The morning after the proposal we decided we needed to celebrate so what else do you do when you're by the coast? You get fish and chips of course! We sat in the van eating them watching the waves come crashing in (it was pretty windy) Afterwards it was time to get back on the road so we headed to Hokitika Gorge, it was raining a bit when we got there but we decided to go and walk round anyway. The Gorge is supposed to be an amazing blue colour but because of ...

After Abel Tasman we were heading to the West coast and to get there we drove through the Buller Gorge which was absolutely beautiful. The trees were starting to change colour and the sun was shining, it was a really nice drive. That night we camped in a field in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees, a little bit like the hills have eyes! We drove to Westport on the coast the following day, we parked up on the beach at lunch and had leftover curry watchi...

By the time we reached the South Island it was getting pretty late so we decided to stay just down the road in a carpark and be up and out in the morning. It was my turn to drive that morning and like every time I took my turn I got the bad road. The views of the coast were amazing but the road up to Wharariki Beach which is at the top of the South Island was really hilly and really winding with loads of blind corners. Terry and I persevered though whilst Cass...

We made our way to Wellington where we were staying overnight with Ron & Dot who are family of some close friends of Casson's mum and dad. We arrived looking a little worse for wear as we hadn't showered for a few days and had zero clean clothes as we also hadn't done any laundry but we couldn't have been made to feel more welcome! We had soup and bread for lunch (both homemade) and to Casson's delight homemade chocolate brownie, which has to be said could q...

After a freezing night on the desert road it was time to head back to Tongariro National Park as the transport was due to start running the day after. We were staying in a field owned by the company we were using as it was really close to the pick up point. It was a really sunny day so we sat out all afternoon, had a BBQ and we could watch the walkers coming down from the Alpine crossing in the distance. We were wishing we'd been able to do it that day as the we...