RowanH

After an emotional farewell to my flip-flops I'd had for years, I said goodbye to Caro and the Phoebe (the car) and caught the bus up to Paihia, stopping off for 45mins in Auckland, which was plenty long enough to see all there was to see there. Arrived late to the backpacks and crashed soon after, spent the next day exploring the beaches and walked round to a waterfall to fill the time. The next day was an early start to get the bus tour of 90 mile beach and cape rainga, strictly following Mary's instructions not to go north! It was a very fun day sandboarding and seeing where the Pacific meets the Tasman Sea was pretty spectacular, and we body boarded at the most picturesque beach imaginable.... read more

Set of bright an early for our 3 days paddling down the Whanganui River. It was definitely the most relaxing trip in New Zealand. Didn't see anyone else for the whole day and just basked in the sun while drifting down the river to John Coull Hut. Relaxing evening waiting for the glow worms to appear around the hut. The next day was much of the same, not quite as hot but still nice. Broke up the journey with a stop at the 'Bridge to Nowhere', a massive bridge in the middle of the forest, very bizarre. More slow paddling down to Tieke Hut, but nearly missed it as the jetty had been washed away in recent floods, met my first sandflies of my time in New Zealand, I will meet an awful lot more before ... read more

After arriving in Wanganui all ready for our 3 day canoe trip down the river we were told by the DOC site that the previous DOC site had it wrong and we were actually supposed to stay where we were for the trip. Not very amused that we drove all that way for nothing, but never mind. We decided to make the most of it and spent a day getting things done like postcards and shopping in Wanganui before heading over to Mt Egmont for a day or two. Again, very unhelpful DOC staff in Stratford we drove up the mountain for some short walks around to see if we could get a view, low clouds meant we saw nothing but fog. Once back at the car we discovered that the battery had run flat and ... read more

So on arriving in Otaki I met Fey, the host, and went back to her property, there was no shower, no heating, no oven, no toilet, and only the tiniest bit of running water for the sink, and it was awesome! When I got there it was just me, Charlotte (Kiwi), Andrew (Yank), Swede (Swede) and Simon (German). We set to work mulching and digging an area to build an earth house on, was nice fun work, only 4 hrs a day and lots of relaxing time. Then Caro (German) and Niko (German) turned up in their car, quickly followed by Gilberto and Wilma (Chilean) and then Felix (German), Tobi (German), Hannah (German), Anna (German) and Alice (German) and finally Jenny from Hampshire. Simon pointed out that since Europe was too difficult to take they thought ... read more

Got the bus from CHCH to Kaikoura with Ruth, nice scenic ride along the coast. Once there we unpacked at a very empty backpackers and went for a walk around the headland in search of seals, were not disappointed! Great wholesome meals of rice and cheese on toast carried us to the next day of swimming with dolphins, was incredible! Splashed out on some fish'n'chips and packed up ready for the bus to Wellington the next day.... read more