Drove south on the scenic route through the Waipoua Kauri Forest, which suprisingly enough is full of Kauri trees. They are huge, magnificent things, and the drive was lovely, the road winding its way through what is left of these great trees,that were such a source of wealth in the 19th century. Here there is also the largest tree in NZ,called Tane Mahuta and standing at 51 metres. The weather had brightened up by now and so we kept stopping to take photos...

Drove from Waipu to Waitangi today, through the driving rain. Paihia, on the Bay of Islands and neihbouring Waitangi were both soaked and very quiet. Went to Waitangi National Reserve which is an area of land that was owned by the British and is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by the cheifs of many Maori tribes and on behalf of the British government.The treaty was a peaceful agreement in which they would work together rather than against eac...

We'd decided that to see any of New Zealand in the very short space of time we've got (9 days in total) we should hire a campervan, and we got a discount with Wicked because we've hired before. So we picked up our new Wicked van today - Barbie! Very girly. So its a good job I can be on the insurance over here and drive most of the time to save Dan from feeling completely idiotic! We drove about 150km north of Auckland. This country is gorgeous, and so small!...

Got themorning flight from Cairns yesterday to Auckland. Went for a few drinks with some blokes in our hostel last night. Today we wandered around Auckland in the rain. We both love it. Its a bit hilly in parts, the gorgeous Albert Park by the art gallery and uni is a lovely city park. Its Autumn here so we're treated to the trees turning yellow, red and orange. It feelsa bit european with some of the architecture, quite stylish but definitely with its ...

Hot and sunny all day today (perfect day for the reef!)Got the bus 11km north of Cairns to Tjapukai; which is an Aboriginal park owned and run by the Tjapukai tribe, who are local to here. This place was fantastic! There was a film about the history of Aboriginals, the subsequent arrival by Europeans and the resulting violence. It was a very moving film, obviously told from the aboriginal point of view. I have had a vague sense of uneasiness in Oz with this ...