Hi Bloggets,

Here we are in stinky Rotorua (hot springs & sulphur mainly responsible for the stink.....give or take the odd great unwashed backpacker!). So, here's what we've been up to the last few days.....

We started on Thursday on our "Stray" bus tour of the North Island. Our driver was "Dinnis" (Dennis to you & me), who was very new, rather disorganised, but a nice Mauri guy nonetheless. Our bus could barely get up the hills, and on several occasions we were almost overtaken by middle aged cyclists..... it really was that bad! In fact, on one occasion smoke started coming up through the floor vent at the back of the bus. The diagnosis eventually was that it's OK, the bus isn't on fire....it's probably just exhaust fumes!!!! Oh.....so that's OK then - we won't burn to death, we'll just die of Carbon Monoxide poisoning instead.... "it's all good"! Not quite Moses and the burning bush but more Dennis and the burning bus.....!!

Anyway, our first stop was Hahei Beach - a beautiful beach in the Coromandel Range. We saw lovely stars at night, went for a lovely walk to Cathedral Cove, a very pretty beach with an arch of stone in the middle. The next day was onto Raglan, a surf town on the west coast. It has the best left hand break in the world!! We stayed in a secluded lodge in the hills, very peaceful and laid back. We stayed there two nights so we could change our bus. The buses go most days and so you can choose how long you stay in each stop.

Yesterday we went to Waitomo Caves, a vast area of limestone caves. We went on a sedate cave trip and saw thousands of glow worms as we went through in total darkness on a raft. It looked a lot like the night sky. The guide was really interesting and great at explaining the local scenery and cave system. However, he was a boy racer minibus driver and by the end we both felt the effects of the really winding roads.

Rotorua is interesting, with lots of steaming, bubbling geysers. We went to a traditional Mauri village this morning where there was a Mauri concert complete with a huka. We were given corn on the cob and steamed puddings all cooked in the hot springs.....lovely. This evening we are going to a Polynesian spa to relax and chill out. Tomorrow we head down to Taupo, where we will stay with Jeannette for 3 nights ( a lady that Linda met at church who was visiting Cheltenham).

The scenery is so vast, with rambling hills and mountains. We are told the south island is infinitely more stunning. The north island is so pretty, so I guess we are in for a real treat. There are sheep everywhere, about 40 million in fact (but only 4 million people on these lovely islands).

Thats all for now, 'loving your work, sweet as' (our new expressions from NZ)

love from Penny & Linda

Hi all,

sorry it's been a few days since last we blogged - been settling in and sorting out our lives here in Auckland! We're staying with a lovely, lovely friend called Lisa - hubby Ryan away on business at the mo' so we haven't got to see him :-(

So, having virtually bought Auck out of fleeces (and a raincoat each!) we're now ready to depart tomorrow morning on our North Island bus pass with "Stray". We've also booked our campervan for the South Island - a luxury(!) 4 berth so that at least we have our own beds and might then survive 3+ weeks together in a small space!! However, as the weather's definitely getting colder, we probably could have done with the extra body warmth of sharing a bed! Ooh er missus!! ;-) ... praise the Lord for hotwater bottles!

We've just been up the highest sky tower in the southern hemisphere - Kim you'd have loved the glass panels in the floor to look through!! We've been up quite a few of these now, so maybe we'll call it a day on skytowers - although it does help us to orientate ourselves around a city.

The first stop on our Stray pass is "Hot Water Beach", so we're hoping it lives up to its name, given the autumn feel here. Glad to hear you're having an English heatwave - guess we're getting our just desserts having had 10+ weeks of hot weather.

Will keep you posted as/when we next get to a computer - looking forward to discovering NZ at a leisurely pace (with woolly hats, hot water bottles and fleecy PJ's..... the latter of which we've already rushed out & bought....brrrrrrr) ...... it's probably not that cold really, it just feels it to us after all those weeks of sweating & complaining that we're too hot in 35C+...........can't win, eh?

Anyway, time to go book a ferry and a train (it's hard work, this travelling lark).... so til next time, bye for now - can't use G'day cobbers anymore, so need a new catchphrase......answers on a postcard to....................

Byeeeeeeee love from Penny & Linda xx

Hi Bloggers,

well, here we are on our last day in Sydney, and in Oz. We fly out at 7.10am (urgh) arriving in New Zealand at lunch time, ready for our next 6 week leg of the journey.

We've had a great few days in Sydney, and have stayed with a really lovely couple who have made us feel so welcomed and at home - thanks SO MUCH to Gus & Jen. So, what have we done whilst we've been here? We've seen the Opera House, walked over the Harbour Bridge, strolled through the Botanical Gardens, had lunch by the harbour at Circular Quay. One day we headed out to Katoomba to the Blue Mountains, took a trolley trip around the area, walked down to the spectacular Three Sisters rocks, had cups of tea and fancy cakes and almost felt like we were back home for a bit!

We also spent quite a lot of time trying to sort out flights, tours in S America, bus and camper van travel in NZ etc etc etc....we're very thankful for the extensive use of Gus & Jen's broadband... and then went to Manly Beach (where all the locals go to hang out, surf etc...leaving Bondi Beach for the tourists) which was lovely. Today we went over to Darling Harbour and spent an enthralled few hours at the Aquarium.....the largest in the world, and very impressive. Our favourite moments there were watching a giant stingray from a viewing tunnel, which was incredible, and sitting on some steps watching a huge array of fish, including sharks, rays etc swimming around a HUGE tank whilst lovely music played in the background. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

So, now we're almost packed and ready to go, so this is just to update you a bit on the last few days. Hopefully we'll both get to post some highlights and low lights of Oz over the next week, but in a nutshell it's been a fantastic, varied and wonderful time.

Hope you're all well, and we look forward to the next blog encounters soon.

G'day cobbers, now over to the Kiwis.....

lots of love, Penny & Linda x ;-)

Hi All

Its been a while and so here is an update on what we have been up to the last few days. We had a good few days in Melbourne last week, taking it easy as we both were feeling a little under the weather. On the Monday we went to my Auntie Marjorie and Uncle Arthur for lunch. It was lovely to catch up with them as I have not seen them for a little while. It was also great to have a home cooked meal! The rest of the time in Melbourne consisted of some sight seeing to the Art Gallery, Cathedrals and the Botanical Gardens as well as spending more time with my family. We spent Maundy Thursday evening at a Passover meal and service at my cousins church. It was great to do this especially as we spent Easter in the out back, far away from a church!!

Last Friday we headed off for a weekend camping in the out back with my cousins and families. We travelled 800km in 2 days (didn't cover that much distance on the map as this place is so huge!). We headed for a place just north of Mildura called Lake Mungo. A bit deceptive as it was not a lake at all, it had dried up about 18000 years ago!! This place has a lot of history as there is evidence of man living here some 60000 years ago. It was such a vast place that shows how big this country is with big sand dunes in one bit and a lunar type landscape in another. The landscape is quite barren in places and very interesting. We also did a fair bit of Kangaroo & Emu spotting and it was good to see them just wandering around in the wild. As well as spotting kangaroos we ate some Skippy steaks-they were quite nice! In the evenings it was lovely to look out at the star filled sky and see so many more stars and galaxies than you would see in the city, truly memorable. It has been great to spend time with my Australian family and meet some new members. Thank you to you all for your kindness, a great time camping and for looking after us .

We returned from the out back on Monday and are now in Sydney having a great time seeing the sights. We'll update you soon.

With love from Penny (& Linda too) xx

Hi all,

mega quick, but some more photos now on Flickr. Check 'em out! Happy Easter to you all, we're just off to a passover meal then off camping bright and early tomorrow til Monday, so we won't be in contact now again probably until Wednesday after we've arrived in Sydney.

Lots of love, P & L xx

Hi Folks,

just a quick one to let you know we're in Melbourne, staying at a FANTASTIC two bed appartment (thanks to Pen's Ozzie family) really near central M'ne, with a health suite etc which is just soooo lovely after backpacker land (especially after our nightmare experience on Magnetic Island). We're thinking of claiming squatters rights........!!

Neither Pen or I feel 100% at the moment, but at least we've chosen a really comfy place to feel a bit icky (colds etc). We're off to a Passover meal on Thurs evening at Alison's church (Penny's cousin) and then off camping into the bush over the weekend - looking forward to it).

Anyway, will write more soon, with some photos onto flickr soon.... we promise!

Bye for now. Love from Linda xx (& Pen too, of course)