North Island-New Zealand

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Kia Ora (Mauri) from New Zealand,

Arrived here on New Yrs Day at 4am from Chile. New Yrs on the plane was a non-event so we missed that one! Picked up our bright green juicy camper and headed north to Whangerai (after re-enacting the malteser ad for a while). Visited the Whangeral waterfalls and slept off our jetlag.
The following day we headed further North to Pahia, which appeared to be the equivalent of Tramore/Courtown for the New Zealanders but very pretty all the same. Early start the following morning brought us further north to 90 mile beach, which u can drive on but we didnt risk it as the tides were in a fair bit, and also to the furthest point north-Cape Reinga. Although it was a miserable wet day, the view from the cape was amazing. This is where the Tasman sea and Pacific Ocean can be seen colliding-spectacular! That eve, we headed back towards Ahipara where we camped for the night.

The following day, we took the long road East to the Coramandel peninsula. It was an eventful journey which involved knocking on doors begging for petrol (in that part of the country v few stations seem to open on Sunday-we had been warned!) Anyway, our camper survived and we arrived in Coramandel late that eve. Saw some beautiful sights along the way -lots of rolling green hills, cattle and sheep-just like home on a good day but also some amzing sea views. Visited Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach-beautiful! On Hot water beach, when the tide is out, locals and tourists alike head down with their spades and dig little hot pools for themselves-its priceless but the water is so hot. People bring snacks and drinks and just stay there for the evening-brilliant!

Rotarua, the geo-thermal capital was next. Loved this spot! Due to all the volcanic activity underneath, there are geysers, hot mud pools and hot springs everywhere. This is also the centre of Mauri culture and they use these narturally occurring geysers to cook their food and bathe in . We went to a Mauri concert here and loved it- saw the Haka and other Mauri songs, dances and stories performed (by fine hunky men) and ate some hangi ( Food cooked in the traditional Mauri way). Here, we also tried out the Luges( go-karts that you drive down a windy course) which were great craic.

Next stop was the Tongariro crossing (an 8 hour trek which takes in Mount Doom form the Lord of the Rings). An early start 5am; the scenery was amazing-Emerald Lake, huge craters, Blue Lake- tough enough trek, lots of falling but fab (as you can see form the pics).

That eve, with our weary limbs we headed south to Wellington. Didnt do too much here as the hike (tramp as they say here) had really taken it out of us. Spent ages in the Te Papa museum-just brilliant-most interactive museum I think in the world. We experienced earthquakes, volcanoes-u name it! We also did a coastal walk down to the Red Rocks to check out the seal colony but they had headed to the South Island for breeding season so we'll just have to actch up with them there.
Caught the interislander ferry to the Sth island the following morning..

Bye for now...

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