Kia Ora

The view from the walkway under the Auckland Harbour Bridge... not quite the Sydney
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Once more, for people who read this sentence, the blog is only in note form to be updated very soon! It takes a long time don't you know! Much of it will not make much sense and therefore you are advised to wait until it has been finished before continuing. Much love to all and all that..... SWEET!

Arrive Auckland, NZ. Surf and Snow backpackers 1^st night, internet for van search, went for amazing fish and chips at Brooklyn Bar. Went for walk to find escape and came across Basebackpackers. Woman couldn’t understand a thing Andy was saying so Adam had to speak.

Auckland skyline
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Move to Base, sort campervan out, last 3 went in 20mins so got lucky, spent 3 hours writing up the last edition of the blog. Asian food court! So much choice!!!

3 hours blogging!

Kiwi experience day tour, harbour bridge walk (nothing like Sydney!), Devonport for lunch (Adam free lunch) and then Ice cream before heading back to Base. Back at base in evening for Pub Quiz, ‘Am I bovered?!. Won pub quiz then Charlie won raffle so NZ$150 free drinks. Very drunk. Andy in lock in for more free drinks with barman and people.

Captain Jones
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Early morning start (10am) for SailNZ. Americas cup boats, went out in perfect conditions, 15knots. On way back from sailing got hit by the Lynx Effect!

Day of reckoning!! Picking up the campervan. Got there early and Escape offered us the ‘Batmobile’…. No hesitation! Adam won coin toss, off to the Paihia, Bay of Islands! BBQ us up! Steak Baguettes. Spads pleasure/pain swung more in his favour as he destroyed Andy at cards.

Drive to Cape Reinga, Northern most point of NZ. Stop off on the way for NZ’s best fish and chips at Mongonui. Went out to the lighthouse where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. Sand boarding on the way back down, Adam stacked it big style! Almost ran out of fuel as the only petrol station in the northern most tip of the Cape was ‘Out Of Order’. Just about made it 50km to the next station. Headed back to Paihia along windy road. Rock up in Car park.

At the helm
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Late to rise, minced about on the internet before ‘The Rock’ cruise. Overnight boat cruise around the Bay at 4pm. Got onto boat with some miserable Scotsmen in our room and a Malaysian. Got talking to Scots, turn out not to be miserable but a good laugh! Had a shooting competition before fishing (Adam didn’t catch anything again!) then onto dinner. After dinner went night kayaking with the phosphorescent plankton (glows when it fears it’s being attacked). Got back on the boat and went for a VERY cold swim. Played Asshole (card game) with Scots before heading to bed with the loudest snoring room you could possibly imagine. Little sleep happened.

33m of Americas Cup boat sail
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Still on ‘The Rock’, went snorkling and free diving for mussels. Cut hands up. Kayaking out to the beach and through caves and lunch. Got back to mainland, Adam went to bed after dinner (steak sandwiches!) Andy went out and got drunk!

Big drive to Taupo, went straight to I-site (information) and booked Sky Diving. Then went and weighed Andy (max 100kilos)… too much mass!! Adam explained to Andy the best techniques for rapid weight loss. Sweat sleep/run/drive and no drinking/eating.

Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere
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Weigh in, just made it on initial scales, got to Sky dive site for final weigh! 98kilos easy! Got very excited and then were the first flight up. Strapped to Tandem diver went up to 12000ft and dropped a few people. Rose to 15000ft, doors open, smile and gone!!!! AMAZING!!! Through clouds in excess of 200km/hr. Sky divers brought Adam and Andy together at 3000ft for a ‘which way’s the beach?!’

Went back got ready in a sports centre then bought bubbly pre-lash. Night out for Amy’s friend’s B’day. Lots of lash.

Classic
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Woke up, ticket in window, drove to the toilets, killed battery. Went to Aratiatia Falls and then Huka falls + rapids.

Night time very tired quiz.

Tongariro crossing, 7hour walk with no food and no water! Andy not happy! Took just under 6 hours of non-stop trekking. Immense pain! Drive to Rotorua, famous for smelling like eggy farts/geothermal activity. After visit to I-site, got busted for trying to smuggle an extra person onto the campsite. Sleep!

Booked/went white water rafting, highest commercially rafted waterfall worldwide, 7m. Stayed at cactus jacks and made awesome meal. watched hitch, finally did some laundry and slept.

Outside the "World's Best" fish and chip shop... they were exceedingly good
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Hell’s Gate, famous for Geothermal activity, stunk of rotten eggs. The walk around brought us across Baby Adam, striking resemblance to not so baby Adam! Adam was given a lesson in carving. After Hell’s Gate went Zorbing in a double washing machine. Drove to Gisbourne through Bay of Plenty and almost ran out of fuel for the second time. Petrol Station closed but the woman in the shop next door opened it up and fueled us up. What we didn’t realise at the time is that she forgot to put back Gieves’ (the new nickname for the Batmobile) butt-plug (known to many as fuel cap). Upon arriving in Gisbourne went to Captain Morgans burger bar before heading up the coast to find a spot to camp in order to watch the sunrise the following morning. Gisbourne is the first city in the world to see sunrise each morning.

The Batmobile!
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6am rise but sunrise was awful, too much cloud and therefore only one photo. Drove to Napier, not much to do or see but on the way to Wellington. Midway to Napier, Adam still hadn‘t had his “7 o’clock“ so had to stop on roadside up mountains, bending down every time a car drove past. Funny photos. Went for a Mongolian BBQ before getting lost trying to find a free campsite.

Big drive to Wellington, went to Lower Hutt to camp/shower/re-charge all batteries. Tried to smuggle Andy in for free but as it turned out didn’t matter anyway. Same price.

Which way's the beach?
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Went into Wellington, up the cable car, around the Botanical Gardens (wrong time of year), and around Te Papa museum. Enjoyable museum. Dominoes for dinner before driving round trying to find another coastal spot to camp for free.

Chocolate Fish café for breakfast (cafe to the Lord of the Ring stars) after becoming stuck in gravel in the Bat mobile (wings not currently working).

End of……