We stayed in a place called J's backpackers run by a lovely Kiwi lady called Fi. Iit had a great atmosphere and was just like being in someones house. It was just over the road from the famous Hamilton Gardens, which we spent the afternoon walking around. There were feature gardens from all over the world to explore and take photos of. It was really good for us to just chill out and a real novelty not to have to sqeeze into soggy wetsuits!!

We actually cooked our own dinner tonight at the hostel - pasta bake with fresh tomatoes - it was good, but to you guys probably sounds boring as hell. However, compared with the other backpackers this was a luxury meal - it's true nearly everyone eats noodles!! We have made a joint decision that we are not going to be living on noodles, and although our budget seemed tight before we got here, compared with what other travellers are living on we are really lucky!! We may even treat ourselves to a decent hotel every couple of weeks . . .

It was funny, as Torsten (one of the German guys from the surf tour) turned up coincidentally at this hostel too, so we gave him some of our pasta too and left him half the bag and some cheese, which he seemed pleased about! We sat and had a few beers whilst chatting to him for the evening and then I went to the toilet and the new chatterbox James had started talking to two other people in the hostel. One girl was from Ireland and was here for her 4th time and trying to get residency here (she really reminded me of Nina!!) and the other was her Kiwi friend. Everyone is so friendly and they all want to give you tips on where to go - you really don't need the lonely planet guides - word of mouth is so much better and for a change I'm not doing much of the talking, so James is our guide!!

Hamilton is a quiet place, despite being one of the biggest inland cities and a great place to stop for a night just to chill out, collect your thoughts and plan the next few stops. We needed this and both really enjoyed it!