The Eagle has landed, flown and landed again!

Hi Guys

We write this update from an internet cafe in Lake Taupo, New Zealand, having done our 3 day stop-over in Hollywood.

Arrived on 12th April in Hollywood and it was as could be expected - every other shop was a fast food joint, extra large portions, obese and nutty people!
We did not let that spoil our fun though and went to Universal Studios and Santa Monica in our short time in L.A. We arrived at the end of a heat wave with the 1st 2 days we were there, breaking all-time records for high temperatures and we have the tans to prove it!

We went to a typical American Diner throwback to the 50's called Mel's Diner, where we had breakfast with Mylene Klass and enjoyed a fantastic blueberry muffin. No really, she was there!

Universal Studios was cool with all the rides, we bumped into King Kong and Jaws to name but a few of the big movie stars.

As we are on a budget we have been travelling around L.A. using public transport (that's how we met most of the nutters!). Thought our luck was in one day when we boarded a bus and were told that the machine was broken so could ride for free, saving $2.50. We soon realised our luck had run out when we changed buses and went to buy a ticket for $5 each, put a $50 note into the machine only to then be told by the miserable bus driver that the machine does not give change!! Total loss $37.50. Oh well, you win some you lose some.....

Santa Monica was worth visiting..... beautiful beach and promenade, or as Shivani called it - pomegranite.

Left L.A. on 15th April and arrived on the 17th April in Auckland, New Zealand at 05.30a.m. Jason Szabo picked us up from the airport and dropped us to our hotel - Thanks again mate!
We then wandered the streets of Auckland, as we could not check in until 14.00.

Over lunch in a hidden gem just off the main strip of Queen Street called 'The Stables', Shivani pointed out that it was not really that different to London, so we went and rented a car to leave Auckland the next day.

So, on 18th April we headed south of the North Island, driving through some truly beautiful scenery and eventually arrived at our destination - Lake Taupo

We have rented a cosy cottage in Lake Taupo called 'Robyn's Nest' and blown our budget, so the deal was that we would not eat out for the next 3 days. We headed straight to Pak&Save supermarket and stocked up, had lovely pizza and salad over a glass of chilled NZ wine.

Today 19th, we drove to Waitupo and arrived by the skin of our teeth to see Lady Knox Geyser erupt promptly at 10.15. We will try and attach a photo to this blog post to show you all, if we can work out how to do it! Waitupo is named 'Thermal Wonderland', as it has bubbling mud pools, geysers, lava lakes and lovely sulphur smell. We then headed to Fartopolis also known as Rotorua, which is also known as Sulphur City, walked around and discovered it's Mauri heritage.

That concludes up to 19th April, we will update again very soon.

Andrew & Shivani