Lazy man's blog

I'm sure all of you who read my blog have missed my regular updates. I have been busy over the last ten days or so; there's too much of interest going on, and we don't have enough time in New Zealand to see everything at the same relaxed speed we did in Australia.

New Zealand is known by the Maoris as the 'land of the long white cloud'. This could be why:Although 'land of the long black cloud' is almost as appropriate at some times.

Since I last wrote to you, I have:

• Gone back to Sydney where I met up with my friend Mary for lunch.
• Sat in a plane on the tarmac at Sydney airport for two and a half hours until thunderstorms in the area subsided and we could take off.
• Arrived in Auckland at midnight for the above reason.
• Spent four nights in Taupo, next to Lake Taupo.
• Walked the 18km long Tongariro crossing. It is a spectacular walk, between volcanic rocks, mountains from the Lord of the Rings film, volcanic craters, woods and forests.
• Seen steaming sulphurous streams, bubbling pools of mud and geysers in the volcanic area of Rotorua. One of the geysers is artificially set off by putting soap flakes into the ground. These affect the surface tension of the water in the ground and cause the geyser to erupt.
• Thrown myself down a hill in an inflatable ball with a bucket of water in it. This peculiar 'sport' is called zorbing, and is great fun!
• Watched England win two cricket matches on New Zealand TV. On the second night, there were about 15 English people watching at various points, with only the hardcore eight staying until it finished at 1:30am.
• Been kayaking on Lake Taupo.
• Seen the Huka Falls at Lake Taupo.
• Visited my friends Sara and Matt in Wellington.
• Caught the ferry to the South Island.
• Seen some whales and dolphins just off Kaikoura. What an amazing trip! Saw some seals too.
• Marvelled at some 'quirky signs' in Bulls. The toilets were 'reliev-a-Bull', and the town hall was 'soci-a-Bull'! Hilarious.
• Tasted some wines in the Marlborough area. They do some very good pinots noirs.
  

And now I'm in Christchurch. It is a very pleasant town. The cathedral and the school are quite nice, but everything here is copied from the UK. All the street names have a UK reference, and the buildings are nice but not quite as nice as Oxford or Cambridge. You can't even punt your own vessel - there is a gondolier to do it for you...!