North Island

29th April - we're on the North Island! And it's raining..

Last night we ended up not going to the pub with the live music and going to a restaurant where the speciality was Mussels. Derek had a chicken burger and I had ravioli - but we did learn a lot about Mussels from NZ and very interesting it is too!

Dreary, grey weather again this morning which is such a shame as the Pelorus Sound coastline would have looked great in the sunshine. On the advice of the site manager we changed our route slightly to get to Picton and took the wine route road. So funny to see all the wine names we recognised - Cloudy Bay, Hans Herzog, Wairau etc. Miles and miles of vines and then, randomly, amongst them all a chocolate factory near Spring Creek.

We were early for the ferry check in so had a long wait in a car park. All very straightforward. As soon as we boarded we headed to the cafe for breakfast and then out on deck to take photos as we left the South

Island via Queen Charlotte Sound. We saw the occasional house dotted around the coastline - now that's living in a remote spot. Always thought I'd like to but not quite that remote! We both had an 'is it just me?' moment about the people selfishly laid out on seats preventing others from having a seat or placing their bags on the seat next to them so nobody else could sit. We spent the crossing apart.. Unbelievably, one woman was in her sleeping bag - it was only three hours and daytime!

Once off the ferry the route to Paraparaumu was easy, route 1 all the way and it was only 40km. The site is just across the road from the beach but we haven't seen it - raining again. We're a bit miserable today because of the weather. This site is quirky in that each pitch has its own shower/toilet next to it. At the time of booking this sounded marvellous..it's not, it's a wooden shed and basic. At least it's only six metres from the van....through the mud. And the free wifi doesn't work.

Because we're a bit down we encouraged each other to book into a motel for a night later in the week. We were due to be in a car park with no facilities but can't face it. Just waiting for the confirmation that we can get a room - my fear is that we won't want to get back in the van afterwards!

Long drive to Lake Taupo tomorrow.

30th April - it rained all night..

Derek cooked a curry in the van last night as it was too wet to go out anywhere. We are so sick of the inside of this thing, and it makes you realise how much the weather determines your mood.

By the time we left Paraparaumu at 8:30 the rain had almost stopped and we could see the skies were brighter to the North where we're heading. Initially the scenery was quite boring but as we turned away from the coast and inland we were amongst rolling green hills again and it was nice. Lots more sheep and cows! Passed through a place called Bulls- a town like no udder.....that was just one of their lame jokes. The shops and businesses played on the location so the Greengrocer sold vegeta-bulls etc. Quite amusing. Just past there we stopped at an excellent cafe called the Sugar Plum, looked nothing from the outside but inside was really good. Derek had a homemade chocolate and peppermint slice and I had a giant date and orange scone, both lovely.

Next we stopped at Taihape just to break up the driving. They have a sculpture of a multi coloured Wellington boot and host an annual welly throwing contest. That about sums the place up. Closer to the southern edge of Lake Taupo we passed alongside Tongariro National Park which is circled by the Volcanic Loop Highway. The scenery was dramatic once again and Derek was going demented that there was nowhere to stop to take photos. He managed to get a couple but they weren't very good. The weather has improved and we've now got bursts of sun and blue sky instead of solid grey cloud.

Stopped for lunch on the edge of the lake and the sun coming through the van windows was nice but it was a bit breezy to sit outside.

Our campsite is in a tiny place called Motutere on the South East side of the lake - the only thing here is the campsite. We had booked a premium site which means we're across the road from the main camp and right next to the lake. Probably the best spot we've had in terms of a view. But yet again nowhere to walk to this evening to get away from the van and have dinner. We're cooped up once more but at least we've managed to borrow a DVD film from the site office to watch this evening. Miraculously it's a film we've never seen.

There are a pair of black swans on the lake that are far too unafraid and came right up to the van door. When I went to fetch the washing from the laundry one ran at me flapping it's wings. Gave me a fright! Derek thought it was funny but wasn't keen to go in my place!

We've had some good news this evening- we have a motel room for Tuesday night in Matamata so we'll not be in a car park after all. Derek was so ecstatic he did a little dance, very un-Derek like. The thought of an ensuite is pathetically pleasing. I just think it will be harder to then have to sleep another 4 nights in the van afterwards. At least we should be refreshed for the tour we have booked at Hobbiton on Wednesday morning.

We have a couple of sights planned for tomorrow on our way to Waikite Valley so hope the weather is kind and is dry. Almost scared to look at the forecast.

1st May - hooray! Woke up to blue sky and sunshine twinkling on the lake, perfect breakfast view. Shame the main road behind us has big lorries rumbling past!

We headed towards the top of the lake and the town of Taupo but stopped on the outskirts at Pak'n'Save in Tauhara, NZ's version of Lidl!

First stop we had planned was Huka Falls which was beautiful. The water thunders down the river and the foam and spray are pure white against the icy blue of the water. All sorts of statistics about the volume of water moved and the power supplied by it. We'll never remember the numbers but we won't forget the sight!

Next place was Orakei Karako Geothermal Park and it was amazing. You see the steam rising from the car park. It's on Lake Ohakuri and a very cheerful chap took us across a short stretch of water from the visitor centre to the park in a little boat. The walk around is mainly

boardwalk and we were so close to the bubbling geysers and incredible steamy landscape created by the hot water flow. The mud pools were fun to watch but stinky! There was also a cave and lovely walk through trees with black and white striped trunks. There were discreet information signs but in general the signage was kept to a minimum so not detracting from the sights. Never seen anything like this before and really enjoyed it. Glad we came here.

Headed towards Waikite Valley which is where we're staying tonight. Parked up on the roadside overlooking the hills for a picnic before going on to the Waiotapu area. Visited Steamy Lake which is as it sounds, a small blue lake with steam coming off it. There was a lone chap having a bath in it so had to position camera carefully to exclude from photos.. a little way up the road is a place called the Rainbow mountain trek where we had a walk to the Crater Lake which is khaki coloured.

Our campsite is unusual..it's called Waikite Valley Thermal Springs and is quite small but runs a business as a thermal pools site that day visitors can come to and relax in the hot pools and then campers have the pools privately up until 9pm. The steaming river runs through the site (we have steam rising behind the van) and they have

created seven separate pool areas - two of which have infinity type views out over the hills. We got in at about 4:30pm and the temperature was 38.2 degrees, heavenly! It was hard to get out.

No wifi here but miraculously managed to get a TV signal so we have background noise despite being in the middle of nowhere. There is a cafe here open until 7pm but because we had late lunch we're not hungry. We need to get a decent meal tomorrow night in Matamata and not sit in our motel room all evening...although it will be tempting just because it's not the van..

Off to Rotorua in the morning which hopefully will be another NZ highlight and the forecast is good.

2nd May - so, so cold. Duvet sandwich not effective.. our idea of misery but we know that tonight we're not sleeping in the van so feel more upbeat.

Once we get away we see it's going to be another gorgeous day of blue skies and sunshine but it's chilly.

Quite a short drive to Rotorua and we have one mission and that's to see the world famous Pohutu Geyser at Te Puia. It's expensive (when isn't it) but we knew we'd regret it if we didn't do it. There's a

lot of construction going on as they expand the area. The nice thing about this place is that in addition to the geothermal sites there's also the Maori history element. We could have taken a guided tour but didn't want to wait for thirty minutes so set off ourselves. Pohutu Geyser erupts approximately twice per hour and we waited only a few minutes before the action started. It was exciting to see but we thought we were unlucky in that it wasn't shooting as high as we thought it would be. As we were thinking of walking on there was a huge spurt and it dawned o us that what we had been watching wasn't actually Pohutu! Pohutu is amazing - it's like like watching fireworks with people going ooh and aah as it shoots higher and higher like firework rockets!

More smelly mud pools and another khaki lake plus a dormant Geyser which has recently shown signs of activity. You can't help but think how great it would be it went off while you were the ones watching it.

The park contains a couple of Maori educational workshops- one for carving and one for weaving, both very interesting.

We were too tight to pay for the ticket that included the Maori show but it did start outside where anybody could watch. An 'audience' member was selected to represent the visitors, he had to meet the Maori warrior and signal that we were friends not foe. It was all to be taken very seriously with no talking or laughing allowed. It then all moved to an inside area that we hadn't paid for and went on for another 45 minutes. I was quite happy with what we saw. Obligatory visit to the gift shop..

After three hours we reckoned we had got our money's worth and drove up to the northern point of lake Rotorua to a place called Hamurana. A lovely riverside walk to the Springs which were similar to Pupu Springs only this time we saw the dancing sands - the sands at the base of the lake being blown upwards. The walk was through enormous Redwoods which are a feature of the place. Allegedly the water travels from the Mamaku Plateau throughout underground aquifers taking 70 years.

We continued on to Matamata and to our motel. We've landed on our feet.. the owner upgraded us from the Studio we had booked into a one bedroom unit. She mentioned that she was thinking about buying a motor van and asked if she could look around ours. Think we successfully put her off.. and then to top it off she lent us her car to go into town to have dinner so that we didn't have to worry about parking the van. This woman is our new best friend! Derek wants to stay here for the next four days.. private shower, loo, kitchen - he's in heaven. Dinner in a pub where service was friendly and food was good - we're feeling pretty happy now....and tomorrow Hobbiton!

3rd May - how lovely to wake up in a proper bed!

Managed a short FaceTime with Rebecca and then set off for Hobbiton. It's a beautiful day again.

Got to the Shires Rest and parked at about 9:30 so plenty of time to spend in the gift shop and sit in the sunshine before joining our pre booked guided tour at 10:00am.

From the off the guide, Bea, was entertaining and set the scene for the tour. Hobbiton is not a theme park, it's a real film set, and as such the attention to detail is phenomenal. The original film set created for LOTR was temporary and removed but when Peter Jackson, the director, decided to make The Hobbit he agreed with the land owners to make a permanent set and create Hobbiton as a NZ attraction. It's like walking around a real village with a Bakers, Pub, Cheese Shop, pond etc. The Hobbit houses have beautiful gardens growing real fruit and vegetables and have washing hanging on the line. Smoke emerges from a couple of chimneys. The only false thing is the tree above Bag End where Bilbo and Frodo lived. One of the many anecdotes that Bea shared was that Peter Jackson didn't like the colour of the leaves on the original tree so had them sprayed a different shade of green! At the Green Dragon pub we were given complimentary drinks from Rosie's Bar and sat outside next to the

larger pond with the water mill and bridge. Loads of photos taken!

Left Hobbiton just after midday for the long drive to the Coromondal Peninsula and tonight's camp site at Hot Water Beach. The scenery was predictable....green hills etc. Once we got to the peninsula we headed for the east side which meant more climbing, winding roads through the forest. It's very picturesque. The site is about a ten minute walk from the famous beach so we walked down to it and sure enough people were sitting in swimwear in their self dug hot pools in the sand. We could see the steam rising, very odd. It seems to only be one particular spot of the beach between two rocks which we hadn't really appreciated beforehand. We're debating whether we can be bothered to dig our own hole tomorrow! We heard a chap say it's hard work!

The campsite is a Top 10 so the facilities are a bit better than other camps. They actually have a food stall that is open for an hour between 5:30 and 6:30pm for fish and chips. Seems popular. We cooked fajitas in the van which worked out better than we had thought....but then we were very hungry!

Looking forward to minimal travelling tomorrow. Cathedral Cove is close by so we'll definitely go there. The other place we wanted to visit is a ninety minute drive away so we may skip that.

4th May - not quite so cold this morning and the campsite is not noisy despite being reasonably busy.

We drove to Hahei a village close to the campsite and the start of the walk to Cathedral Cove. It's a tough coastal walk, in places very steep and quite a lot of steps but it's beautiful. Once again blessed with a sunny day we got lovely views. It took about 75 minutes to actually reach Cathedral Cove which is separated by a pointed arch shape rock that you can walk through from Mare Leg Cove. Very few people there. Sat on the rocks in the sun psyching ourselves up for the return trek. On the way back stopped off at Stingray Cove (flat rocks under the water that look as though they are Stingrays from a distance) and Gem Cove which is good for snorkelling.

Back in the village we visited the village cafe carefully watched by a very brave little bird waiting for crumbs.

From there we went a bit further around the coast to a place called Flaxmill Bay and caught a little ferry boat (think Hayling Island to Southsea) across the water to Whitianga. Took about 3 minutes to get across. Found a cash point, wandered around for a bit and then got the ferry back. The cloud came over and the breeze was chilly so we got back to the campsite and caught up on the news websites and started looking ahead to the weather in Fiji for next week. We understand there is a cyclone in the vicinity.....

Tried to catch the last bit of sun for the day and walked down to the beach again but the tide was in so no digging happening.

Fish and chips from the stall in the campsite and very good they were too.

Another long drive tomorrow to Martins Bay, north of Auckland. Forecast is good!

5th May - short write up today....we drove from Hot Water Beach to Martins Bay, 90 minutes north of Auckland, on the east coast - 250km.

Got to the site at lunchtime, the road goes no further and we are on the beach. We learn 70% of the site is given over to permanent

holiday caravans and we saw from the check in sheet we were one of two customers expected tonight! It's so quiet but at their Summer peak they can have 2500 people on site.

Our first visitors are 4 ducks, they line up outside the door expectantly! I was determined to make use of the deckchairs at least once and sat in the sunshine sheltered from the wind and read....watched by the ducks. We had a walk along the beach and paddled (cold) and up the hill to the lookout point and the old milk shed. In the 1950's the campers would place their milk containers in the shed to be filled by the farmer each morning. Prior to that the farmer put the milk in the shed to be collected and taken by boat to customer points along the coast.

Got chatting to one of the staff who has a huge affection for the 4 ducks and feeds them fancy muesli each day. They follow her around quacking away when they see her, quite funny to see. She also has a wild rabbit devoted to her that she feeds but she's devastated that the site owners have a pest control chap coming in within the next two weeks to shoot the rabbits!

First time driving the van in the dark tonight to the nearest village to buy a few supplies. Thankfully parking was easy at this time of year! It's such a pain to have to put everything away securely, disconnect the power and turn off the gas every time you start the engine. Two more sleeps until we're rid of this van. We're already discussing how to celebrate on Sunday!

6th May - woke up to another glorious day and not as cold as some previously.

Today's plan is to do a long walk as one of the maintenance staff got chatting to Derek earlier and recommended a route.

We walked to a place called Mullet Point via Scandrett Bay and the views are gorgeous. Small islands close by and a handful of boats dotted around. Very peaceful. We meet just two other walkers and have a quick chat, they advise we're about to encounter the squelchy part of the route. They're not wrong and my trainers leak!

The sun is really warm now so when we get back we sit out and read in shorts and t-shirts. It was ice cream weather! Shame about the noisy kids that have turned up..

Looking ahead to Auckland we've booked a trip for Monday to Rangitoto Island.

Started packing up our stuff, we're so happy to be dropping the van off tomorrow. Popped out to Snells Beach to get a Chinese takeaway which was pretty awful. Would have fed four people, so much wasted.

We're carefully watching the cyclone Donna situation..

7th May - hooray its get rid of the van day. We can't wait to set off and get to the depot in Auckland.

Stopped on the way at Parry Kauri Park to see an enormous 800 year old Kauri tree. The trunk measures 7.2 metres around and it's very impressive.

Got to the depot and happily hand over the keys. We thought we had to get a shuttle to the airport and then a bus to the hotel but the lady at the depot told us that she could organise a taxi for a flat rate of $35 which was cheaper than getting the bus. The taxi driver was originally from Fiji and was quite chatty.

The hotel is nice and we have a room on the 11th floor and overlooks the water. Went out for a walk to the harbour to figure out the pier we need for the trip we've booked tomorrow. Good brunch at a cafe on the harbour and then walked to Sky Tower but didn't go up it. There's a lot of construction and roadworks going on in the city so suspect it's going to be much noisier tomorrow when everyone is back to work.

Lovely soak in the bath, I didn't miss having to carry towels, wash bag, clean clothes etc over to a shared facility!

Brunch was large so just a snack at the hotel tonight.

8th May - out for breakfast and a walk around the shopping area before catching the ferry to Rangitoto Island.

Our tour of the island was on a trailer pulled by a tractor and was extremely bumpy. It's the youngest volcanic Island at only 600 years old and is dormant. The terrain is all volcanic rock, no soil or water and yet things grow. The roads were 'built' by hand by prisoners over 12 years starting in 1925. There have been inhabitants in the past but as they have passed away the houses have been removed - there are now only two left. Native birds have been reintroduced and pest control is taken very seriously in order to protect the birds. The neighbouring island of Mototapu is attached by a short pathway but is currently closed due to landslides.. it's completely different to Rangitoto, very green and lush. We had to climb 376 steps to get to the crater rim which we could walk around. This gave us the

opportunity to see the 360 degree views of the Auckland area. Very beautiful. The chap driving the tractor gave a running commentary and was very informative. Glad we decided on the guided tour and got all the background history of the place.

9th May - an exciting start with a visit to the local laundrette! Derek doesn't think he's ever frequented one before. Whilst the washing was on we went for breakfast. Laundry done we took a long walk through a big park with Winter Gardens, Fernery and hot house to the Museum. All uphill and with more great views of the city. We were determined to visit Giapos a famous ice cream shop near the harbour and it was fantastic. Never had such a gorgeous (and expensive) ice cream but it was a lovely experience!

The weather turned cloudy so we went to the cinema. Awful Mexican meal afterwards which was a shame when there are so many nice restaurants in Auckland.

Where we were excited to be going to Fiji tomorrow we're now depressed as the forecast is a cyclone due to hit and lots of rain. Didn't we have enough of that in Queensland?