On arrival in New Zealand the first thing that hit us was the cold, the wind and the rain. However this didn't deter us from the great excitement we both felt. On arrival at Auckland airport you have to declare if you are carrying any food stuffs, it was great to see the amusement on the face of the official that Andrew D spoke to as he stood there and loudly declared that we were bringing in some muesli that we had bought with us from Woolworths, this we found out through a very cheeky grinning official wasn't going to cause New Zealand any sort of threat. Unfortunately our still damp washing showed up as bomb on the custom scanners so we had to have a suitcases fully searched but as we could have told them we really had nothing else to declare except the muesli so they let us go and we were soon free to enter the country.

The YHA hostel in Auckland was ok décor wise, it had a good location with was thankful as every time we stepped out the door we were soaked to the skin within a few minutes.

One of the major sites in Auckland is their Sky Tower. It looked good and a view from the top was kind of fun if not a bit daunting as the floor was made of glass and you could see all the way to the matchstick people below. You could if you wish jump off the thing but both of us being cowardly meant we settled for watching.

Auckland is an average city that can't compete in our opinion with Sydney, though reading the guide books they seem to think it does and in some casers they think it's better. It does have an attractive harbour and the centre is nice and compact which makes walking round the highlights nice and easy. We decided on our third day to explore an Island off the coast which was fun. It was again very wet and windy and even though we had a great day it didn't persuade us that this city was a great city and it hadn't lived up to our expectations.

After the few days we had spent in Auckland it was time to pick up our new campervan. This would be our base for our New Zealand adventure. You guessed it, before we even got to leave Auckland somebody decided to reverse into us giving our campervan a fair old nudge. Luckily and thankfully no damage was done, so after a good slagging off of the guy who hit us we were off.

With Auckland in the rear mirror we headed for our first destination - Corromandel. A remote little peninsula with great costal scenery. During the drive to Corromandel we were to learn the main difference between driving in Australia and New Zealand. It's a fact that New Zealand is much smaller and by rights should be nice and easy to get around. That however was not the case, smaller yes, but in New Zealand you're either driving up hill or down hill with very little to stop you coming off the road. A 200 km journey in Australia would take around 2 hours in New Zealand this would be near to 4 hours. Journey times are not helped by wanting to take a photograph around every corner as the scenery is just drop dead gorgeous.

Our first campsite also come as quite a surprise as we had become used to big luxury parks with small prices. We decided to play it safe and stay in the countries premier campsites known as the top 10's. Premier they are not, as this one was little more than a mud bath. We had the van stuck in the mud within 5 minutes of being there. The shower and toilet block was basic to say the least and it was still raining.

The next morning the rain did stop and we had our first glimpse of the real New Zealand and it really does take your breath away. Taking advantage of the better weather we decided to take a ride on the Driving Creek Railway. This is a home made railway which travels up the hill for great views in all directions.

The following day we made our way to Rotorua stopping off on the East Coast of Coromandel to have a look at Cathedral Cove. It is around here a lot of the Narnia films are filmed and it was stunning. We got to Rotorua and the first thing that hits you is the smell.

Rotorua is the start of the volcanic range that runs through New Zealand. Sulpher rises and causes all manner of bubbling mud, bubbling acid pools and steam to rise from the Earth. It is all in all an absolutely fascinating sight.

Whilst at Rotorua we saw a sheep show which was a lot more entertaining than it sounds. We also had a rematch on their local luge (going downhill very fast on a piece of plastic with dodgy breaks) Unfortunately it was raining so hard the track was more like a river and we got drenched. We also had problems stopping the luge which meant we flew down it quicker than we would've liked. After 5 daring runs down the tracks added to the 3 runs we had done in Singapore, left us with the following scores in our worldwide luge competition. Singapore - Andrew D winning 2 - 1 and Rotorua - Andrew B winning 3 - 2, so as it was all even and we would have to wait till we reached Queenstown to find out who really was the quickest and would be crowned luge champion 2009.

After Rotorua we headed for Waitomo which is famous for its caves with glow worms. They appear like stars in the sky and they are quite spectacular. Andrew B decided to go Black Water Rafting whilst here. This basically involved launching yourself underground with an inner tube, jumping backwards off numerous waterfalls and riding the rapids whilst trying to dodge the big rocky outcrops in the cave system. All this was done in the pitch dark and to quote "was bloody brilliant" whilst doing this far to dangerous activity Andrew D kept with the traditions of his family and made himself happy relaxing at a local café which sold very nice coffee and double chocolate brownies.

After a bit more cave exploration which this time was much more civilised in a nice boat with lights and no jumping we headed off for Taupo. Coming over the hill your first glance of Taupo takes your breath away . It is your first of many jaw dropping oh my god moments at New Zealand's scenery. Snow topped mountains with a massive lake in front, this was really the first time we appreciated how much wide open space New Zealand has to offer.

In Taupo we enjoyed more walks and then it was time to hit the thermal pools. These are great as they are naturally heated by the boiling water coming up from the bowels of the Earth. So whilst the outside temperature is freezing you are in pools as hot as a bath. There was also a waterslide here which was kind of fun. Andrew B went down on his back and went so fast he almost fell out the thing, banged his knee and cut his toe. Still what is a bit of pain when having fun.

After Taupo we headed via the local ski resort of Oakanne, which we spent a few nights hoping the rain would stop and we could ski. But alas this never happened so it was onwards again and all the way to the bottom of the North Island to catch a ferry from the capital of New Zealand, Wellington to the South Island.

Our campsite in Wellington was strange. In fact it was no where near Wellington, it was in fact on an industrial estate in a town called Lower Hutt. How they get away with calling it the Wellington Top 10 resort was a bit beyond us both. To explore Wellington meant catching a bus which took about 45 minutes to get to the city . However not being one to be put off we did spend a lovely day looking round Wellington which was again ok. Their museum was actually very very good and luckily the day we explored it the Wellington Symphony Orchestra were giving free concerts and they sounded brilliant.

The next day it was a very early start to catch the ferry that would take us to the most stunning place on Earth - the South Island of New Zealand.