And so . . . . . . . .

Since the last blog we've headed onto Lake Taupo, Rotorua, Waitomi Caves and the Bay of Islands. We particularly enjoyed the caving where we drifted through underwater caverns on a rubber ring looking at the glow worms.

Rotorua was a nice stop and the thermal pools were great. The public parks within the town actually have smoking pools of boiling mud and water.

The Bay of Islands were a nice finish to the travels as the weather was amazingly perfect. Extremely hot and hot enough for us to go snorkelling in the ice cold waters. Unfortunately the visibility wasn't great (a few meters at best) so we didn't see a lot, but it certainly spooked Nikki!

The final excursion was saved 'til last. It was to be one of the best one of the trip as we had been told by many people that swimming with the dolphins was the best thing they'd done. The day was great and we found a pod of over 50 dolphins playing around the boat, however there were several babies so we couldn't go in with them. So dissappointing. Maybe we'll do it in Australia (the water is so much warmer as well), and maybe we'll finally see those Manta Rays as well!!!

We are on our final few days of Auckland where we will be flying to Sydney. Our original itinery included a flight to Hong Kong via Sydney then on home, however we have amended the itinery to include another stop in sydney. We are planning to get some work and earn back some of the money spent. Wow, time to start working again. I just hope I haven't forgotten how to!