We decided to hire campervan for our travels (this is really a 6 seater minibus with the seats taken out, a 2 plate cooker and 2 bed frames with matresses thrown on them in it and curtains at the windows).

Off we set with Paihia (Bay of Islands) as our first destination. Darren did the driving and after 2 attempts we found the recommended campsite - Haruru Falls.

The scenes are amazing and we tried to walk some tracks today but due to the wind and trees being blown down we had to turn back. We have booked a boat trip tomorrow to look at the various islands of the bays and are going to go throught the hole in the rock.