Copthorne Harbour City Auckland

So it was all a bit wierd when we arrived in New Zealand because we basically left Buenos Aires at 9am Monday, and then 13 hours later (10pm Monday in Buenos Aires) we arrive in to Auckland at 2pm Tuesday! Crazy mixed up time zones!


So, we headed straight from the airport to the "Spaceships" office to collect our campervan which was to be our home for the next month. I use the term campervan ...

And so we finally went to see Auckland. After about a two hour drive from Hamilton we could see the outskirts of the city and the famous skytower looming in the distance. Auckland itself covers approximately the same amount of land as London however it has about a seventh of the population which makes this sprawling urban area feel much less busy, although it still feels
busy if that makes any sort of sense ...

... we headed and then I learnt my first lesson in walking/trekking.... donīt do it in wet shorts!!! Chafe daddy..... by the time we got back to the car i was walking like John Wane to avoid the dreaded rub. When we got back to Nelson we fired up the barbie and relaxed with a few beers (i kept a cold one between my legs). Monday we headed off we headed off... first stop Picton. Picton is a lovely small town on the coast with the Malborough Sounds on its fringes. We had fish ...

... Auckland with them, but as we had crossed the International Date Line, we were cheated out of a day, so we only had one night there. The hotel was fine but we were kept awake that night by the screams of bungee jumpers in a car park opposite the hotel, being catapulted into the air. 22nd March - Christchurch The next day we flew down to Christchurch in South Island, which is a lovely city with a quaint city centre; with trams that drove ...

... to swim with the dolphins. We saw plenty but they had their babies with them and the law says you can't swim where they are so I had to be content with watching. The 12th February saw us taking a long drive south to Rotarua where we only stayed one night and we rushed off to Mai-o-Tapo so we could see the Lady Know geyser erupt at 10.15 a.m. Soap is added at that time to make it erupt and without that it would ...

... town. Within the domain was the War Memorial Museum. Wouldn't call it a War Memorial as such other than the original purpose of the building. It was much more of a museum, very similar, though not as big, to the Te Papa in Wellington. Jen went through I sat and read! From here went back to the hostel and went to the Globe bar downstairs where they were having a Free Pizza night. Dominoes - not the best but good for a change. A lot of walking in the heat and my feet are a ...

... are traveling about the same length of time, so we booked a car for our first month to see how it goes. She also has another friend coming in February that has a camper van. She may travel with her, and I might be able to come along if our plans are similar. Jay is coming with us for the first week. She has less time than we do and wanted to spend less time in the North Island than us, so she can help with gas and car costs for a bit. I'm really looking forward to our roadtrip!