We were not quite sure what to expect from Ork land otherwise known as the North Island and Auckland (geddit?!) as everyone always raves about the South Island and says not to bother with the North so much, and for the first few hours driving up from Wellington we thought perhaps they were right, but the North Island had several jewels waiting for us to discover them. We started off driving up as far as we could and hoped to just pull off the road but due to very hilly terrain and several of what appeared to be landslides we thought this was probably not a good idea. We had chosen the less scenic but faster route up to Tongariro but as such there were no places to stay according to accomodation guides and Lonely Planet. However, we stumbled across a YMCA activity centre and grounds and settled down in probably the best grounds yet. All there was was us and a few children on camp filling the whole place. We set off the next morning (after watching the children make a real hash of the games obviously meant to show what cooperation can do) and headed for Tongariro where some volcanoes, a few Emerald Lakes (I told you there were some jewels!) and eventually some very wet weather awaited us. We set off on the 'Tongariro Crossing' walk but instead of going from one side to the other we went from one side, saw the main sights then came back the same way so we could use the van instead of paying some monkey lots of money to transport us. The start was easy and the scenery very 'Lord of the Rings' on the way up to the Southern Crater which is situated next to the Volcano widely known as 'Mount Doom' ( I can't say and can't remember its proper name!). I could really imagine poor old Frodo and Sam traipsing up the barren landscape towards their task and there was even a stream which looked like the one where Golom is playing in in the film. Eerily part of the stream looked quite like where Frodo and Sam pass through the marshes where they can see dead people just under the surface... I didn't stop to look too closely! The terrain suddenly got steeper and it was quite a climb up to the Southern Crater but we were rewarded with wonderful views. We replenished our strength with some well deserved lunch then climbed up further to see the 'Red Crater'. The red crater was stunning - it was certainly very red and steaming - everywhere was steamy and smelt of 'rotten eggs' (sulphur) and a couple we met at the top sat us down on top of some mud where hot air was escaping: it was like an open air sauna! We decided to go the extra mile and head down towards the Emerald Lakes and sliding down getting half the volcanic rock in our shoes was certainly worth it - the colour was truly magnificent and instead of heading straight back we sat down and took in the view for a while. Once we did set off we picked up the pace as the weather was coming in: everything we had seen up until now was starting to fill up with cloud and water: the Southern Crater was now more a lake and we waded through it as fast as we could. The way down was treacherous and not helped by the swimming pool in our boots - there was not a part of us that was not wet but (especially when we got back to the van and were safe and dry!) we enjoyed every second of it.

After such a mammoth effort out in the open we thought we would stay warm and dry and treat ourselves to the natural wonders of the Waitomo caves. It was very touristy and though we were on the tour for about 40 minutes we only saw the glow worms for about 1 minute. Despite feeling a bit ripped off by the organisers we certainly did not feel ripped off by nature - it was like looking up at the starriest, most beautiful sky - it really was something special.

We thought we would go wild and go zorbing. To the uninitiated this means getting on some old clothes (or ones provided by the company), getting in a ball full of water then being pushed down a hill and trying to stay standing whilst being swirled around like you're in a washing maching. It was more like a slide down a hill on your bottom as you had no chance of staying upright but it was fun all the same. This was good but not as good as the jumping pillow that we found at one of our campsites. Again, to explain in simple terms, it is like a bouncy castle without any walls, and in the shape of, well, a pillow! We had it to ourselves and I have never bounced so high or had some much fun - I would recommend it to anyone! Best of all was trying to bounce in sync with each other - something I couldn't do for laughing so hard!

We kicked back and relaxed at Lake Taupo taking in the natural wonders of the region, namely volcanic areas such as the Wairakei Terraces park including the "craters of the moon", Orakei Korako geyserland and the impressively huge and powerful body of water, the Huka falls. The Wairakei Terraces had a strange atmosphere when you arrived - you had to be taken over by boat and you could see the sulphurous terraces of many vivid colours from the other shore and you wondered if the ground would be too hot to walk on! There were bubbling mud pools and a place where an impressive geyser was supposed to be but the only geyser I could see was Dave. Apparently putting soap on a geyser can make it spring up but strangely I didn't have a bar handy so we moved on. The other volcanic areas we visited such as Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland and the craters of the moon were all quite similar with bubbling mud pools, funny coloured sulphurous pools and geysers but they never failed to impress us - the overwhelming feeling that the angry heat under the earth was bubbling up and could explode at any moment was quite scary! The angry heat was displayed so beautifully, however, with the different colours and particularly with the Champagne Pool - the fizzing bubbles really did look like the drink! Not that I could see - the heat kept steaming up my glasses! Visiting New Zealand certainly made us appreciate living in England where there is not the threat of a volcanic eruption at any indeterminate moment. I also found a place where the ground was too hot to walk on and you had to walk on wooden walkways. I didn't stand in any one place for too long! Huka falls was impressive in a different way - the sheer volume and force of the water was frightening!

We continued on to Rotorua where we stayed in a lovely little place where if we opened the back of the van we had a view directly on to the lake so we sat and ate, watching the ducks swim past us. Quacking!

From here we visited a Maori village Te Puia. We had already had an intimate evening of Maori culture on the South Island and this village was bigger and more business like. We saw a Maori canoe, the artist's workshop and went to see some more geysers but what was really special was that on site there was a Kiwi sanctuary (the birds, not the New Zealanders!). I had given up all hope of seeing a Kiwi at all let alone in the wild so although they were in captivity it was amazing just to see them. There was a young male and a female and the hope was that perhaps they would mate. Despite being low in numbers they are quite fussy when it comes to choosing a mate so let's hope they got on! Despite being notoriously shy birds there was a group of Germans who came in almost shouting so I used my language skills and said 'Ruhe' a few times. The teacher instinct in me couldn't resist! It is funny that such a rare bird is the national symbol. Did they feel a rare, shy, fussy bird was representative of them?

We were interested in visiting the thermal buried village of Te Wairoa which was badged as "the Pompeii of the Southern Hemisphere". We were expecting great things but unfortunately they did not come to fruition as it did look just like a village half buried where you could only see half the houses. There was no visual insight into the people who lived there like I believe there is in Pompeii so we pinched ourselves to wake up and moved on. Following this, we enjoyed a very relaxed wander around a giant forest, filled with giant Redwood trees, a really nice atmosphere and total relaxation after the thrills of the buried village.

At some point on this journey, we ended up at a 'secret' hot water beach. We'd tell you where it was...but its a secret.

The final installment of the New Zealand leg of the journey was to pay a visit to the Coromandel peninsula. This beautiful area was a fitting last hurrah for our New Zealand experience and a brisk river walk and a swim rounded off an experience that we will never forget. The next morning, we drove up to Auckland and handed back the van. The airport was our last call in NZ and after being in such a fun, safe and truly amazing place, who knows what lies in store in the very intimidating South America...

...next stop Santiago, Chile.