After the distress of the bike ride from hell we set off again towards Tongariro National Park as we wanted to do the Tongariro Alpine crossing, unfortunately we were having a run of really bad weather and it just didn't stop raining and so the local tour operators weren't running their drop off service as they thought the crossing conditions were too dangerous. We decided to drive past the National Park and head to Whanganui where we were going to sit it out for a few days.

The free campsites in Whanganui weren't great so we decided to head to Waiinu beach on the coast but before we did we went to our favourite shop (Warehouse) and bought travel monopoly.

We were the only people at the campsite but the weather was awful so there was nothing else to do but play monopoly and drink beer. The setting was amazing, even if the van felt like it was in danger of tipping over in the wind. Unfortunately it turns out that we're both massively competitive but Casson took this to a whole new level with monopoly, we laugh about it now but he was a truly awful loser! I'm sure it was because he felt like he was losing money as when I thrashed him in our cards tournament he didn't bat an eyelid! Luckily for him he upped his game and ended up winning more than he lost.

The following day we headed back to Whanganui and treated ourselves to a takeaway curry then headed to Koitiata for the night. Again it was raining so we were in the van playing monopoly all day like a couple of losers. The following morning it was clear and sunny so we went for a walk on the beach, we've never seen so much driftwood washed up in one place, the beach was covered in it. The weather seemed to be picking up so we decided to drive to Okahune which was on the way back towards the National Park.

In season, Okahune is a bustling ski resort but as it was out of season it was fairly quiet. It was really nice though with the mountains in the background. We had a walk around the town centre, had a bit of lunch and then headed towards our campsite for the night.

The campsite was called "end of the road" so we put it in the sat nav and headed off. An hour later we didn't seem to be getting to "the end of the road" but we did seem to be going deeper into the forest. The road was getting narrower and the trees were closing in to the point we didn't think we'd get the van through. Then we came to a section where a tree had fallen across the road, there's a picture of me trying to lift it but it wouldn't budge so Casson drove over it. After driving for what seemed like hours Casson decided we were going to get stuck and turned the van around. I was convinced we just hadn't come to the end of the road yet.

By the time we were back on the main road it was pitch black, we were on the desert road which is used by massive trucks all night long. Terry was so slow (he was a pretty old van) that all the trucks were overtaking us. As it was so dark we missed the turning for the campsite, when we eventually got there it was literally a small pull in off the main road. It was freezing and the van shook with every lorry that whizzed past us. I was convinced one was going to come off the road into us (slightly dramatic as we had pulled into a clearing well off the road).

That morning we woke up to frost on the windscreen and gunshots as we were parked next to a military base!

General points

1) It's pitch black at 6pm so we've been going to bed at 8pm every night

2) The weather is picking up which is good as we're getting van fever