Thank you and Goodbye beautiful New Zealand xxxxx

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Hello all, for the last time from beautiful New Zealand. We are once again in Auckland city, where, for the thrid time last night we crashed and landed in transit. We have been here for a day of laundry and chores in order to organise ourselves to leave for Fiji tomorrow at ridiculous o clock - (otherwise known as 5 am).

The week that has been since I last wrote has been one of the best, if not the best I have had here in New Zealand, as Nic and I made our own way around the Northland by means of my new favourite mode of transport - a CAMPERVAN! (Mum and Dad, if you are struggling for ideas for what to buy me for Christmas, then why not go for a campervan?! - it'd look awesome on the estate....)

We picked up our rather modern looking X-plore more van last Wednesday in Auckland and the fun started instantly with getting it out of the city along roads we were totally unfamiliar with. Our map reading and navigational skills were put to the test during the week as we alternated between playing navigator and driver, exploring all that the top end of the North Island has to offer- which turns out to have been rather a lot.

The first of many jouneys took place from Auckland to a lovely little town and the best gateway to The Bay of Islands, namely Pihia. We pulled up by chance at a beautiful little campsite located beautifully next to a lake. It was here that our education as to being campers and using a campervan successfully began. I have never felt so compact in my whole life - never before have I eaten, slept, watched films and driven all in the same and indeed very small space. Clever little inventions, campervans. We admired the lake as we ate our pasta and enjoyed our beers before taking to our little bed for our first of many good nights of sleep in Lady Grey (yes, we named this vehicle too, she is a babe 😊

The next day consisted of a nice coffee in Pihia town centre before catching our Dolphin Explorer boat around the Bay of Islands. I can't recall huge amounts of detail or place names in the from the Bay Of Islands. Perhaps this is due to seeing such an immeasurable amount of stunning coast here, that it may have started rolling into one huge, on-going amount of coastline for me. Or perhaps my main memory of that trip heavily involves the amazing Bottlenose dolphins we saw, who totally stole the show for me. (More about these in a jiffy)..........

Apparently not at it's best due to previous rainfall, the water still shone a pretty shade of blue and the islands and greenery in the background once again made for pretty nice scenery. I guess I could see what people mean when they say that perhaps this area is slightly over-rated and does not stand out from the rest of teh scenery here. However it was great to go and make my own judgement, especially as doing so meant that from very up close we got to admire, photograph and become very excited by Bottlenose dolphins. As if my swim with Dusky Dolphins was not enough, this really put the cherry on the cake. They swam so very close to the boat, some of them under it and others jumping in and out of the water playfully, I am sure totally showing off - I would also show off if I could jump out of the water like that! They were amazing.
Our on deck encounter lasted for a good half and hour, watching these creatures come closer and closer to the boat in their pods and slowly vanishing, jumping high out of the water as they did so. BEAUTIFUL. Whenever I think of The Bay Of Islands, I will think of these dolphins we stood amazed by. If only it was ethical to buy them as pets (Can I pop a dolphin on that Christmas list too please Mum and Dad?!).

Our trip was completed by a visit to The hole in the rock, impressively, the boat was able to go through this large hole that resembled a tunnel and we came out (rather bouncily) the other side in time to admire even more rock formation and the result of much erosion.

Soon after our boat arrived back to shore, we hopped into Lady Grey and headed for another cute coastal town called Ahipara. On local recommendation, we stopped for delicious (and award winning) fish and chips - (I need lots of healthy food when I come home Ma!!!!!) in a little town called Moerewa. YUM. As full as you can possibly imagine, we drove on to Ahipara where we were so very lucky to find a YHA (are you impressed Toon?) and pulled up for another night of excellent campervan shut eye (honestly, I tell no lies when I say I never slept this well in hostels). On this night, our sleep was even better, as after finishing watching Gladiator, we shut out the lights and doors and left the sun roof cover open so that we were lying under the stars and from under our warm duvet and pillows, could look straight up as they sparkled, decorating the night sky.

One day, of course, I'd love a moment like this in a romantic sense, how blissful and perfect could it be to lie there with someone I am in love with.... but for this trip and this current moment in my life, lying there with Miss Lovell was as about as perfect as I could ever ask for or remember. How beautiful it was, talking about everything and anything, putting the world to rights through laughter and reflection as we always do, this time as we gazed at the stars. I feel so lucky, I say with whole hearted honesty that I could not ask for better experiences on this trip. My camera can't pick up pictures of the stars, for which I am strangely grateful, as it only makes them more prominent in my imagination and memory.

The following morning we left on Lovell and Young time (not too early as I am sure you can imagine) for a town called Kaitaia. From here our journey contiuned as far North as we could possibly get in New Zealand - otherwise known as Cape Reinga. What made this section of our trip so worthwhile for me were the Te Paki Giant Sand dunes we stumbled accross before our arrival to Cape Reinga. I love moments whereby I get to be throroughly immature and behave as if I am seven all over again and this was definately one of those moments of me. From running up the dunes, to making sand angels and running and dancing whilst singing 'Climb every mountain' in the form of ' CLIMB EVERY SAND DUNE', it's fair to say it was such a fun hour. After running and bunny hopping back down them, I didn't feel to hard pushed that I didn't hire a body board to 'surf' them.. occasionally being rather accident prone, I do question how much of a good idea this realkly would have been anyway.

Following muchos fun, we made our way to the lighthouse at Cape Reinga, where once upon a time were multiple sign posts, pin pointing the direction of other countries, areas of the world, the Tasman Sea and North Pacific Ocean ( and from this, some clarity on where the two meet at this point) but as some GIT took down the posts, Lovell and I were left with our imaginations and good guess work to solve the mystery.
It felt quite special to stand at the most Northern point of New Zealand, having travelled as far up as we possibly could have, maximising this beautiful island and indeed amazing country.
After a long drive that evening, we turned up very late to a camping ground in Rawene, so late in fact, that the owner looked on pitifully at us - assuming we had got throughly lost! Needless to say aafter running accross sand dunes like children, we slept like logs that evening in Lady Grey.

We had planned to take ourselves to the gateway for the Footprints tours the following day; a little village called Opononi. We were hoping to do the Footprints tour ourselves but a slight hitch in our research and planning that unravelled itself in the information centre meant that we would have hang around for an entire day whilst we awaited the TWILIGHT Tour (always read the small print!) We decided to scrap that idea and maximise our time, thus meaning we created a DIY tour around the Waipoua Forest and later continued to Helensville for our planned evening stay.

This forest was outstanding and a total haven for my lovely and tree hugging travel buddy! Surrounded by trees of different shapes, sizes, shades and positioned at different angles, Nic was in her element and I looked around in admiration as we passed the two very largest trees I have ever, ever seen. HUGE. One was named the Father of the forest for it's age / size, as we visited him, we gazed in silence and amazement at the sheer size, both in the width and height of it. Positioned at different loactions within the forest, they were certainly the most memorable of all trees I have hugged and observed and well worth a visit.
* (check it out: http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/kauri/)

The rest of our day was spent driving South towards Helensville where we quickly decided to escape for it's lack of character or scenery. Knowing that the Coromandel was too far away to reach that evening, we pulled an idea out of the air ( I love implusive decisions) and picked an area on the coast towards Auckland and on route (well, sort of) to the Coromandel - the name of the quaint little town being Piha. For a random and last minute decision, it turned out rather well, because it was as we drove down the coastal road towards our campsite, that we noticed the most stunning beach complete with a large rock positioned in the water and sticking out onto the beach. Still on the right side of day light, we checked in speedily and bombed it down to the beach to catch sunset. My god am I glad we did. Nic ran along the water, dipping her toes in and out as she admired her surroundings as I sat myself down on the sand and just stared at what was before me. I don't think I can remember a sunset where the reflection of the sun shone so clearly on the water and smooth sand in front of me. Coupled with the many shaped clouds and colours shining through them, this made for one of the highlights of such a special road trip. I am becoming a sucker for scenery, as for the secomd time I was moved completely to tears by pure beauty and the concept that the most amazing things in this life really do come for free.

Our evening continued rather nicely with a couple of beers, but with an unfortunate and unwelcome interuption from PESTS we have not seen in a wee while, aka Mosquitoes. I'm sure the little sods almost calculated their visit, as it was only what felt like five minutes of sitting in Lady Grey with the doors open that they spotted an opportunity and all flew in. It was as if we were gate-crashing some sort of Mozzie Party - in our own paid for and hired van! What felt like hundreds of them swarmed in our van, buzzing in our ears and slowly feasting on our blood. I tolerated this for what felt like ages (but in reality was probably a very short while) and my ruthless side suddenly errupted as I began heartlessly lashing out at these annoying little creatures. Lovell looked on slightly pitifully as cold blooded murder occured in Lady Grey!!! (Maccers I am told I am close to your standard of killing - we could have done with you there to lend a hand!!!).
No amount of Mozzie PESTS could take from what a wonderful evening and sunset we had and eventually, whilst trying to ignore relentless buzzing, we fell asleep.

The rest of our travels by mode of a campervan included a beautiful trip to the Coromandel region, whereby we visited Cooks Beach, Hot Water Beach and most fondly of all Cathedral Cove. It came as no surprise that this GORGEOUS location had been used to film the latest Narnia Film (the introduction??? - must check when home - anyone up for a video night?) It was stunning. A massive archway that leads straight into the sea with a sandy floor. I stood admiring the formation as the waved crashed towards me, each new one refreshing my tired but happy feet. We were so very lucky getting this spot entirely to ourselves too, after arriving so late and were once again able to chill and take in our scenic surroundings as the sun began to go down.

The last little port of call on our Northern road trip was that of Raglan - a little and very cute surf town South of Auckland. The weather was not partying with us as it poured for the majority of our time there but I could fully appreciate the thriving and quaint town it is when in full summer bloom. We enjoyed a little shopping excursion here and an afternoon filled with watching surfers at Whale bay as we sat in Lady writing postcards and attempting to recount on paper what a memorable and fantasic road trip it had been.

So there we go, one more section of our time in New Zealand has come to it's end, but this time we have no onwards travel in the land of Kiwis and tomorrow we bid the country farewell, for what could be good, or a very long time. I can honestly say that the thought makes me feel quite sad. I have fallen for this country whole heartedly. There are so many things to see, get to know and so many chances to challange one's self, if not through hiking in the most beautiful of locations, then through hurling one's self from planes or platforms. New Zealand has it all, and to top it off, I have felt quite at home here thanks to the numerous friendly people, it's laid back feel and on-goingly and most importantly the associations it has made me make to my own counrty, Wales.

I leave here, feeling I have really explored this counrty, maximised my travel time and opportunites, grateful for all I have seen and with such very fond memories that I hope I will remember and treasure forever.

I hope I will manage one more blog before I come home. There are still a few places to see yet, but as our main country and section of travel comes to an end and we head for Fiji, I say a HUGE THANK YOU and GOODBYE NEW ZEALAND!

Sending so many hugs and kisses and hoping everyone is well. Not long I see people at home, I will miss NZ so much but thinking of seeing you is also making me feel so excited right now.

Take care and more soon,
Lisa
xxxx

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Photos

Last night in New Zealand
Cosmopolitans to mark our final night here.....

LADY GREY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE MISS HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!