I spent Friday afternoon in Waitomo, a tiny farming village, where I went black water rafting through the caves. The water was freezing but well worth it. A highlight had to be floating along through caverns lit up by thousands of glow worms. Apparently the David Attenborough planet earth programme on caves was filmed there. There was also jumping off waterfalls but luckily they weren't too high!! That evening we went to the local pub for a few drinks.This mornin...

Yesterday we left early for another scenic drive through the Kopu Ranges to Rotorua. We stopped on the way at the Karangahake Scenic Reserve and went for a walk across swing bridges and through a 1km railway tunnel. We then drove through Paeroa which is "world famous in new Zealand" for the drink lemon and paeroa (l&p). Our next stop was Matamata, the filming location for Hobbiton, lord of the rings where we had lunch before arriving in Rotorua in t...

Yesterday we had a very scenic drive to the Coromandel Peninsula. Before leaving Auckland we headed up to mount Eden, one of the 70 volcanoes in the area for views of the city. We stopped for lunch in Thames before heading to Cathedral cove. It was about a 30min walk down to the beach, but well worth it! We them headed to Hot Water beach which is located just above a thermal outlet, so if you dig in the sand you can create a VERY hot pool! Finally we drove to Whi...

I have just got back from Paihia, the bay of islands, in the north of the north island. Luckily the sun shone for me! We arrived at midday and I went out on a boat that afternoon around the islands. The boat took us to, and through, 'the hole in the rock' which is unsurprisingly a hole in one of the islands. It also dropped us off at one of the islands where I went for a walk up to a lookout point for stunning views (photos to come). Then I sat on the beach with ...

Hello,I have just spent the weekend being shown around Auckland by Michelle and Siobhan. On Friday night I met some of Michelles colleagues and was introduced to some delicious New Zealand wines, a bit different from the (not so) high quality Australian goon I have been drinking! We then went to a vodka launch party that Michelle had invites to so got some free cocktails, before meeting up with Siobhan.On Saturday, unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating so ...