So we left San Fran on the 10th Jan and arrived in New Zealand on the 12th - kind of weird! It was so lovely to get to a hot country after the weather was so poor in the States and to top it off the hotel we booked into for the first two nights was amazing! We were a million miles away from backpacking at this stage! It was like a suite that we had and the hugest bathroom I've ever seen in a hotel - excellent! We definitely made the most of this luxury! We spent alot of time walking around Auckland city, as we were based right in amongst everything. It's a really cool place and the Harbour is a great area for good food and a few drinks after walking around in the hot sun. After two nights and days here we picked up our rental car (14th) a beautiful Nissan Primera - quality motor! We may even get one in place of the TT when we get home! Then we collected the box of my stuff that Karl couriered over for me (thanks again mate!!) and it was like all my Christmas' had come at once!! Now I felt like I could relax and get on with this trip properly.

We had to meet the other guys that were going on the surf tour at the Harbour just after we'd picked the car up so we drove down there and basked in the sun for a while until everyone turned up. We had a great group of people (three Germans - Julia, Heike and Torsten, three Swedish girls - Linnea x 2 & Lotti, then a British guy - Lee and an American - Donovan). The last two guys surfed but the others didn't so we were all learners, apart from James of course, as I'm sure most of you know he is a Norfolk Pro!

We drove 5 hours to get to where we were staying, with our first surf en-route and we couldn't believe it when we arrived - it was absolute paradise! The house we were staying in overlooked the start of 90 mile beach. We literally stepped out of the patio doors to the garden and you could walk straight down onto the beach. It turned out that the best surf wasn't at this particular beach, but we were so lucky as there was a huge swell whilst we were there and we drove 5 minutes down the road to Shipwreck Point (our first point break experience!) and surfed waves that the local surfers were even really excited about, apparently they were one in one hundred waves! Very lucky, although being learners it was hard work!! Fun though and we've both got the bruises and sun burn to show for it ;-)

The whole 5 days we were there were fantastic and although we're tired now I don't think we'd have changed a thing - well maybe a few . . . .

We're back in Auckland now just for one night and were really lucky to get a hostel as it's 'The Big Day Out' this weekend and we hadn't realised! Although, when I say lucky we've got a single bed to share off of a dorm so not quite the experience we had in the luxury hotel when we first arrived, although we're both so shattered that I don't think it will matter . . . we've just had a few beers and a Thai meal, so are probably just about ready to hit the sack, as we've got an early start tomorrow. We're planning to drop the hire car back and then get a bus to Hamilton (just South of Auckland) for a night before heading to Whale Bay to catch up with Heike (a lovely German girl that we met on the Surf tour).

We'll write again soon and will hopefully be a bit more interesting, as we'll be less tired - have to go now as James is falling asleep beside me and I haven't the energy to carry him home!! ;-)