One morning recently we woke up to this view. What a fantastic way to wake up and look out the van window and see this sight. It' Mt Ruehapoe, an active volcano - yes another one that hasn't erupted for a while. We spent some time circling this mountain before heading over to the East Coast to Napier and Hastings. The north isalnd has so many different aspects to it and every coast has a different view. In Napier we went to the wharf where there was a cruise ships berthed alongside the container and timber ships.

From here we ventrued south to NOrth Palmerston before we needed to once again head up the middle towards Auckland because Steven was flying in on the 21st to spend a week cruising around with us before heading back to Perth on the 27th December.

Ours trip with Steven has been full of different sights. We went to the Coromandel area which is a peninsula to the east of Auckland and then down the east coast to the Bay of Plenty, Rotoarua and Taupo. THe next blog will have a collection of photos from this section of the trip along with some great ones I haven't been able to slip into previous albums.

Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas. We are planning to be in Hamilton to find somewhere to have Christmas lunch before Steven leaves us. We then head to Wellington to board the ferry to the south island on the 31st December. Stay tuned for more fantastic blogs of this wonderful holiday.