Blog Monday 2/11 Driving South.... We were up early today as we had a long drive to do - from Trounson Forest to the Coromandel Peninsula - about 340km. After an early breakfast we were on the road by 9am and in Dargaville shortly after. Our intention was to stop at the Library for its free WiFi and then move on. There was WiFi but it was slow and erratic and after a frustrating hour or so being only partially able to do what we wanted to do we gave up, feeli...

Sunday 1/11/15 Kauris and Kiwis. The alarm went at 4.30, we dressed in support of the All Blacks and walked out of the campsite and along the beach road to the nearby hotel [the local Pub] to join 70 or so local Kiwis and campers to watch the Rugby World Cup Final between the All Blacks and the Wallabies being played at Twickenham. We were greeted warmly by the group of local Kiwis already onto their second beer! We stuck to latte and avoided the ‘full cooke...

Sunday 1/11/15 The alarm went at 4.30, we dressed in support of the All Blacks and walked out of the campsite and along the beach road to the nearby hotel [the local Pub] to join 70 or so local Kiwis and campers to watch the Rugby World Cup Final between the All Blacks and the Wallabies being played at Twickenham. We were greeted warmly by the group of local Kiwis already onto their second beer! We stuck to latte and avoided the ‘full cooked’ breakfast buff...

Saturday 31/10 Russell and Waitangi. What a difference a day makes! Yesterday a remote windswept beach, today a quiet harbour with a millpond-smooth ocean sparkling in the early morning sunlight. Outside our bus mallards and wekas pottered about looking for friends. We had a 10am check out today so needed to look sharp and headed off early to run up Flagstaff Hill via the Kororareka Nature Reserve on Maiki headland. It was already pretty warm in the sunshine...

Blog Friday 30/10 Woke early today and watched as the sun appeared over the mountains behind the beach. It had been a blustery night and the motor home had been rocking despite our carefully selected sheltered position. We drank our tea watching 19 wild horses quietly grazing in the meadow beside our van. There was little sign of life in the campsite as we set off for our run along Spirits Bay. It still looked impressive with pounding white surf, bright blue s...