Taupo is the skydiving world capital with over 30,000 jumps a year. Two days of solid rain (hence stuck in the hostel) allowed me to ponder if jumping out of plane was what I really wanted to do! I have a feeling we'll be passing though again on our way back to Auckland so I don't think I can get out of this one.

Not quite sure why we decided to stay in Hamilton except that it was on the way to Rotorua from Raglan. Glad we did though as we caught the beginning of the 'Balloons over Waikato' hot-air balloon festival. This was definitely an international event with ballonists from Brazil, Belgium and America!!

After months and months of red and brown landscapes it was great to see some GREEN again! The countryside north of Auckland is very similar to the UK. Auckland is by far the biggest city in NZ with a population of 1.2 million. The centre itself isn't much to write home about and in my opinion the city and surrounding area are best viewed from up high, namely from, One Tree Hill and Mt Eden. Our plan was to head north all the way up to Cape Reinga - NZ's most...

Only one night here. Raglan is pretty small and internationally famous for its surfing. We headed out to Manu Bay which has the longest left hand break in the world. Yep - totally meaningless to me aswell. At least it got us out of the hostel and the 16km bike ride was well worth the effort!

I was only here for one thing and one thing only - whale watching. I joined the afternoon boat trip and was pretty sure I'd see at least one whale as sightings had been made earlier. In fact I saw three sperm whales! From a distance they look like giant tree trunks floating in the sea. The spray from their blowholes gives the game away. They stay on the surface for 10-15 mins before diving below the waves to catch food. The last thing to disappear is their ...