The French landed here in the 1800 but returned to France to gather

Today Aoife and I went to the hairdressers while Fiachra took a walk into town. We priced the first place but both agreed we didn’t really like the look of it. The second was much nicer however and the girls were lovely. With a

This morning we left Hanmer Springs and arrived in Christchurch one and a half hours later. We went to the internet cafe on Gloucester Street to look for accommodation for the next four days here. We couldn’t really find anything so we went to

This morning we got up and Fiachra and I went to the game shed for a table tennis competition. It was great fun, but after the first set, which I won, I accidentally stood on the ball and squashed it. We had to play the next set with the spare ball which had a slight

After brekkie this morning we went into town to use the internet to book accommodation in our destination for today, Hanmer Springs. We booked a cabin in the Hanmer River Accommodation Village about 7kms outside the village. We left Kaikoura about eleven and on the way

This morning Fiachra and I got up early and met Graeme at half eight. We were going crayfishing with him in his small aluminium boat. We drove down to the pier and Graeme reversed the boat into the water. We hopped in and he took us

We were supposed to be going whale watching this morning but when we arrived at the ‘Whale-way Station’, that’s the head office of Whale Watch Kaikoura, the electronic board behind the desk said that our sailing , the 11:45, was cancelled because the whales

We left Westport on the Northwest coast of the South Island and headed east inland, our destination Kaikoura on the east coast. Soon enough we came to Buller Gorge, 14kms outside the small town of Murchison. There is a rope swing bridge

Aoife started off the day by telling Fiachra one of the tyres looked very flat. He walked around and around the car, kicking the tyres but didn’t notice anything wrong. It was only later on in the car that Fiachra copped it was an April fool’s joke!

We got up this morning and decided to do the half day hike on Franz Josef Glacier. Fiachra rang up to book it but there was after being a power cut in town and as the computers weren’t working we couldn’t book. It was now that we started to discuss doing a

This morning we packed up and went out to Munchkin’s place and got him out of bed! We made a bit of breakfast there and watched some TV. We gave Munchkin a lift out to Frankton and drove off with Franz Josef Glacier being our destination. We passed through Wanaka and Haast, where

Today we woke up dying! Munchkin made some poached eggs for himself and Aoife while Fiachra and I had noodles. Munchkin walked home, I don’t know how he did it! We went back to bed in the afternoon and I slept for about two hours while Fiachra sat up reading.

Later on we went to the shop and bought a cooked chicken. It was the perfect dinner for three people who were still badly hung-over! As we were leaving tomorrow we had on early night tonight.

 

Lots of love

Fi & Fi, xox

Yesterday was Munchkin’s birthday so we decided to meet up with the lads for a few pints later that evening. We took a walk into town and stopped off in the Queenstown Gardens as we could hear music from the road. There was a DJ playing some Reggae and there was a crowd just sitting

We woke up this morning to the sound of lashing rain. Today is the worst weather we’ve had since landing in New Zealand. We decided we wouldn’t do much today, the perfect day for catching up on the blog. We spent about four hours in the internet cafe and went back to the apartment and relaxed for the evening.

 

Lots of love

Fi & Fi, xox

This morning we decided to do the Kawarau jet boat. After breakfast we took a walk into town to get the boat. On the way in we met an old friend of Fiachra’s from primary school,

This morning we tried to decide what we’d do for the next few days. While looking at the horse-riding leaflet we noticed there was a two hour ride available, starting at two o’ clock. So we rang up and booked in for the