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