After a cancelled flight and then a rescheduled flight 4 hours later
we eventually made it to Auckland late on Thursday night. We spent
Friday morning shopping for warm and waterproof clothes which we found
fairly successfully without spending too much and without adding too
much bulk to our luggage.

Yesterday afternoon we picked up our new home for the next month (see
piccy) from Escape Rentals who are really nice and easy going – isn’t
it lovely!! Photos of the inside to come so be patient, but so far
it’s great!

We spent Friday night in Port Waikatu, on the West coast an hour South
of Auckland. The campsites here are amazing – they have communal
kitchens and TV lounges etc. which is great because we only have one
gas ring which is a bit tricky to cook a meal on.

Today we woke up on our 1st wedding anniversary to open our envelope
from Clare & Andy – lots of lovely US dollars to spend – thank you
so much!! And thanks for the e-card too – who said it wouldn’t last?!

Jen then drove us East through gorgeous landscapes to Rotorua in
Central-ish North Island which is a hugely geothermal area – we will
explore more tomorrow.

Tonight we are treating ourselves to a nice meal with a lovely Bring
Your Own bottle of Pinot Noir – thank you very much Judith & David!!

Love to all xxx