Zorbing

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a great time over Christmas, and have recovered from the excess eating and drinking that goes with it! I had a wonderful time in Gisborne with Toni and her family. The sun was shining on Christmas day, and we had a bar-b-q rather than ye olde Christmas Turkey! We were swimming in the sea come boxing day, and New Year was spent on the beach and in an Irish theme pub! Loads of Tonis' friends came to stay with us over New Year, and it was great to catch up with them, I met most of them in the U.K. last year.

We are living in a city called Gisborne, which is the first place in the world to see the sun, and with that comes the bonus of being among the first people in the world to see in the New Year - awesome!

After the New year celebrations, we joined Anna (Kiwi) and Rob (Pom), in a trip along the East Coast up to a very smelly Rotorua (sulphur from the themals smells just like rotten eggs!) While there we visited Whakarewarewa (that's the short version!) thermal village. This was a really interesting place, a living village surrounded by geyzers and mud pools! We watched a cultural performance, and I managed to get on stage and try the Haka, the traditional Maori War challenge!! Anyone who knows me will know that I couldn't keep a straight face,and I can't imagine what I looked like sticking my tongue out to look 'angry'!! Rob managed to secretly record it in video, so watch this space - Jake, are you suitably impressed?!!

We then went along to the Buried village of Te Wairoa where, in June 1886, the eighth wonder of the world - the Pink and White Terraces - were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Tarawera. It is now the site of an open air museum, and the home of Te Wairoa falls.

Zorbing

The next day we decided to go Zorbing - yes, Zorbing! I'd not heard of this before, and I'm sure I wasn't alone. For the ignorant, imagine being soaked by a bucket of cold water and pushed down a hill in something that closely resembles a plastic hamster ball. Great fun!!

We left Rob and Anna in Rotorua and went on to find refuge around lake Taupo. According to our new bible, the Rough Guide to New Zealand, this lake was created when a massive volcano erupted. 'Ash was ejected so high into the atmosphere that it was carried around the world, enabling historians to pinpoint the date of the eruption as 186 AD - when the Chinese noted a blackening of the sky and Romans recorded that the heavens turned blood-red'.

We saw the new James Bond film, which we both really enjoyed, after having a picnic by the lake and exploring the countryside, then crept back 007-like into the campsite after realising there was a curfew - living life on the edge!

Back resting in Gissy - we're off to 'Booze, Blues and Bar-b-q's' in Tauranga later on in the week, which sounds like a great day out!

All the best,

Owen and Toni