Auckland

Well I can say this about Auckland its spread out. It took an hour on the bus from Manukau. We caught the bus as planned and it was interesting to people watch. I sat next to a complete racist retired Indian guy and Angela sat next to a young Maroi who was enthusiastic about all things NZ despite the police confiscating his car and him having to catch the bus back to the north of the island and hope his mum pays the fine to release his car. We got off in Britomart which is the main transport hub for Auckland but becaue the car is king in NZ its quite tiny in fact Warrington's bus station is much more impressive. I can only say this because we have a brand new one that opened last year and cost millions.

We crossed the road to see the harbour and we were attracted to do a harbour cruise which included complimentary tea and muffins. The muffins were the clinching factor and they were superb, huge and fresh. The captain steered while providing a running commentary about the history of Auckland. We could see the container ships being turned round quickly, unfortunately the captain couldn't and he had to make an emergency 360 turn to avoid a huge ship which was hooting at us! We saw the Americans Cup village with all the expensive yachts and cafes. We had a stop on the island of Rangitoto which was created 600 years ago by a volcanic eruption. It is an island without soil but there is still vegetation. The ferry hooter sounded, when it was about to set sail and we had to run back or wait in the island for the next ferry.

The kids got invited onto the bridge it resembled a huge speed boat rather than a ferry and the captain was an interesting chap who's dad left Liverpool and his 7 sisters and jumped ship in the early sixties. The captain was a funny and could easily captain a ferry on the Mersey. He has started racing speedway bikes for kicks.

After 2 hrs we looked at the time and jumped the link bus up to the museum for 90 mins. The museum was superb. Ground floor Maori, 1st floor NZ wildlife and environment. This included a great mock up of how an eruption at Rangitoto would impact Aucklanders! This was particularly good value for our family, due to Angela jumping off the couch and grabbing Joe when the room shook, very funny.

The top floor contained War stuff and had a memorial containing all the names of NZ soldiers that died in each of the conflicts they were involved over the years. Did you know that NZ took part in the Vietnam war and continue to contribute significantly to all UN peace missions?

By this time the kids were passing out with hunger so we made them walk through a botanical garden up through the university and we dived into a BYO Korean restaurant. We didn't have any ale on us but they supplied us but what was noticeable was that soft drinks = soft prices 50p for a coke and we ate like kings for £30 incl drinks. Refreshed we headed to the sky tower but by this time it was dark so we felt the trip up the tower wouldn't be worth it so we walked to the port and caught the ferry to Davenport which is a desirable place to live. It had a great high street with nice bars and restaurants. We could certainly live here.

We bought some shopping memorable for the fact that Isaac chose some green milk shake that was absolutely disgusting. When we were back in Auckland we had a hour to kill before the bus and Joseph leading the way to McDonald managed to find the red light area but sadly for him didn't realise although Beth did. Its near Custom St and the Britomart if anyone is visiting.

We had a great and long day in Auckland but this meant we caught the 2nd last bus home.

Whilst on the bus a drunken Maori refused to pay and sat down at the back of the bus next to us. Something then happened that would never happen in England. The driver who was approaching 60 stopped the bus and approached the man in a calm manner and asked for the fare. Three people offered to pay his fare but the driver wanted him to pay. The man spoke in Maori pretending not to understand English The bus driver then spoke in Maori , the man coughed up half the fare and the passengers the other half. Satisfied the bus driver continued and everyone was happy , even the drunken Maori who then found he's split his half open bottle of beer through his bag and onto his trousers.

Running in Auckland was very hilly and from what we can see the houses are twice as big for half the price.

Heading South

We drove south towards Hamilton missing out the Bay of Plenty. We just didn't have time. We headed for one of NZ highlights Rotorua which the kids can pronounce but I cannot. It smells of rotten eggs due to the geothermal escapes from the fault line it sits on. Polynesian spa

We stay at a campsite halfway to Taupo called Golden Springs its pretty run down BUT it has a natural thermal spa and a flying fox. The flying fox is a about 400m long and goes over a flooded stream.

Joseph goes first and its very fast. The speed and then the way it stops shakes Joe up so much on pulling the fox back he falls into the stream. Angela is laughing so much she grabs the chord to help Joe and promptly follows him into the stream. Patrick goes next but Beth and Isaac see sense and decide after minutes of deliberation they don't want to die today. There is not much health and safety in NZ which we think is a good thing!

We set off to Taupo very excited and we stop at the Hakka falls which is a big waterfall, beautiful.

Then we did Waikiti natural Thermal walk, which is a bit of a rip, but we saw lots of steam vents and bubbling mud and interesting pools named porridge and chocolate pot. The steam and mud are really hot, really really hot. Our party is divided half think this walk is brilliant and the other half came away wishing we had completed the "craters of the moon".

The views around Taupo are amazing and we have a late lunch in the van and decide to drive whilst its dark and the children sleep up to Tongariro National Park. We were headed for the scouse village in the park Whakapapa. Its another great NZ name but this one I could pronounce. One brilliant thing about NZ campsites is the provision of a kitchen with a proper cooker, microwave and huge dining tables. We decided to use the kitchen all the children helping cooking and having a most memorable night.

We definitely want to come back here. It has three snow covered classic Volcanoes.,all active. Its the place for the setting in Lord of the Rings for Salamander (you know chief baddie ) and the Orks.

Mt Rupapheu last erupting in 1996. We stayed on a national park campsite that was simply superb but right in the danger area if an eruption occurred. There were emergency procedures for fire, snow, eruption, flooding and earthquake. So what do the Kiwi's do build a huge brick hotel and a massive ski field. What were we saying about health and safety ;-) The visitor centre has an seismograph and the whole area has sirens linked to early warning monitors. I chatted to Dave the warden who worked as a chef in Capel Cruig no less that the magma was 100m below the surface in parts. He probably tells the tourists stuff like that all the time but we chatted for 30 mins and I certainly had a laugh and learned a lot from him. One consistent feature throughout this trip has been the friendliness of people and their eagerness to help us and share interesting places for us to visit and things to see.

We both went running, although spectacular, not wise at 1700m. If the hills don't kill you the altitude finishes you off.

The Mt Bruce road was open so we drove up to the ski station. It was freezing but we had woolly hats! We did some sledging with a handful of locals and legged it back to the camper just before we turned blue. Hot chocolate and biscuits sorted everyone out- the beauty of the camper a mobile cafe.

We then drove and stopped at Tangwai where on Xmas eve in 1953 the Auckland Wellington express and most of its carriages fell into the Whanganui river and 151 people died. I had heard of this story how a local farmer had tried to warn the train driver but it just couldn't stop in time. Even now the river looks to have caused a lot of recent damage and the existing bridges didn't look that great.

We then had an enjoyable 2 hr drive to Palmerston North only interrupted by stopping for a young hitchhiker who had settled down in the van only to let slip she wanted to goto Taupo. She was standing on the wrong side of the road.

Palmerston North was a good size 70k and had a nice city center. The campsite near to town was on the riverbank so we called it a day at 6pm and stopped.

Tomorrow we are visiting the town's rugby museum before heading down to the Apatite coast which is a desirable commuter belt for Wellington.