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EZY MARK 2

And a few bits and bobs inbetween

13.11.2006 sunny 23 °C

What a last 10 days we have had.
We left you in Rotorua pondering the lax level of car driving in this fair isle and have since progressed north to seek sun and sand.
We departed the sulphorous Rotorua and journeyed to the Coromandel Penninsula which was roughly 100km further North. We made it as far as Paeroa's Northern border when the weather closed in and forced us to make camp for the night. We picked a nice little campsite with the usual smattering of Ducks and hens and settled down to some packet soup and an episode or two of ER (we have watched all of seasons 1-3!) At around 1am the wind started to pick up and our little van was battered for three hours as the tempramental New Zealand Spring threw all it could muster at the region.
Awakening bleary eyed we decided to sack off the Coromandel and head instead to Hamilton which is the 4th largest city in New Zealand. T'was ok, shops and Cafes and some hhhuge Gardens which was all sorts of designs from different countries. We also went round the Zoo and annoyed the various animals. Unfortunately, both the above activities were blighted by bad weather and on both days we had to retire early as we were both sodden.
Leaving Hamilton on Saturday we decided to call our campervan rental co as there were several problems with the van and we were so close to Auckland that we could take it to their depot if needed. To cut to the chase, we managed to swap our grotty, smelly , faulty van for a spiffing new one complete with blacked out windows and electrics that worked! We then drove up to North land (the part of the north island above Auckland) where we have had tip top weather (we managed to sit outside the van until 7.30pm last night!) and cold gin and tonics! We are currently in Paihia which is a small tourist town in the bay of islands and are debating wether or not to swim with dolphins.. other than that, we are just chilling out!
We have rebooked our flight to Melbourne (now leave Auckland on 1st Dec) and have scrapped together some sort of plan for the rest of our trip with new dates for our onward flights to Bangkok and Delhi. Thats pretty much it for now folks... Hope to hear some comments from you lazy asses (Not our parents!) so get writing!

love

Pollyali

x

Posted by pollyali 3:39 PM Archived in Round the World | New Zealand

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Comments

here, a comment! oooh you really have to swim with dolphins. grr im green with envy. glad you're having a fabulous time in your swanky pollyalimobile. Oh and thanks for the postcard! just got it yesterday. will show it to phil when he gets back from sunning himself in thailand. bye for now you too , laura

14.11.2006 by McChewitt

Busy doing Loz's room have not stopped sneezing since but it is now at least hygienic!!He should be home this weekend if he's been a good boy.Phil got there ok says it's very different from anything he's expierienced before ,I can imagine!Meanwhile us old fogies plod on, as usual,getting drunk and partying all night!Hope your weather stays good.ttfn Mamma P.

14.11.2006 by red1

It sounds like you are having a magic time, enjoy every bit of it!! I'm sat here tryng to avoid doing my first bit of work towards my dissertation and wishing I was in your place instead. Going to jordie land next week to visit Stevens granparents and start the crimbo shopping, can't wait! Have fun, take care Love Loo xx

14.11.2006 by u01ley3

Hi you too. As the winter gets colder here, I can imagine you are sooo glad to go to Oz for the summer! How jealous are we! Nothing much to report this end. Got company from Edinburgh this weekend and will probably consume a fair amount of the old vino. Seeing the registrar on Sat to get everything sorted for the wedding, only 5 months away now!
Keep having fun and take care. Love Sara and David xx

14.11.2006 by Buzzybee83

hi polly and ali

we are all very jealous of your exploits and wish we were there. I am missing you loads Polly and am working much harder to do my emails etc lol. Glad you are having a good time xxx David

15.11.2006 by dmflorimer

Yo yo yo !! Hows things going sounds brill apart from the weather.... not that is much better over here. You'll be glad to here that l have handed in my notice and leave on the 24th Nov WOOHOO !! the Polly withdrawal symptoms were just to much hahar !! So going to be a lady of leisure & chill for a bit just working at the restaurant till after xmas then will be back working full-time. Also may be moving in to my own house in the next few days if all goes well as my mum & dad have given me my marchin orders as they want their 2 bed bungalow... charmin!! So when you return from your fair travels you will have to come and visit so i can repay you for the times that l crashed at yours. Can't think of anything else to write as i'm crap at this kind of thing so over 'n' out .... type soon. Mish xxx

16.11.2006 by Mish82

We are home from the most amazing Birthday treat. Venice was just as beautiful as I remembered and I hope I never loose the pictures I have stored in my head. Rome was awesome, the Forum, the Colusseum and the prices. I was worried about the cost of food in Venice but compared to the rip offs we encountered in Rome it was cheap!
We had all sorts of problems getting the train ticket to Venice from Rome. We had paid for it back here as part of the package and I pointed out to the agent in Grimsby I did not think the flimsy piece of paper was a ticket but after 2 calls they confirmed it was. NO IT WASN'T. We could not change it in Rome. To cut a long story short, after numerous call to the UK we were told we could pick out ticket up on Sunday 12th from the station............They had only booked the wrong train! So we decided to go down to the station ourselves and change it. IT WORKED or so we thought. Ist class rail, 13th November, seats 56 57. Wait for it, someone was sitting in our seats. Dave politely asked them to move but they had a ticket with the same number seat. HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN? Well dave and I travelled illegally. (there is a fine on the spot for that). Our ticket had only been issued for the 12th and we had no way of getting it sorted as we were due in Venice that night and this was the last train directdue to leave any second. I cried and Dave told me to grow up and sit down. I sat on the edge of my seat in first class until a very kind man who spoke the language sorted it for us and we stayed put albeit in different seats......with me worrying all the time that at any stop I would have to move.

We arived safely back last night after being delayed because of the fog. As we got on the bus to the carpark I made the mistake of saying to Dave I hope the car starts!!!!!!!! YES you've guessed.......the battery was flat.......someone had left a courtesy light on in the car. No lights, no power, Zilcho!!!! I did not cry, I laughed.

18.11.2006 by Davydawn

Continuing: (I ran out of space in the wee box). A very, very nice man at NCP managed to get us started an hour later. They provided me with free coffee in the reception and plenty of sympathetic noises. I sat and did my SUDOKO from Weds Daily Mail whilst Davey was out in the wind and the wet.

So I guess I don't really have much to tell you!!
I miss you and love you loads. Please take care of each other.
Love Mumxxx

18.11.2006 by Davydawn

Thanks for the choccy!!!!!!!! We collected the package from the post office yesterday. Thankyou Polly's mum for sending it on.......do I owe you the postage? hi hi hi!

Mumxxxxxx

19.11.2006 by Davydawn

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