God this blog is getting cobwebs...what a disgrace we both are not giving it the love it craves. In honesty, we're at the point where we need to be sending stuff to recruitment bods back home and climbing back onto that career ladder...all so we can do this again some time!

But less of the excuses, I'm in an internet booth that is coin operated...and they don't give you much time so here goes.

Suze left you on the edge of your seats in Bayleys Beach. Well, we arrived at the only campsite they had..its a tiny village, and took a stroll along the beach soon after parking up. We do a lot of beach strolling if truth be told, but we don't get much beach in Beckenham...very little in fact, the sandpit in the park dont' count. Watching sand fold away from the waves is a wonderful thing I dont' think I can tire of, so I'm going to make the most of it. Unfortunately for us, we still seem to attract random dogs on the beach. And we did again in Bayleys, cept he had the intelligence to go home this time. I'm bad with dogs, I dont' like them...yet still they plague me....

One evening of chatter with "John the local", and his tales of london brickies, boredom in the north island and the the glory of the south island (massive hint there I think), we were off again. On past Dagerville were we took a pitstop to update the photos, email more recruitment people etc, its not the prettiest place really, a long drive south of Auckland. The weather mirrored the drive really, dull and uninteresting..I wont' bore you with the conversation. We arrived in Piha on the coast west of Auckland that evening. Our NZ mate Vicky back home recommended this sleepy town, with it jet black volcanic sands, and we could see why. Sleepy, and slightly bohemium, with a cracking little bowls club serving the cheapest ale in the world. Stayed here for the evening, and managed to get in that walk ont he beach.

Windy road over the hill from Piha was an experience, especially in the dense fog...the campervan being the most lumbersome thing we've had to drive on our travels..and a little nerve-racking. We survived mind, and pressed on for the Coromandel Peninisula. This lies south and to the east of Auckland, jutting out of the mainland, its practically got its own climate! We pressed on swiftly, hoping to get there in time to catch the All Blacks game. I'm not a big rugger man really, but I enjoy sport, and I enjoy the experience of watching ahome nation in their home land. Odd really. The entirely Mauri crowd spent most of the time cracking jokes about the teams inept display than showing any patrionic virtues...laughing with the clearly mad french guests in the bar and departing soon as the whistle was blown. Suze and I had the pool table to ourselves, and a barmaid...like being five star hotel all over again...

One night was enough, Coromandel being a little quieter than the book suggested, but appreciate its the depths of winter over here. Its cold, but the heater is doing a roaring job (pun there, bad one but its there) keeping us cosy at night. I thought we'd be yearning for a warm bed in a hotel by now, but oddly we seem to be more than happy in our 4.7m x 1.7m palace.

Onwards, down the coast now having decided that the 6 hour drive to the East Cape was a bit much (and its a little desolute out there), we took refuge in a tiny place called Athenree. This site was 4 star plus! Plus being the thermal natural pools on site, completely deserted and at a lovely 40 degrees I was in soon as we'd parked up. Athenree was just the break we needed. We sat watching DVDs from the young couple that ran the joint (must recommend Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but not the remake of the Hulk which is turd), rustled up a curry (I'm loving the cooking on the road, doing it all from scratch and making it up as I go along...Masterchef would have been a breeze, had I got past that lesbian), and soaking till we crinkled in the hot tubs. After two nights, we had to go...otherwise we'd resemble prunes. So it was south for Rotorua and the thermal parks.

We'd heard a lot about Rotorua, but to be fair were mindly disappointed. It was championed as the place to be on the North Island..but can't see why. Okay, sounding like a spoilt brat here, but the highlights were move out of town..and the town was, well, creepy to say the least. We found a park mind, pricey but close to Waiatapu, the thermal park, and rigged the camper for bed. Opted against using their thermal pools on account that it was minus 4 outside and rather brisk to be parading around in swimming trunks, damp ones at that.

Waiatapu was great mind. A clear day for a start. The smell of sulphur hits you like rotten eggs, but for me the smell took me back to childhood camping trip. The smell of M&S Stewed Steak out of a tin, heated and served with spuds...smashing..and smells like sulphur. I was the only one there clearly enjoying it. Great geysers, smouldering pools of bubbling mud, colours like you wouldn't believe of dissolved mineral salts, like another planet. The pictures do it more justice than my words evey could...so enjoy.

From Rotorua we hit the road for Te Kuiti and the glow-worm caves of Waitomo. It was here that we made our greatest purchase...a mink blanket. My god this thing has defined me, its like being smothered by a..erm..dead beer. We wake up now smoldering as apposed to just being toastie. Thank the lord for fake mink fur!!!

Anyhow, onto the caves. The glow worm is a sorry thing really, losing the ability to eat when it hits adulthood, it dies a couple of days later, but gets enough time for one last hoorah on a female..and so the cycle continues. Hamilton was our guide into the rather-over-priced caves, and as we were his only group...a group of just me and Suze, he took great delight in telling us about the caves, the worms, and the time he took Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz abseiling during the filming of Last Samarui. He wasn't going to let us leave without getting that story in. The worms were incredible, the whole ceiling of the caves alive with specks of green light...like stars, and in their millions. We took a stroll along the river soon afterwards, investigated more caves on the sly (cause they were free!) and, caked in mud, returned to the camper knackered but ready to press on south for New Plymouth. Unfortunately, having got there, the mighty Mount Egmont...sister of Mount Fuji in Japan, was covered in cloud...lots of it in fact...and the next morning, it was still covered in sodding cloud!

Nevermind, we set off across country...hoping the cloud will lift which it never did, for the Togoriro National Park. Treacherous journey in the dark, we arrived shaken at Ohakune, the mountain village. Soon as we got out of the camper, it was like we were back on a ski holiday...ski shops, the crunch of frosty snow underfoot indicating there was more snow higher up, and brightly lit bars packed..well, more than 10 in NZ is packed for us, with folk decked in puffer jackets and sallopetes carrying snowboards. This was home for us, two ski nuts from the UK, and no sooner had the sun come up on our rather-swanky holiday park, we were straight down the ski shop armed with enquiries for one day on the slopes.

The girl in the shop was honest mind. Skiing is poor round New Zealand, but poorer still round Mt Ruapeha, were the open plains mean wind and blizzards are a problem. We were a little gutted to say the least, but decided one day lost here is a day gained skiing in the south island were its better. Not too disgruntled, we stayed another night to catch the second rugby test (New Zealand won, cue everyone downing pints and trumping off home at the final whistle..again)..but were thankful the next morning when the ski fields were decked in cloud.

However, the road through the park to Napier on the west coast was unbelievable. The cloud lifted, and for the first time we saw New Zealand in all its glory. White snowcapped mountains rose above lush green plains and forests. You could see why Peter Jackson chose here as the setting for Mordor, the evil place, in the films. Stunning..and I hope our snaps do it some justice..

Well, we're onto Napier, but sending this from the South Island. I would go on, but my hands are frozen, and this computer is eating all my coins...and now I'm down to my last $2. In other news, we're coming home mid August now...the recession not being the culprit for once, more small pangs of homesickness and wanting to arrive back on UK soil in credit unlike most travellers. How very grown up. Still much more to see and tell till then..so till next time.

Much love

Mike & Suze.