S'later Palmy!!

So...this is it! 18 months in this wonderful country... and tomorrow morning I'm heading back to good old Europe. Phil will stay here for a bit longer and will take up the blog again. Thanks heaps guys for the most amazing farewell present ever, I hope we meet again somewhere, some time in the future. NZ rocks!

The Lost Gipsy Gallery

Ok, this is one of the funniest things we've seen in New Zealand (and thanks again to the Lonely Planet guide...): The Lost Gypsy Gallery. This guy (who is a surfer, by the way) works in a bus that is filled with gadgets he's made himself out of junk and recycling items. Everything is wind or solar powered and made out of...well, anything he's been finding around!! We spent hours playing with the toys and having a look around the garden where all his best creations are on display.

Tunnel Beach

Tunnel Beach, a new place we discovered in our recent visit to the South Island, is just two kilometres south of Dunedin. The place got its name because of a passage that was carved years ago through a rock to give access to a sheltered beach at the base of the cliffs. The walk to the beach is an easy one hour return- although there's quite a bit of a climb involved on the way back to the carpark.

The views on the way are spectacular, and once at the beach we had a lot of fun trying to climb up the huge rocks there.

Climbing up Mt. Ngauruhoe

The team (from left to right): Rayon, Phil, Mishi, Jose & Sylvia

Con Rito y Milita en la Isla Norte

First day in the Coromandel

After a maori performance in Whakarewarewa

Relaxing in some hot pools near Taupo

Looking for Paua...

Getting ready for a day looking for Paua at Flat Point. (Both of us together with Jackson, Mishi and Beata)

Riversdale, awesome spot to chill out after a morning in the water

Biggest ice cream ever in Masterton, on our way home

The Paua with some garlic, ginger and a little bit of pepper...soo good!

Best spot to camp out ever!!

trying our brand new BBQ on the beach...somewhere north of Wainui

6:30 sunrise

I'm on a boat!

We went on a boat cruise around Gisborne's harbour, on one of the oldest boats in town!! It had been recently restored, and the guys in charge were a couple of old men who were very happy to show us the best spots around and tell us about the place. The weather was brilliant, so we had a very good time...couldn't see any dolphins though :-(

Gisborne

The Cook Landing Site Historic Reserve on Gisborne's seafront marks the place where Captain James Cook first set foot on New Zealand soil in October 1769. This little guy in the picture is Nick Young, the son of the surgeon, he was the first one to see land.

Gisborne is the first city in New Zealand to see the sun every day.

My Delirium

Some more kiwi music for you to enjoy. This is Ladyhawke, who grew up in a town not far from Palmy. She won six awards at the New Zealand Music Awards last week, including album and sigle of the year. I love this song, and the video is fantastic. Hope you like it!

Postcards from around the World

To all those people who sent us postcards from every corner of the planet: THANK YOU!!
Thanks to you guys, we now have postcards from all five continents!!! Hopefully we'll get to vist all those places one day... ;-)

Massey University Student Association Awards

Winners of the MUSA 2009 award for Outstanding Contribution of the Year

Congratulations Phil and Ed!!

Bye bye snow season!

Sunday 20th Sept at Turoa Ski field