<William> We've now bought ourselves a car (Honda Integra '85) and camping kit and we're on the road touring NZ.

Unfortunately after blazing sunshine in Auckland when we were running around trying to find a car the weather has turned abismal and we're a bit lost for things to do as the visibility is so low from all the constant rain at times we can't even see the scenery! The squeky windscreen wiper and lack of car radio has driven us close to insanity too!

We did get a nice day in the Bay of Islands where we took a boat cruise and walked round and island. It's amazing how much nicer the place looks when the sun is out! When the sun is shining you have to be really careful of sunburn because of the hole in the ozone layer. Only 30 mins in the sun on a not very hot day can give you nasty burns, so we're careful to cover up even when it's cold & cloudy.

We've met up with a friend from work (Richard) and we're staying with him for a couple of days so we're not camping in the rain for the moment. It's a bit difficult to find things to do in the rain as most things worth doing are outdoor activities, so we've just been working our way through the duty-free spirits and we're cooking up a big roast dinner tonight.

NZ's a great place to do a road trip though - every few miles there's a picnic stop or lookout or walk with amazing scenery from rolling green grassy hills to thick forests with tree ferns and the massive kauri gum trees, to sand dunes like mountains hundreds of feet high which you can go dune-boarding down.

We're at the northernmost part of the north island at the moment and we'll be spending the next couple of weeks working our way south to Wellington where we catch the ferry to the south island.

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