We arrived in New Zealand late afternoon so by the time we secured our van, stocked up on supermarket food and found a site heading north of Aukland, it was gone 8pm. We headed off early the next morning to get to The Bay of Islands and start our trip properly. Driving through the NZ countryside my first impression of NZ was this and i apologise of my overuse of descriptive words. Green, open, low key, neat, tidy and structually small. It seemed like the whole countryside was a holiday camp with signs for nature walks, tourist routes, best beaches, campsites, backpacker hostels etc. we stopped en route a few times and went for a wander around local towns. the people here seem very friendly and wanting to chat and I found this too at Aukland Airport. As you are aware we have been through a lot of customs these past few months and none of the custom officers are ever up for much of a chat but as soon as we entered New Zealand, the customs officer was smiling and even participated in small talk. "This is going to be a nice place", I told myself before getting to "Anything to declare" and being told to concentrate by the mean woman officer there. Boo.

As we parked up at The Beachfront Park the sun was glorious and reflexting off the sea making it seem even more appealing, so first thing we done was hire a kayak. A little unsure of whether I could handle one by myself we opted for a double kayak and set off with our matching life jackets and oars. 5 minutes into the rowing or paddling and James was shouting and huffing because we were not in sync and I was crying with laughter behind him reminding him that this was supposed to be fun. We eventually fell into the swing of it and had an hour paddling the sea. We then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and exploring the area.

It is reported to be the hottest February on record here at the moment so the late afetrnoon was spent sitting in our rented camping chairs sipping sparkling wine and reading some of the maps and guides to New Zealand. we have been told by anyone was whas been here not to be tempted to stay in the North Islands as the South Islands are more beautiful,more dramatic. Because we fly out of the South we have decided a week in each should do the trick.

Day 3 - We were on the road early again as we are now heading further north again to at least see part of the 90 mile beach. We decided on place called Ahipara where the start of the beach is. (dont worry if you having trouble pronouncing some of the words, I am here and still cant get my tongue round half of the places). When we arrived, we parked up and headed straight for the beach which was huge in width as well as in length although obviously we couldnt see it all. We bravely waded into the sea which is THE coldest water i have ever come across at a beach. Because of its openess it was extremely windy so we got sand whipped a fair bit. We decided to head back to the safety and warmer campsite.

Day 4 - Now thoroughly used to getting on the road early we set off south heading towards Rotorua where we would spend another night. The 600 km, 8 hour journey was more of a way to reflect and take in the NZ countryside than a dull motorway drive. There are simply too many picture perfect moments to mention on what is one of the most beautiful Islands I have ever seen; the greenest landscape and the bluest lakes and sea's, an artist palette must have been used when this land was created.

Rotorua is in the middle of the central highlands and is famous for its thermal/volcanic activity. The site we stayed at had its own hot pools and boiling mud pond. After such a long trip half an hour in a boiling hot mineral bath was such a relief. The only disturbing thing about the place is the underlying whiff of bad eggs - sulphur! Every now and then it becomes so overpowering it makes you gag. We went to explore the sites mud pool but after only 30 seconds we had to run off because of the smell.