Surfs up dude!

Yes, believe it or not that is me surfing at Raglan during a surfing lesson. I was very lucky in that the course normally has 5 people but I was the only pupil and so got 1 to 1 tuition from an america lady called Katie. After only 2 hours of teaching I was up and surfing


One of the bays at Raglan, where I surfed, and probably Sham as well when he was here.

Raglan was a lovely little town, quiet at the moment but a bit of a surfing hot spot in the season.

We've now driven south from Raglan along some gravel roads to Waitomo where we are waiting to go caving tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

General update: We have a new box of wine, the key for the van is looking abit dodgy, battery 50% Kates reading 'Cider House Rules' and my insect bites have stopped itching.



This picture was taken at the thermal spar's, behind it was an extremly hot stream!

Rotorua

The Devils Bath


A boiling bath of sulphur, Kate thought it was me making the smells


Kate on a beach


The devils arse mud pools that go plop

Our trip this past few days has taken us from the Coromandel coast which its pretty bays and coastal walks to the thermal hot spot that is Rotorua. We arrived yesterday at Wai-o-tapu, where we looked at the volcanic steaming pits and then onto the thermal spare which gets its water from a 98 degree C source. Relaxing in the pool was such a drain. Today we had a walk up Rainbow mountain to take in the view and then we drove to Raglan on the west coast which is a quiet sea side town.

General updates are as follows: Kate now has a map to navigate with, I thought it wise after the free tourist leaflets we had picked up were pretty poor. We have finished our first box of wine (mainly my fault). We have managed to watch 2 of the provided DVDs in the van, The Bat and House on Haunted Hill. My legs have been bitten to bits by flying nasties although we have now invested in some bug spray. The laptop battery is about 80% charged but we have yet to find a van based charging solution, although the van can hardly cope with the cooling fridge. I'm about 60% through Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, which is a take on the original with some additional zombie types.

Love to all and Happy Birthday Jonathan.

Tim and Kate

Camper van life

Campervan life - complete with kitchen and terrace!

Hello from New Zealand

Yesterday we began our road trip - first stop the Coromandal peninsula. We spend last night in a tiny campsite right next to the beach and today we've been to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. You're supposed to be able to dig a hole in the sand at Hot Water Beach and it fills with...er...hot water, unsurprisingly enough, from the geothermal activity deep underground. Except it doesn't work too well if you've only got one Frisbee between two people to dig with!

Bryce Canyon

Zion National Park

The latest photos from Zion National Park. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, we're on our way back to San Francisco. Kate has a surprise install for me for tomorrow, not sure what it is...

I'm sure she will write more words on the next post which will be about Bryce Canyon which has been the best so far, see the following as a taster:

Las Vegas baby YEAH!

Kate won $90, Tim lost $20, thats $70 profit!

Yosemite National Park

Sequioa National Park

Leaving Springfield with a brief first stop in San Francisco

Oregon, we've been made very welcome!

Rose's from the Portland Test Garden