We both awoke early and we were absolutely shattered after last night. We quickly dismantled our back awning and found hundreds of dead mozzie's in the bottom (the bug spray obviously had an effect on some). The mozzie's were still active, even in the morning and this is the first time we have known this anywhere. We couldn't wait to get away fr...

It wasn't far to drive back to the turnoff and we had to come back this way anyway so we haven't really come out of our way at all. There is a car park and a security guy here, we paid him $2 to look after our van. It was an easy and pleasant walk into the forest that morning, it was a beautiful sunny day and there didn't seem to be any mozzie's...

After another dip in the mineral pools and surveying the damage done by the mosquitos we headed south for Whangerai.  The weather had turned nasty on the way down and we were meant to be off to the beach to see the Whangerai Heads.  We decided after a brief stop, watching a glass blower in action in his workshop, to press on furth...

We drove through all the chaos of the traffic of Auckland on the main highway number 1, once passed all the yucky traffic jams and industrial buildings we were looking for somthing peaceful and beautiful, and we came across a gem!!!! So we stayed for 3 nights!!! Wenderholm Regional Park, The Auckland Council have several regional parks, and they...

Our first day in the van was spent driving to a coastal campsite just north of Auckland so that we could get used to the van and store our things where we could find the things we would need - yaay, no more living out of a rucksack for a while. The campsite was a Top 10 and therefore quite a lot of money, but we still paid a little extra so...

Now, there most be something about 'Bank Holidays'. In the UK and Ireland also in Holland it's pretty much expected that a Bank Holiday weekend is guaranteed to have rubbish weather. I can confirm that NZ is the same. Monday was Labour Day and it chucked it down with rain. So any thoughts I had of doing something 'touristy' were long gone, and t...

There is no way, no way at all, that I am going at this pace for the return leg. With the pressure off, and no real deadlines, the drive back was fun, parts were boring, the landscape in Central Otago was breathtaking, but it was no 'Smokey & The Bandit' / 'Gumball'. So I'll not bore you. I left Queenstown at lunchtime. The route was: Saturday 1...

I have just left the 'Marco Polo' Backpacker's Lodge outside Orewa, a seaside resort on the east coast which would be touristy if it was tourist season. However, it's only early spring here and so the weather hasn't been traditional beach weather (though that hasn't stopped me!). Its rained torrentially for 3 days now, which certainly gave me an...