Up at 0700 again, shower, quick breakfast and we are off. We were going to look at the hot springs at Te Puia, but the GPS sends us in the wrong direction, when we do eventually find it the entrance is for a full day Maori experience, we don’t have time for that so we give it a miss and set out for Taupo. We headed out along highway 5 (The Thermal Explorer route). We passed through areas of geothermal activity where we could see pockets of steam erupting; we even went through a place called Earthquake Flat. (Some things that I have noticed in travelling in Australia and New Zealand is that in Australia they tend to be blasé about the dangerous wild life, e.g. box jelly fish, sharks, crocodiles, poisonous snakes and spiders etc. ... read more

Day 2 of “Chill-out” Up at around 07:00 and breakfast at around 09:00 We then went for a walk along the beach, and introduce Di to my new friends the Seabirds. We got back about 12ish and even though it was not long since breakfast, we were both famished, So we had a Cheese and Ham Salad. We then spent the afternoon sunbathing and went to a local bar at around 16:30 and picked up a Chinese take away, which we ate outside the camper van. We got the beds assembled by 20:00, we intend to have an early night at make an early start tomorrow as we are moving on to Rotorua ... read more

Up early after an early night and a good night sleep. Into the showers early before the rest of the site wakes up, then breakfast outside the van. Still sunny, we have been lucky so far We set off at about 09:00, we have decided that we will fuel up first thing everyday, as the petrol stations do not appear to be as available as we are use to. I programmed the GPS for a gas station at Whitianga. We arrived there and fuelled up and then parked and went for coffee/ hot chocolate. I have a pastry, I am really getting into the pastries and cakes, like date scones etc. Today is really good date, walnut and apricot cake!! We set off again. Progress is slow with steep winding narrow roads. But the scenery is ... read more

Up early at 07:00am. We need to leave the house at 08:45 We are catching the bus into Auckland, to get a ferry across to Waiheke Island, where we have a day's tour booked. We get some breakfast and head out to the Park & Ride. We are lucky and get a bus straight away. We arrived at the Ferry Terminal in good time for the ferry, and have time to get a coffee on the seafront. We boarded the ferry, it is pretty crowded looks like a lot of people are heading out to the island from Auckland for the day or the week-end. We docked at Mariatia Wharf on Whaiheke Island.We meet our guide for the day, who turn out to be a bit of a character We set off to explore the island ... read more

Up a bit later today - around 09:00 - I don't feel like I have really come to terms with the last time change! Today the itinerary say that we will tour the Auckland City Centre. We have breakfast and set out for Devonport, which is located at the North Shore. We parked up the car and just made a ferry leaving for Auckland Harbour, the journey takes around 20 mins and on the way there are great views of the Auckland skyline.We got off the ferry and made our way along Queen Street. Auckland has all the hustle and bustle of a major city, Sydney on a smaller scale. We are making our way to the Sky Tower, the tower is 328m high and is the highest structure in the southern hemisphere. The lift takes ... read more