Well we spent the whole morning cleaning like demented dogs trying to make some sense of the whole house ready for Joy and Spit. They turned up in the afternoon in there lovely big new Landrover looking very regal! after a multitude of hugs and kisses we spent the afternoon drinking and generally being loud and obnoxious...

I drove us all into Tauranga! yep my first drive trip since having my eyes done and we made it in alive - bonus. Joy wanted to get a couple of things and i needed some new earrings. Sorry Clare but mine have finally fallen apart after wearing them solidly for a year and a half.

First stop was at the Warehouse where we also said goodbye to Toby, he was popping into work for a few hours. The rest of us did a small shop then headed into town and straight to a silver shop. i purchased some lovely new drop earrings and Joy bought some silver hoops, she nearly went for the banana looking ones that Spit said he liked - oops a spanner in the works. Joy had a little problem ( very similar to my mum) of not being able to make a decision, relying on others input to the whole affair. In the end it was on the decision of a flipped coin but she then couldn't decide which side of the coin she would have as heads................ very funny.

We dropped some films in to be developed and went for a coffee and a few more hours of mooching mostly in camping shops. Joy and Spit will be traveling around in BFD for a while so need stove and pans etc whilst looking for somewhere to live. After all that excitement we went to Pak n Save and bought some steak and salad for dinner then picked up Toby and went home. Had the tastiest dinner lovingly prepared by Joy and Spit then settled down to some drinking and a fantastic new series called 'Dark Angel' i was the only one left watching it though as everyone else pleaded exhaustion.

Headed off for Rotorua for the day so that we could all go Luging after a heafty Fat Dog B'fast . We left early but decided to visit a thermal park first after remembering about the famous geysers (Lady Knox) was going to shoot off at 10.15am. We raced to the park and bought some tickets and got ourselves prepared with cameras ready to watch the spectacle.

Well after the show host had shoved a bag of washing powder in the hole........................ seems it breaks down the water surface tension bla bla. It did shoot 20metres into the air and we got some great shots but it only lasted a few minutes. The rest of the park was cracking and much better than the other one in town, well worth the visit. By the time we made it to the Fat Dog it was lunch time so Joy and I had a proper lunch whilst the boys had there cooked b'fast. We then all went Luging, we had 5 runs each and managed a couple of goes on the advanced track - absolutely brilliant!! Joy was taking the 'caution' factor very seriously whilst the rest of us whizzed down like demented monkeys!! I must admit i was a lot faster than my previous time on the Luge.

We then went to a 3D wooden maze which is something i wanted to do for ages, i just love mazes. It looked pretty easy from the map............ famous last words! There were 2 different entrances, hard and easy, so of course we took the hard option. We all went at it gun ho, but soon realised it was going to be a hard task..... It all got a bit competitive at the end, seeing as the boys split up from the girls. But my mate Joy who seemed to be the only one to find the way out successfully came back to get me so that we could exit at the same time leaving the boys to wander around for another 15mins, now that's a mate for you! Toby was starting to feel pretty ill by now, we think it might be the Yellow Fever jabs we had? Drove home and had pasta for dinner and another early night.

Toby went to work and Joy and I went down the pool, yep it had been 2 weeks since my eye job which meant i could go swimming again. I didn't do to badly considering and really enjoyed the feeling of exercising again, Joy did really well and seemed to enjoy it. After a shower and B'fast they followed me down to a local garage so that they could put BFD in for a Service whilst warranted. They had a leak for the last few days which looked like the break fluid so had to get that done before hitting the road. I then prepared a curry for dinner whilst Spit did all the vacuming and we all did our own thing for the rest of the day. I caught up on some diary and they sorted out a route around the North Island. Sue popped around for an hour to say hi and had a glass of Vino with me, she had a look at the double bed and wanted to buy it - wehey! something else gone. Sue and Ross have invited us around for dinner on the 9th which is bloody nice of them, so i hope Joy and Spit are still around....

Had a lovely Curry for dinner with plenty of red wine and good company.

We got up early as we had a man coming around from the second hand shop to give us a price for all our stuff, not worth the journey as he offered us a stupid amount of money. We then all went and had a game of golf in Waihi which was very funny as always. Toby managed to hit every tree on the course whilst Spit did really well, Joy, bless her did quite well seeing as it was her first time. It was then pancake time and feeding the eels before going home and i made homemade burgers for dinner. Had a call from Sally saying and we made arrangements to meet up again in the Bay of Islands which should be cool

Toby still not well with another dose of dioreah....... what is wrong with his tummy?

Raining once again so we decided to go down to see the Katikati Museum........ we have been here 9months and have avoided seeing it as it looked so cheesy but seeing as the weather was so bad we gave it a go. We were welcomed by an elderly lady who owned the place and who new everything there was to know on the local area and personally took us around some of the museum showing us all her camera and slide collection. It actually was very interesting and was like the tardist, it just kept getting bigger! it looked quite small on the outside but was huge inside, every time we thought it would finish we would go into another room. It was still raining when we came out so decided on going to the Morton Winery where i had already been with my family when they were over. We had a great hour being entertained by a very knowledgeable man who was just fantastic especially as he gave us a 10% discount on the bottles we bought. Still raining so we went down the pub for a couple of games of pool and some wedges then went home. Joy had offered to make a roast dinner so it was all very exciting for us, and definitely worth the wait. The dinner was fandabbydosey and went very very well with our newly purchased vino

Well the happy couple are making tracks today which is a bit sad for us but we have made arrangements to meet up again with them very soon once we hit the road. I went swimming so said goodbye leaving them to drop Toby into work for the day. I did really well down the pool considering my big break so was chuffed with myself, now i'll have to start running again....... oh no

I spent the day packing up bits and pieces and boxing up the picture ready to send home. Put up a little notice next door in the rest home about selling our furniture.

Toby came home with a very sexy new hair dooo and i cooked a very unsexy dinner that even the birds wouldn't eat the left overs.

Oh it's getting all exciting now as we are starting to get things organised, still have had no response from the advert we put down on the Woolworth's notice board regarding our furniture for sale........

Spent the day sorting out clothes and repacking our backpacks realising i still have too much shite to take with me, but have already taken quite a bit down the Op Shop. Toby thinks i'm panicking too early but i know what it's like, he didn't do any of the house stuff last time and i want to get it all sold and out of the way. I did try and pack a couple of things in our 'sending home boxes' but Toby made me take them all back out again because he said it they were much too heavy, oh well can't get away with that one....... didn't write my will as i hoped today, Joy and Spit photocopied a couple for us as i think we should have Wills incase something happens to us. Don't think Toby is that keen as he doesn't like to thinking about things like that which is why i have life insurance and he doesn't!

Still haven't had any interest in the furniture....

Made another strange dinner but i did drink the bottle of Red from the Morton Estate which made it palatable.

Went for a swim then did my diary which took a little while. Radhe (Yoga lady) came around with her friend to have a look at some of our stuff but only wanted the ironing board.

We then went up to Ross and Sue's for dinner and she did a wonderful roast pork dinner, one of there own little piggies though......... lots of wine and good laughs as always (meri and Barry were there too) Sue asked if i would help with painting the bedroom so i said I would lend a hand.

Didn't go for a swim which was shite of me but i did get to Sue's place early and spent the whole day painting, it was really hard work as the paint was really thick.

Sue and Ross came and picked us up at 6pm and took us to the RSA club for some dinner to say thanks for helping with the decorating which was sweet.

Went for my last swim as the pool was closing for the season. I then went over to Sue's house and spent the day painting again. This time it was better as we got to do the colour which was a lovely purple and much more fun, also had some bolly which added to the painting expertise. had a great time, when we got home Toby went to Tauranga to see Andy and to do some shopping as our cupboards were bare again. I spent the next few hours moving all our furniture into the lounge ready for a garage sale we had sorted out for the morning. Toby had noticed that a house up the road was having a big sale on, so he asked if he could stick a little sign up in there garden telling people we had one in our place, the cheek of it!

He had more nerves than me though................

A family of Indians phoned up and insisted on coming around to see what we had for sale but i said to come in the morning but they weren't having any of it and came and had a look.

Can't believe it, we had people coming around at 8am to start having a rummage through all our stuff! I even put in all the things i was going to take down the OP shop thinking no-one would want to buy it, how wrong could i be. We were left with the things we thought would be snapped up and sold all the crappy stuff, how weird can people be? We had a steady stream of people up until lunch time which was good, seems Toby's plan worked. Now we have to keep our fingers crossed about the advert going in the Baytrader on Wednesday. Well the afternoon was spent just hanging around the house just incase we had a late shower, a few came round but weren't interested.

Toby spent the afternoon on the phone talking to various people regarding flights etc, seems good ole Trailfinders are going to be the saviours of the day again as they seem to answer all question there and then and are the cheapest, a lot of the travel agents he phoned just didn't have a clue about anything and quoted ridiculous prices. Liz, Chewies wife was really helpful but still couldn't come up with a price equal to TF so Toby took the plunge and bought the next leg of our journey. Seems a bit strange but have to fly to Brisbane before going to Fiji and have to get a return ticket to Brisbane.........mmmmmm

Now we are really having to watch the money as the rest of the tickets had to be paid off and have left us with a lot less money than hoped, we are not even shore if we can make it all the way but we will try. I think this leg of the journey is going to be a lot harder because of the money situation but i will be a good test of strength..

Didn't do a lot today but pack and repack my bag and sort out all other bits and pieces.

Went to meet up with Joy and Spit to go for a walk at the Gorge but half way there we got a call from them saying the road was closed and couldn't get through. Change of plan, we met them in Whangamata and had a coffee then for a stroll along the beach which felt good after being in the house for a few days. They came back to our place for the night and were invited along with us to Kathy and Daves house for dinner. It is Daves B'day next week but people were busy so Kathy decided to do a dinner for him a week early. And what a fab meal it was! lovely lamb and veggies and lots of wine, my favourite. Joy and Spit had a good time and we all ate well seeing as there was no food in the house....... even managed to sale the bike to David which was great.

Yet another journey to Auckland, must admit i'm a little sick of it now. Said goodbye to Joy and Spit as they were off the the Coromandel's they we took the bike and my drift wood sculpture of the DAve and Kathy's house. Drove up to Auckland a few hours before my appointment so that we could look around some travel shops, found a brilliant sale in Katmandu which had 50% off of most things including a fab light weight tent which we put behind the cash desk so that we could have a look around for some more around town. We couldn't find any that were that cheap and light so went back to Katmandu and also bought a new wash bag and a couple of clothes packs. Really good deal on the tent which we will be using for the rest of our journey it was $800 down to $400 !

It was then time for my eye appointment which was at 4pm so we rushed off to the surgery only to be told by Dr Ring that my eye (left one) was far too dry to be able to establish how the eye had progressed. He did a little paper test thing which he seemed quite shocked at, the blotting paper didn't even get wet so he decided to put a collagen pin in my tear duct to stop any fluid draining away, problem is that i don't seem to be producing any fluid, he's not had to do that to anyone before which is a worry...... So it was another wasted journey and the worrying thing is he wants to see me another 2-3 times before leaving the country. He says i still have astigmatism and slight short sightedness in my left eye still which i didn't want to hear.

Going to cock up all our travel plans though, so Toby was very pissed off all the way back home. I can understand him being annoyed but i feel the same way but i have to walk around with fussy eyes all the time which isn't nice.

Toby worked on his computer all day and refused to talk to me, as he is still uptight with me. The only thing that cheered him up was a lady who came around to look at the Queen bed instantly said she would have it, and said she would take the single bed and mirror and two chairs. How bloody good is that, just the rug and tv now.

We helped drop the stuff round her house which was a lovely place down the road and had loads of land etc for the same price as ours.

So it's our first night on the floor on our blow up beds - great. Toby stayed up till late doing some work for Liquid and i think managed to say 4 words to me in the whole day.

Didn't sleep well at all!! i suppose we have to get used to it all again though.

I took the rug down the shop i had bought it from and he is going to sell it for us and put the money in our account - seems a nice bloke and he was from the UK so he can't be too bad. Toby sorted out our tax stuff by taking it down the accountants in Kati to sort out - saves us getting muddled with all the illegible paperwork. Managed to get Toby to say about 7 words to me today in between his working on the laptop which is better than yesterday.

Went around Meri and Barry's for a wonderful dinner, there were 8 of us all together including Jo (there daughter) who is really very nice. I played with the dog Toby who also joined us and i ended up with slobber all over me.

Meri cried when we left which got me all upset but we have arranged for her to come over on Friday to have a look at our TV, seems she is interested!

Another crappy night on the airbed, oh well i'm sure we will get used to it.

Meri and Jo and Barry came over at 11am so that Jo could collect the cupboards and table, Meri said she would have to TV and will pay the money into our account when she can - fantastic that means it's all gone!

We said we will drop the TV off on Sunday so that we can still watch it over the weekend, otherwise it would mean we have to have a conversation - new concept. Did manage to watch Doctor Doolittle! one of my favourite films.

Mum phoned to tell me all had gone well with the operation and was now home which was a relief.

Went down the Post Office to send our parcels and my picture back home that once again pissed Toby off no end as it cost $290 so that means he will be in yet another grumpy mood for the whole day and sit in the spare room doing his Liquid work. I went into Tauranga to get all our medical supplies and a little bit of food, just a salad in fact. Didn't want to spend anything as i new it would just make him worse but it all came to another $200 just for plasters and insects stuff etc....

Had a another quiet evening in watching the TV on our airbeds, drinking Milo and constantly putting drops in my eyes.

Toby spent the day trying to finish the web site whilst i started cleaning, oh why are ovens so awful to clean? Toby started helping in the afternoon whilst i tried to make some sort of curry for dinner using the now defrosted meat we had - turned out alright but an never buying cheap beef again. I did manage time to watch some of the Easter TV stuff, all of it for the kids which was great. Now we have really been strict on chucking things out but seem to still have too much crap, don't think we will be sleeping in the back of Bertie anymore what with the food boxes, quilt, pillows, backpacks, etc. Watched a brilliant Steven Spielberg 2 part film thing before hitting the airbeds again - god they are so uncomfortable!

Well today is the day!!!! we got up early and finished packing all our stuff, the weather was blinkin awful and had flooded everywhere. We went and dropped the TV over the Meri and Barry and said our goodbyes with lots of hugs and kisses, also dropped in the kettle for Lesley. Bertie was packed to the hilt with everything so it looks like we will be using the tent after all, i just hope the retched rain stops soon. Freda gave us lots of hugs and was really sad to see us go, said we were the best tenants she had ever had, can't say i'm surprised, we are pretty darned great! Well we said goodbye to the house and got on the road about 10.30am and drove straight to Lake Taupo to meet up with Phil and Liz. They were on holiday for a week and were staying in Liz's parents holiday home near the lake for a few days and asked if we wanted to come and play with them for a couple of day, how nice is that. We met them in a pub and then stayed there all afternoon drinking and watching some Rugby. Liz left early to meet up with her mum and dad to have a good ole yarn, they were also staying that night in the holiday house. Us 3 went back later that evening and sat by the fire for an hour having a chat with Liz's parents whom were really nice.

Phil ordered a taxi to a lovely restaurant in town which did the most delicious food and wine but was quite pricey which wasn't usually a problem when we had money coming in but we now had to be really careful, mind you it was worth every penny. Phil paid for us all which was very very kind, I hope he didn't feel obliged because he the knew the situation but we will take them out to dinner or pay them back, i'll just feel really guilty if we didn't.

The parents went home after dinner and we went onto a pub for a cracking couple of games of table football and a pint then caught a taxi home. I was really excited because i was sleeping in a bed again and could wait to get in it.

Happy birthday mum!!!!!

Took me a while to get to sleep because my back is really bad again just lately but when i did go out i slipped into a warm coma for the whole night - bliss. Seems Phil had spent a lot of the night puking is guts up again, we seem to have that affect on him! We think it was probably the very rare Venison he had for dinner, maybe a bit too rare for his little tummy. Had some left over cold curry for b'fast which we had bought with us whilst Mr Jones went out for a really long walk. Parents had already gone home earlier. We all sat around for a couple of hours then decided to clean out the hotpool which was full of slime and leaves ready for a hot spa for the evening. Toby and the other 2 went out to watch a damn open or something whilst i caught up with my diary. I am beginning to really worry about my eyes now as they are still so dry, i can see it in the mirror when the light hits them they are all pitted.... i don't know if it's worth going to see Dr Ring on Tuedsay again as they are too dry for him to go any further, it is a worry.

We then went into Taupo for a game of crazy golf which i was very crap at... ......Liz and Phil did really well. It was then time for a beer and for Phil to have a go at the hole in one challenge on the sea front. This basically meant whacking the golf ball onto a little island out at sea, if you got a hole in one then you win $5,000. He did really well and hit the island quite a few times but didn't get the dosh.

I cooked dinner that evening then spent the evening was spent playing cards and drinking beer.

Had a wonderful nights sleep!

Toby cooked a wonderful b'fast and i let in the local cat who we had named thumbs due the enormous thumbs he had. He was also the most laid back and loving cat i have had the pleasure to meet. So he had lots of cuddles from Toby and I all morning whilst Phil and Liz went out for the day.

Had a great dinner of fish and chips then played cards all evening and that silly game, putting bits of paper on peoples foreheads and them guessing what is written on it. It was all very hysterical and got very messy, specially after the amount of vodka that was consumed.

Well no more of this lazing around malarkey, it's time to hit the road again and do some proper camping. After our goodbyes we headed onto Napier which we had been through before but only quickly and in the rain. This time it was glorious sunshine which made the place look completely different. We parked up and went and had some lunch then sat on the beach for an hour soaking up the sun and throwing stones at Toby.

Toby suggested camping at Waikromoana up in the mountains next to a lake. He also said it would take about an hour and a halfs drive to get there........ 3 hours later and in the dark we arrived at this lake and pitched our tent up in the rain and freezing cold. I phoned mum to say hello and find out how her birthday went then i cooked us a stir fry and went to bed.

I didn't get a wink of sleep all night thanks to the uncomfortable airbed, the cold and the rain. We did however have a lovely b'fast sitting in the sun on a wooden veranda overlooking the lake whilst chatting to a lovely couple.

After packing up the tent we hit the road about 10am and headed towards Gisborne. We were tempted to do some walking but the wind was bitter so thought better of it..... We stopped of in lovely Gisborne for some lunch then went onto Te Puia with the idea of having a lovely hot dip in the evening to warm our bones but when we arrived it didn't seem to have a campsite so we drove onto the next little town and parked up on the beach whilst thinking what we should do for the night.Toby was keen on setting up the tent on the beach but the amount of sand flys now covering the windscreen put us off the idea. I had read in the Lonely Planet that there was a backpackers in the vicinity so i said we should ask if we could camp in there garden or something. So we found the little road that took us to the bp and couldn't believe the road, it seems you couldn't get to the place unless you had 4wheel drive which we luckily did. The road ran along the coast and we had to drive over boulders and huge wide gullies filled with water, the last river was actually very big and we couldn't judge the depth so i offered to have a look. Well Toby said we should just go for it whilst i kept envisioning us trapped in the car and being swept off to sea which is where the river ran to. So i said i would walk across. Toby at this point just drove over with the ease of a sea snake leaving me trapped on the other side, so i went of to find a thin part part of the clay ridden river only to find myself stepping into clay quicksand up to my knees!!!! I had to drag myself onto the nearest boulder whilst Toby stood watching for the other side as dry as a bone..........So he reversed back and wouldn't let me back in Bertie so i had to hold onto the back for dear life whilst he traversed the river again and make his way up the mountain to find this elusive place. On the way we were followed by horses that seemed to roam the place freely. We did come across a man called Jimmy who was driving a group of people up to the house as they had to abandon the car the other side of the river. He told us to follow him up the track then showed us a place to camp for the night and asked us up for a coffee at the house. We couldn't get the car up the muddy slope even after putting planks of wood under the wheels so we gave up and parked up down in another part whilst setting the tent up on this lovely grassy veranda over looking the sea. I went up to the house following a track through the woods past a pen housing a pig and 2 large ducks. The house was set in the middle of the forest surrounded by vegetables and was completely self sufficient. They had an outside long drop toilet and a generator for electricity, how fantastic! The Lodge that was built next door for backpackers was full for the night which is why we were camping but we didn't mind in the least. The other travelers came up for a coffee and joined me in the kitchen with Anne who lived there for half an hour having a chat and getting warm from the heat of the aga. Toby popped up a little later and the others went back to the lodge whilst we carried on chatting to Anne who was extremely nice and just made you feel so welcome and at home. We arranged to go horse riding the next day on a couple of her 14 horses that roamed freely around the area. We then went back to the tent and cooked some pasta in the dark and went to bed. Didn't sleep a wink once again...

I got up at 6ish and watched the sun come up over the sea and listening to all the birds in the trees - wonderful. We then packed up the tent and headed up to the house and for a 2 hr horse trek. We first went and helped to catch the horses which were stood on the side of the hill over looking the sea and stunning coastline, absolutely stunning. I had a very easy going if not rather large horse whilst Toby had a frisky chestnut horse. Anne also owned this huge ginormous horse who followed us back to the house, he had cross of something else which eludes me now but looked a little like a shire horse and was a beauty. Anyway we were saddled up and lifted up onto our rides, we were being taken out by a young girl called Sam who was a really good rider. Well we rode out all along the coast line and onto the beach where we went for a trot and a canter, something i had never done before. Toby and done horse riding when he was a kid so i thought he would be really good at it but when we started trotting he was all over the place! I tried doing it like Sam did and found a lot more comfortable. We then went for a canter and i absolutely loved it, i just grabbed the main and stood up on the feet things and belted along the sand.

It was then time to take the horses back to base which meant they went a lot faster - not stupid are they...

We had a quick coffee and said our goodbyes then hit the road again to HIcks bay to a really quiet campsite and an early night.

What a surprise, another night without sleep..

I got up really early and headed of to the beach for a walk leaving Toby in bed, i only got half way when i heard little footsteps behind me, i turned around and saw little Jones running up behind me with a big grin on his face. So we had a walk along the beach together, how romantic.

We packed up once again and drove to Whakatane as we fancied going to see white island. So after setting up the tent in a campsite just outside the town centre Toby phoned up and booked us 2 places of the boat out the next morning. We both then went into town and went to the cinema to watch Dreamcatcher which wasn't as bad as i had heard, mind you a couple did walk out only 15mins into the film. We then went back to the campsite and had a stir fry for dinner and went to bed.

Woke up to another stunning morning so after a quick b'fast we went off to the meet up point to pay and were told to go and start boarding the boat. So we wandered over to the water and found ourselves on a beautiful new boat ready for our journey to White Island. We were given some soup and bread an hour into the journey, about 1hr and 20mins later we were bouncing around the island trying to find somewhere to land as the water had now got really rough and we couldn't use the usual route onto the island. It was actually so rough we had to sail over to the North side of the island and park up for a couple of hours in the calmer water and wait for the wind to die down a bit. Luckily for us it did so we went back to another cove, we still couldn't use the first and preferred point of exit because the waves were still to big. We clambered onto a powered dingy, 4 at a time and got deposited onto some rocks where we had to wait for everyone else. It was a bit tricky and most of us got a little wet apart from Toby ( of course) once we were all ashore we had a tour of the large crater and steam vents scattered on the rocky island. It was an amazing place and felt like you were on the moon. The tour guide was very good and gave us a really interesting couple of hours ending up in the old factory that was once worked by men over a hundred years ago mining for sulphur, these poor buggers had to live on the island for months at a time.

We then got a dingy back to the boat which meant getting wet again, of course i got covered in a wave whilst Toby got away without a drop of seawater touching his boots....

After a quick lunch we motored back into Whakatane seeing a few common dolphins on the way. We got back to shore at 5pm instead of the 2.20pm so had to phone Meri and tell her we would be late over. Toby had arranged for us to stay at her house for the night so that we could head off to Auckland the next day. We arrived at about 7.20pm feeling very tired, Meri had cooked a lovely dinner for us all and did all our washing whilst vegging out in front of the TV. God she is such a super star, she is definitely my suriget mother. She even supplied us with some more homemade pickle and some fluffy towels for a hot shower.

Slept like a log for the first time in bloody ages, after b'fast we said goodbye to Meri as she had to get to work then we packed up and headed off to Auckland for my eye appointment. We took the coast road up this time for a change and i was really surprised at how wonderful the area was leading right up to the edge of the City. Dr Ring was more positive this time after my consultation and said my left eye was not so dry but still not as wet as it should be. He also said he would like me in the next day so he could cut my eye (not laser) it seems i now have a regular astigmatism instead of a cockarse one i had before and could now be rectified by cutting a 2mm cut at the top and bottom of my eye bit to make my eyeball a round shape instead of the rugby shape in was now......... this was good news as it was positive but it meant having to go through it al again. I was to only have 1 eye done at a time, i was having the other one done on Friday which meant having to set back the ferry journey by a couple of days. We found a really good campsite in the City to stay in for the rest of the week which wasn't far away from the eye place which was handy. We then phoned up Phil and asked if we could stay for that night as we had previously asked the day before leaving a message on his mobile phone thinking we would only be in Auckland for 1 night.

Phil and Liz weren't home till late so we headed off to Piha just outside Auckland on the West coast, i was shocked at how beautiful the area was, seeing as once again we weren't far from the City. It was full of surfy doody type of boys who spoke a completely different language, god i hate it. Don't know why but have always hated that 'radical' kind of talking, must be getting old. We went for a walk on the beach and read our books for a little while and ate cheese burgers from a little shack. It was soon time to drive back into town over to Phil and LIzzes house, but not before finding a huge car wash place and hosing down a rather filthy Bertie. A mate of Phils was interested in buying Bertie and was popping over later that evening.

Toby suggested we cooked a chili for dinner for them both so after a quick shop at Pak n save we went to there house to be greeted by Lizz who wasn't feeling very well and had been sick all day. She made us feel at home and insisted we stay for the rest of the week, said she wouldn't hear of us staying at the campsite - how nice is that but i felt very very cheeky and said we would stay at the campsite, but she would really like us to stay so we very graciously accepted. Toby's idea of making the chili was chopping the onion then leaving the rest to me! Phil got home from football training at about 8.20pm to a wonderful chili and some house guests who were now staying for the whole week instead of one night!

Watched Cold Feet and drank coffee for the rest of the evening then went to bed

Had a lie in for a change and didn't get up till 8.30am then just sat around for the day enjoying the comfort of a house again, i also caught up with the diary which was a week behind. We went into town at about 2.30 for my eye appointment - very scared again.

Well it went really very well and not as bad as having the laser surgery, thank goodness. it was all over in about 20mins and i was off home again with a lovely big eye patch on. We stopped off at Pak n Save to get a few bits and which was quite funny as i couldn't see a lot we then went home and we cooked some spicy wedges to go with the left over chili for everyone. Did take some pain killers before going to bed just incase it started to hurt in the night but was surprised at how much it didn't hurt.

NEW ZEALAND MAY 2003 >