Day 102 : North to South

• Got up at the crack of dawn and drove to Wellington ferry port and got the boat to Picton in the south island. Good views of Marlborough sounds, watched a cool display of Mauri singing and dancing by a college, stared at the cows staring at us that were parked in a lorry next to us.
• Drove to Blenheim then to a conservation site at White’s bay to set up camp. Walked up to a high view point (could see the north island) and looked at the waves.

Day 101 : Wellington

• Visited the Te Papa museum in Wellington – the national museum of New Zealand. Saw some good special exhibits on the Haka, New Zealand history through film and Vogue New Zealand, as well as the very good permanent exhibits which included a Colossal Squid.
• Went for coffee at Cuckoo (New Zealanders are really into their coffee!)
• Walked around the centre of Wellington
• Went for a run / walk up Colonial Knob in Porirua, where we are camped, preparing for an early start for our ferry to the south island tomorrow.

Day 100 : Bulls

• Drove halfway to Wellington from Wanganui and stopped at a free DOC campsite near Tararua forest park.
• Passed through Bulls, where every building has a pun (police station is consta-bull, garage is tow-a-bull, school is knowledge-a-bull).
• Went for a walk around the forest near the campsite.
• Louise made friends with some young bulls hanging out near our campsite (see picture).

Day 99 : Wanganui

A fairly uneventful day – we drove halfway to Wellington, stopping at a holiday park in Wanganui. We spent a few hours walking around town and then just had an afternoon catching up on sleep and reading.

Day 98 : Surfing, haircuts and more rugby

• Hired some surfboards and went for a morning surf at Fitzroy beach in New Plymouth. Waves good but a little too big to be fun.
• We both had our first haircut in a few months – Louise going for a restyle.
• Bumped into some guys from the Edmondes Arms pub in Cowbridge.
• In the evening, went to the Wales vs Namibia world cup game in the Taranaki stadium.

Day 97 : Egmont National Park

Drove from Te Kuite to New Plymouth for the rugby on Monday. Surf blown out today, so went for an afternoon walk on Mt Egmont (Mt Taranaki) up the Summit Track until we were blocked by snow, and then back down past the Maketawa hut, through lots of thick forest. After yesterday’s soaking, we took the precaution of making some overtrousers out of black bin-liners but, despite a bit of occasional hail and snow, it was a lot drier than yesterday’s hike.

Free camping tonight, somewhere outside NP.

Day 96 : Getting soaked at Tongariro

• Got up early and made a picnic for a “6 hour” walk to Tama lake (part of the Tongariro alpine crossing)
• Got soaked and cold (my coat isn’t really waterproof and my “walking trousers” consist of leggings with shorts on top.
• Made it back within 3 1/2 hours then picnicked on the road
• Camped at Te Kuiti town in a retro campsite where we have power so we can use the fan heater to dry things.

Day 95 : Waterfalls, craters & lake Taupo

• Drove to Huka falls – an impressive volume of water crashing past, had an urge to jump in as want to do more white water-esque things!
• Walked around the “craters of the moon” an area of volcanic steam vents and acidic mud pools.
• Went to pac “n” save in lake Taupo and took in the views of the snow covered mountains across the lake.
• Drove to Tongariro and did a short walk to silica falls where the stream beds are red with iron ore and white with silica.
• Camped at a conservation site and ate noodles and made fridge cake.
• Note : I love the hundreds of cows and baby moo’s we have seen from the road they are so cute!

Day 94 : Rafting the Kaituna

This morning we had another soak in the hot pools at the campground and had a walk around their “Eco trail” – a short walk along the thermal stream which feeds the facility. The stream bubbles along the valley at 98 degrees (it is cooled a lot before it gets anywhere near the soak pools!), creating lots of steam and unusual geography along the way.

We drove back to Rotorua to meet our pick up for an afternoon of white water rafting on the Kaituna river. The rafting included a 7m waterfall – apparently grade 5, which is the most extreme you can do – so there was a very real chance of capsizing! We managed to stay in the raft, although we were almost fully submerged at the bottom of the falls. Other rafts in our group had a few people overboard at various stages.

After a cheeky McDonalds (it was late and we were too tired to cook anything) we drove to Taupo where we’re camped next to the Huka Falls (should be spectacular when we can see them in the morning) at Reids Farm – a free campsite that appears to be full of Gypsy-style caravans.

I also picked up some cheap tickets for the Wales vs Namibia game on Monday in New Plymouth :-)

Day 93 : Mountain biking and thermal pools

• Woke up early. Saw black swans floating serenely in the early morning sun. Had to defrost the front windscreen.
• Drove to another lake, had egg and bacon sandwiches to celebrate our first rain free day! Used our picnic table and chairs for the first time. Louise made friends with a duck.
• Went mountain biking in the redwood forest near Rotorua.
• Drove about 25min to Waikike valley to our campsite. The campsite has a selection of spa pools heated between 35-40 degrees (the site has a source of boiling thermal water).

Day 92 : Mount Maunganui to Rotorua

• Walked up Mount Maunganui and took in the views of the town and sea
• Drove to Rotorua and went for a walk in the Redwood forest
• Camped up in a basic conservation site
• Amazing stars and adult glow worms in the hedges!

Day 91 : Glow worm caving

Today we drove an hour or so south of Hamilton to Waitomo, famous for its large cave system and glow worms. We had been recommended a trip where you go “black water rafting” – you don a wetsuit and hard hat and spend a few hours scrambling and floating through the water filled caves on an inner tube, much of it without torches so the only light is the glow worms (or rather their poo, which is what actually glows)!

The water was pretty nippy (jumping backwards off a waterfall into pitch black cold water was a bit of a shock!), but we had a great couple of hours and saw lots and lots of glow worms.

We’re camped down the road at Otorohanga, next to a native bird park, so maybe we’ll see some Kiwi birds tomorrow…

Day 90 : Rugby world cup

We took a mini bus into Hamilton from our base at the Glenview club to soak up the atmosphere before the game – Hamilton is quite small but there was a good crowd of Welsh supporters in the “Fan Zone” set up for the world cup where they closed the roads and had a big screen showing last night’s rugby.

Thankfully the rain we’d had all morning stopped for a few hours whilst the game was on. Our seats were great – really close to the action – and the atmosphere was buzzing with lots of support for both Wales and Samoa. It was a nervously close game but Wales managed to scrape a win, so Louise was very happy as it was the first time she’s seen us win (she was going to give up coming to the games if they lost this one)!

Day 89 : Underground tunnels and animal cuddles

• Pancakes and Quebecan maple syrup for breakfast
• Walked along an old gold-mine railway, through very dark mining tunnels and along a cold railway tunnel in Karangahake gorge – it was really fun. Saw our first cave glow worms!
• Went to Bullswool farm park to go and cuddle various farm animals and dogs :-)
• Drove on to Hamilton and parked at a temporary caravan park in the car-park of a social club – ready for the match tomorrow.
• We like hokey pokey – which is basically cubes of crunchie

Day 88 : Wentworth falls

• Tried for the first time to free camp we stayed in a picnic site / lay-by with no signs to say we couldn't. We were asleep early prob by 8.30 - 9. At about 11pm we were woken up by flashing police lights outside and we were thinking ahhhh but after ages and more flashing lights and stuff, a massive lorry went past and I think it was just an escort for the extra wide load. We then we didn't sleep so well and Will was convinced the wind was gonna topple the van!
• Drove to Whangamata where I bought a hat and gloves from a pound shop (and a Welsh flag for Sunday)
• Walked along the Wentworth valley to a waterfall
• Drove to Waihi and saw a huge open gold / mineral mine
• Found a caravan park in Waihi beach for a hopefully more restful nights sleep!

Day 87 : Hot water beach

Got up early to go for a short walk to the cliff top at Wenderholm park where we were camped – great views and lots of interesting birds. Drove to the Coromandel Peninsula, just east of Auckland, and headed to hot water beach – where there are hot springs under the sand so at low tide you can dig your own spa!

We arrived at just the right time for digging, so hired a spade and took over maintenance of a hole that was being vacated by some Irish rugby tourists. You have to keep digging at the hole to get more hot water in, and eventually our enthusiastic digging made it too hot (one of the springs is 60 degrees C and the other is 67)! You couldn’t even walk on the sand around the pool because it was so hot!

After poaching ourselves for a couple of hours, we drove around the corner to Cathedral Cove where there is a natural rock arch, but we decided we didn’t have enough time to walk down to it before dusk, so we just went halfway down to Gemstone Bay.

Tonight we’re free-camping in the hills above the coast – no signs saying that we can’t so hopefully we won’t get moved on.

Day 86 : Speeding along 90 mile beach

• Had a good nights sleep in "The Beast". Went for a run along the beach (we are very out of shape having done nothing for 3 weeks) it’s very windy!
• Our present of land yachting (thanks Tom & Gemma) was sadly cancelled as it is too windy! So we exchanged it for quad biking on the beach. So we whizzed up and down the beach at 80km/hr and Will scared me by going up and down the sand banks, it was cool.
• We drove down to Wenderholm arriving in the dark set up camp in a national park (which we paid $5 for. We haven't yet managed to “free camp” as it doesn’t appear to be legal everywhere).

Day 85 : Bay of Islands

Woke up early to on a cruise around the bay. The weather was still pretty stormy which didn't bode well for our dolphin swim. The cruise took us on a 3 hour tour and although we saw a few bottlenose dolphins, swimming with them wasn’t an option (fortunately we should get another chance when we get to Kaikoura in the south). We battled the weather and made it out to the most famous island – the hole in the rock – and rough seas resulted in a few seasick passengers. Coming from Fiji, we found the islands were a little underwhelming.

In the afternoon we continued North to Ahipara at the southern tip of 90 mile beach where we’re camped up in a nice holiday park (so we can charge the battery in the van).

Day 84 : Auckland to the Bay of Islands

We left a wet and windy Auckland behind and drove north-west up towards the Bay of Islands. Getting used to driving the van now, but the gusty strong winds made the drive pretty hairy. We stopped off to look at some fantastic surf at Mangawhai heads and stopped briefly in Whangarei to pick our Rugby World Cup tickets for Wales’ next rugby world cup game against Samoa. On the way we passed the Canadian rugby team sat outside a cafe by the main road (their next game is in Whangarei).

Although you are supposedly allowed to “free camp” in New Zealand generally, it is apparently illegal in Auckland and the Northland where we are, so we’re parked for the night in a caravan car park in Paihia – the tourist hub for the Bay of Islands. Not the prettiest town, but it’s just a stopover before we go on a boat cruise around the bay tomorrow which will hopefully involve some swimming with dolphins!

Day 83 : Auckland

Spent the day seeing the sights of Auckland with Ed and Rebecca. Highlights were Auckland Museum, The Cloud (rugby world cup central) and The Viaduct marina. Weather was foul so decided against the sky tower as wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway!

Day 82 : New Zealand

Said goodbye to Fiji and took the relatively short hop over the Pacific to Auckland where we picked up the campervan which will be our home for the next 40 days. We headed into Auckland centre (Parnell) and met up with Ed and Rebecca, a couple of friends from Bristol who are working here for 6 months. We’re staying with them the weekend (and taking advantage of their shower / washing facilities!) so will probably look around Auckland tomorrow.

At the start of the day we had absolutely no plan for the next few weeks, but after skimming through a few travel guides at the airport and Ed and Rebecca’s Lonely Planet, we’re starting to form an itinerary. Books are expensive here, so we’re holding out and not buying our own – hopefully we can get by with the free tourist booklets around, and there is a lot of extra info around for the world cup visitors.

Day 79–81 : Last days in Fiji

• Still enjoying Octopus. Met a lovely couple from the U.S. and NZL / Oz. Everyone sits down together to eat the evening meal which is cool.
• Activities: More snorkelling. A local school visit. Party games and quiz. Poker with our new friends. More eating. Watching geckos eat moths in the bathroom.
• Said goodbye to Octopus (and got serenaded with a farewell song as we transferred to the rib). Had a bouncy rib boat ride back to the mainland had our last night in Bluewater lodge.

Day 74–78 : Octopus paradise

• Arrived at Octopus resort on Waya island in the Yasawas chain for our week of luxury. Got a rib boat transfer which took 2 hours. Welcomed by guitars and singing as we took a small boat across the reef to the beach.
• Took part in a welcome ceremony which involves drinking “kava”.
• There is a compulsory meal package so we will be eating a lot: All you can eat continental breakfast with omelette station, a la carte lunch and 3 course dinner!
• Met an Ozzy couple who are friends with the people who own the chalet where Will stayed when he went snowboarding in Japan – random!
• The snorkelling is amazing!!! I’m getting the hang of snorkelling which is cool. Everywhere you look there are different types of crazy, psychedelic fish and amazing coral - I’ve never seen anything like it! Will saw a reef shark but I missed it.
• Other activities (other than snorkelling!): Bonfire on the beach, went to church in the local village – amazing singing but the sermon was a bit shouty and all in Fijian. Shell - jewellery making. Hermit crab racing. More snorkelling. Went on a manta ray snorkel boat safari (the boat ride was very rough in a boat that looked like it would fall apart!) but sadly we didn't spot any :-(

Day 72 + 73 : DVDs & weird breakfast

• 31/8/11:  Had random breakfast at Kennedy Hotel. Chapati, fried egg, papaya, cold coffee and no cutlery. Another hot, sunny day. Bought fake dvds. Swam in the pool.
• Took the local bus then walked 2km to the “garden of the sleeping giant! which is an ornamental garden with lots of orchids at the foot of the sleeping giant mountain.

• 1/9/11: Had cutlery with breakfast this morning. Checked into Bluewater lodge – a really cheap, beautiful and clean hostel in Nadi with a lovely pool and garden. Had a swim. Read our books (we’ve had a random selection of books from all the book swaps at hostels. One trilogy we liked so much called the Hunger Games we’ve ordered the rest of the trilogy to be sent to NZL).