Day 7 - Waitomo Caves Our first night of freedom camping was a success! When we woke we found we'd got a lovely view of the river and misty mountains in the distance. With no amenities to speak of, other than a rather dodgy public loo/drug administration booth, we flipped Kylie to day mode and made our way into Hamilton for breakfast. Another success! Hazel Hayes' hash browns and mackerel croquettes were amazing. We headed from Hamilton to the Waitomo Caves to...

Day 5 - flying solo (well, duo!) We'd planned to leave Taupo Bay on Sunday afternoon to head to Russell so we'd be ready for our Tall Sail Boat trip round the Bay of Islands on Monday. Despite the offer of 'finishing off the kegs' we were resolute and keen to start the second phase of our adventure. Unsure what facilities we might find at our next stop, we took the opportunity to shower, do a wash load and fill up with left over tacos, power and sump water for ...

Day 4 - The wedding Saturday started much the same as Friday had done, blissfully calm with a pastel coloured sky. We knew we'd be eating and drinking a lot during the day so smashed out a HIIT workout to get ourselves some calorie credits! Our cool down was a purposeful march down to the beach. To help us cool down, the heavens opened, and I mean a tropical down poor. It's easy now to see why the landscape is so vibrant! As heavy as the shower was, it didn't ...

Day 3 - settling in at Taupo Bay The cool bright sunlight broke through a morning mist over the bay, just out of view of where we are parked but the freshness in the colours as they changed and strengthened was staggering. We took this a sign to get our backsides up and siege the day! Before the sun was fully visible, we smashed out a hiit workout in the shelter of Kylie. Even before we finished we could feel the southern hemisphere heat building. A quick showe...

Day 2 - Auckland to Taupo Bay The arrival of day 2 found us in full holiday mode, up ridiculously early and ready to start the day! Clarkey being Clarkey, this meant we needed to hunt down a satisfactory breakfast to keep her grumbling tummy at bay...this resulted in high pressure Googling to find the best breakfast in Auckland. With a venue selected, we headed out at 8:00 to join the rumbling early morning rush hour traffic. A short march to the high street fo...