photo's from the last few days

hello all, we've got a computer that we can put pics on with so here's the photo's from when we left kaikoura to arriving in taupo.

the drive from kaikoura to picton (where we caught the ferry) was one of the most scenic. on one side you had snow capped mountains and on the other, beautiful coastline.

this is the cable car we took up to the botanical gardens in wellington.

on saturday on the way to taupo we drove past mt. ruapehu, which is next to mt. doom where we did the tongariro crossing.

our driver told us that there was a lahar (massive mud / water flow) due because of the build up of the water in one of the crater lakes. he said it could reach the road we were on and could cause a lot of damage.

we thought nothing of it but today we found out that on sunday the mud flow broke through the volcanic wall on top of mt. ruapehu's crater lake and millions of gallons of acidic water and mud washed away 130 feet of wall.

in 1953 a lahar from the same volcano killed 151 people. luckily no one was hurt this time.

this is the infamous huka falls. in reply to percy... our driver said peter plumley-walker's last words were "f*cking hell how much is this going to cost?"

tonight is our third and final night in taupo, there's nothing to tell you about really, the clocks went back an hour at weekend and the weather has been pretty crap. we're off to auckland tomorrow for our last two nights. it's strange to think that we are going to be home this weekend... remember no one tell jack if you see him!

we hope your all about for drinks on saturday, it's most probably going to be in the royal scot as usual. we'll let you know a time in a few days. no doubt we'll be in touch with most of you soon after being home. percy when do you get back from uni?

well we'll be back online tomorrow to waste the 4 dollars credit we have at 'global gossip' so look out for an exciting action packed post!

x x x

kaikoura to taupo

hello everyone, we hope you have a good st. patricks day and jack we are glad that sophie does love you.

so anyway, we left kaikoura and caught a ferry over to wellington. we had one full day in wellington so we wandered around the city, took the old cable car up to the botanic gardens and went to the te papa museum.

we've got pictures of the cable car etc but can't put them on right now.

the te papa is the national museum and is massive! it's really good and quite hands on... a bit like eureka near leeds. we spent hours in there, there is so much to see.

this morning we set off for taupo. stopped at huka falls on the way, which both beautiful and impressive.... and has quite an interesting story to it.... gc and percy you'll like this one. this isn't for little eyes.

the falls is where international cricket umpire peter plumley-walker met his end. peter, a well respected and prim and proper man, had an unusual fetish for being strangled by a dominatrix for sexual pleasure. one day he used the services of such a lady and during the act he dropped to the floor. the woman rang her fiancee asking what to do with the body of such a famous person. he suggested the huka falls, where it had been said a body could disappear into deep underwater caves. they travelled from auckland to the falls to dispose of the body, the plan worked and the body dissapeared. but about a week later peter was found in the water with his wrists and ankles bound, the police suspected a not so normal death. a post mortem revealed that peter had in fact drowned to death... he was still alive when they threw him in!

our driver told us that one...

anyway, we're in taupo now for 3 nights before heading up to auckland for 2 nights... our last stop! we'll try and post photo's soon.

see you next weekend! x x x

lake tekapo to kaikoura

hello all,

since leaving lake tekapo we spent two nights in christchurch and are now on our third night in kaikoura.

christchurch was a fairly pretty city but there isn't all that much to do there. we went down to the markets and had a look round the botanical gardens and that was pretty much it. it was still nice though.

we also got to see a replay of the united - boro game in a sports bar with a 10m squared screen.... HUGE!

after leaving christchurch we made our way to kaikoura. we will have stayed 3 nights in total, and really thats a bit too long to spend here. it's a tiny place and the only things to do are eat fish and chips and go out on boat trips to see the wildlife.

that brings us to today.... we swam with dolphins!!! it was incredible. we couldn't get any pictures of us in the water with the dolphins as we were too busy having an amazing time to get out and take pictures of each other.

it was so amazing because the dolphins were wild and in their own habitat. there was so many of them too... we're talking 100's.

the dolphins we swam with are called dusky dolphins, and are meant to be a lot more cheeky and playful than some others and are nicknamed the acrobats of the sea. it was great to see them doing flips and jumps in the water like you'd see in seaworld... but in the wild.

we could probably talk about the dolphins all day, and probably will do when we get back. it was an amazing experience and one of our favourite from the whole trip.

tomorrow we catch the ferry back over the the north island and stay in wellington for two nights. we might try and find the football club where kel used to play and discover if he really is as bad as everyone at home makes out.

we'll be back in touch soon... and back home too! x x x