After Tauranga we decided to go up the Coromandel Peninsula before finishing off our NZ trip in Auckland. The Coromandel is known for its good weather and amazing beaches so we headed for Cathedral Cove, where we had been told there was stunning views of the coast. We drove up the east side of the peninsula, parked up and set off on the 40 minute walk to Cathedral Cove. The views along the way were stunning with bright blue seas, sandy beaches and huge white clif...

After Taupo we made the 2 hour drive north to Rotorua, a geothermal/volcanic region. The first thing we noticed about Rotorua was the smell. The sulphur stench hangs around in the air and seems to accumulate in all the buildings. we only spent one day in Rotorua and used our time to visit the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal Park. Our first stop in the park was an active geyser, The Lady Knox, which erupts everyday at 10.15am. We gathered around the geyser and watched as a ...

So we arrived in Wellington after 3 hours on the Picton Ferry and drove the camper off the boat and onto the busiest roads we had encounted in NZ so far, which still weren't really that busy. We navigated our way through the narrow streets and after struggling to find a spot big enough to park in we eventually found a pay and display space on a side street. As we left the camper it started to rain and this stayed pretty constant for the next few days. As we could...

After Greymouth and before arriving at the Abel Tasman National Park we stopped at the Punakaiki Pancake rocks on the north west coast. This is a series of rock formations that rise up out of the sea as tall pillars, each pillar is made up of thin layers of stone stacked on top of each other. The rocks make for an impressive view and in places had come together to form blowholes that shot water high up into the air when a big wave was forced through the gap. The ...

From Queenstown we drove an hour or so north to Wanaka, a small town with a very pretty lake, which is huge and lined with bright green willow trees. We had a pub lunch in Wanaka and spent the afternoon walking around the lake. In the evening we found a great spot to park up with fantastic views over-looking the lake. The next morning we woke up to a wonderful sunrise and ate our cornflakes by the side of the river, which was very still and calm and constantly c...