9th September, 2001. Kia Ora from Ote Aurua, the land of the long white cloud.

I'd heard alot about New Zealand before I came here and had high expectations and so far they have been exceeded. Steve from Leeds, who we met in Fiji, famously said, 'if I meet one more bloody kiwi that tells me what a beautiful country New Zealand is I'll punch him!' Well I'll tell you what, Steve, they are right its not bad here!

Following a few days of sightseeing and watching rugby and football (with the Germans!) in Auckland we moved on to the far North, The Bay of Islands and Cape Rienga. We saw where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasmin Sea and then went sandboarding down a 75 metre dune which was very steep and a real thrill. The highlight for me was Nick managing to come flying off, in his own true style, hurting himself quite badly. Those of you that know him well will not find this hard to imagine! We then drove the bus back down 90 mile beach and watched the police helicopters spraying chemicals over the cannabis farms.

We've since moved on to Whitianga and Rotorua and yesterday was spent visiting giant geysers followed by an evening at the tamaki Mauri village experience which was fantastic. Tomorrow we're up at 6am (ouch!) to hike the Tongaria crossing (7 hours approx) which is supposed to be spectacular - volcanoes,geysers, mountains etc

24th September, 2001

The last 2 weeks on the Kiwi bus have been unbelievable, and we haven't had any time to update you on much. But if i can remember any of it through my alcohol induced fog, I will try now. Way back in Auckland, we got on the Kiwi experience bus, and 2 weeks later we woke up in Dunedin. That pretty much covers it. I can't remember the last mail I sent, so you will have to excuse me if I repeat myself.

First job on the bus was to assess the bird options. It is not a full bus, but there are a few candidates, so its not all bad. Our first night out of Auckland we spend in a Spa pool with 2 Swedish girls, and a Canadian girl, not the worst start eh?

Next it was off to Rotorua, a town built on a volcano (very clever !), where Rich is stalked by Rachel, a fairly attractive, but seriously fucked up English bird. Rich states that since he's been travelling, he has become a bird magnet, and can afford to turn down offers put on a plate for him.
I'll give you a minute to recover from howls of laughter....

OK, His ego trip comes down to earth a little, when he discovers that Mark (more handsome and a lot younger than Rich) tried it on with his blonde bird from Fiji! Rich is confident that nothing happened though.

Next day we try out our adventure boots, as we take on the 17km Tarango crossing. We think it's a walk, but it turns out to be a proper mountain climb. Amazingly we are both still alive, and did complete the 8 hour trek. We have photos (Rich on his back totally fucked) to prove it. The next day is totally different. I am first up in a place called river valley. In New Zealand, this place is called "The end of the world", which as it turns out is a very appropriate place to be this morning as the owner shows me the Reuters web site. I wander upstairs and tell a dorm of 30 people what has happened in the states. Rich's comments are "well this is
probably the last place to be blown up, so stop worrying ".

After a week on the bus, people are starting to pair off, and options are drying up, but there is hope with the arrival of new fish on the south island. Rich may have told you this already in a pissed up e-mail, but after a couple of days in the south island, he increased his lead to 2, however with the new fish now on the bus, one being a 21 year old blonde from Stourbridge (Wolves fan Tim!), the scores may be closer than he knows.

But as you know, I am not one to tell tales about our activities down under. Come to think about it I wouldn't tell you what's gone on in New Zealand and Australia either Ha Ha !

Good news from home is that my sister has had a little girl called Charlie, and in a bizarre turn of events, so has Rich!