Arrival in the land of the Long White Cloud.(Aotearoa in Mouri)

Well we had another early start at 4:30am from our airport hotel across the road from Tullamarine airport. We got checked in really efficiently and ate the apples and bananas and tangerines we had as snacks. The plane took off at time.

Everyone settled into the flight with their ICE entertainment systems . Even the boys are mastering it. Beth made her customary seat to seat phone calls to everyone and as we approached Auckland everyone got pretty excited. On arrival it was overcast and felt chilly very much like England in early winter. We had avoided filling out the custom forms so when we arrived we spent a good 30 mins filling out the forms for the 6 of us then proceeded through customs. We had declared that we had no fruit but we had been camping in the last 30 days. So our boots and running shoes were requested so they could be jet washed.

We continued through customs, the remaining bags were scanned and a lemon was found. None of us knew it was there. I must have picked it up thinking it was a tangerine but we hadn't disposed of it. Despite our protestations we were slapped with a $200 fine and a REALLY long lecture! I think you should be able to choose the fine or the lecture, but suffering both made us want to get back on the plane and keep looking for the Koalas. All in all a nice welcome to NZ. Our defence was that we had 6 bags plus 3 bags of hand luggage and with the early start we were simply forgetful but they explained that one fruit fly on an imported fruit could close down their fruit business for a week or 2 costing millions of dollars.

In the arrival hall we waited another 20 mins for our boots and then we were able to phone Apollo.

They came to collect us and we received a lovely welcome. Its off season and the place was spilling over with vans. They fixed us up with what looked like a brand new van and although we were going to stay in Auckland we decided after a stop at the supermarket to head north to a site that was on the beach. We noticed immediately that the roads were narrower than Australia which amongst several other things, like it was greener, it felt more like England plus in winter it is pitch black by 530pm.

Day 2.

We woke up to a brilliant sunny Sunday morning on Orwea beach. Angela went for a run along the beach and when she returned I did the same with my run including the back of town where the sports fields and the all the neighbourhoods were. This is 40 min from Auckland and very commutable. Again a place we felt we could live in. Patrick and Isaac explored the beach and guess what collected wood for a fire. On the run I had noticed that the school fences in NZ are even lower than the ones in Australia. 1ft vs 3ft versus 10ft back at home. If I find one with no fence I will be sure to observe it. We then spent 30 mins looking at show houses. WOW you can buy a piece of land and then pick a design and employ a firm to build it for a very good price in terms of the UK

We booked in for another night on account of needing to do all our washing (more later)We are staying at a top10 campsite that means if we buy a card for $40 we get a discount at all the other top10 campsites... don't worry there are more than 10!

They recommended a thermal spa 6km away in the next bay at Waiwera. And offered us a residence pass that gave us 60% discount so for 39 bucks we spent 4 hours in between 30 degrees and 40 degrees water. There were several pools at various temperatures. The seal pool was about 36 and very popular. The lava pool was 40 degrees and children weren't allowed in .. good call!

So to the slides recently built and very fast they were steel tube Patrick says "there was this slide called Bobs Mistake and all the other slides went to the water but, Bobs mistake was that he didn't finish it and you went flying through the air into the pool." It was terrifying. The others were called squeezy cheeks the black hole, the basher, short and snappy.

Reading later in the lonely planet guide it said the slides were suicidal. I have to agree 100%. Health and safety is given a wide berth in NZ.

We finished off with a film in the movie pool (38C) and watched journey to the center of the earth which kept about 40 of us entertained. It was great,if a little surreal. Anyone who heard us chatting would ask where we are from, what are we doing and give us recommendations of where to go and what to see. Very friendly, very nice!

We came out at 9pm like prunes. Back at the campsite we had a washing overnighter extravaganza planned. We literally were down to our last pair of pants. The washing machines at this site were only $2 so rather than be rushed in the morning we started them overnight.

To finish off we drank Tui beer which at 4% is very refreshing and ate wonderful Tai noodle soup.

Day 3 in NZ

We slept through and woke to very windy weather but that was perfect for the surf kiters. The coast line was filled with young men attached to kites racing along the sea at incredible speeds. Sometimes they would leave the water somersaulting meters above the water and then land perfectly, to start again. We dried the washing and spent sometime walking along the beach. We set off North stopping at the Austro-Hungarian town called Puhoi that was founded in 1863. We continued on north to Wellsford for coffee and a cashpoint. We then pulled over to take some photos at Waipu a settlement near bream bay that was established by a group of Scots. They have highland games here on New Years day no less, but nothing else for the rest of the year! The pizza barn is highly recommended but is shut for all of June! We ended up in the largest town in Northlands called Whangarei. We went to the famous falls just before it got dark and they were amazing. We then stopped at 'Pak n Save' which was easily the cheapest and largest supermarket we had visited.

Its our first wintry day and thankfully Our Apollo van is quality.

It is so good the kids have called it Posho Camper as opposed to the Cheapo Camper we had last. Its about 18 months old and has a 3 ring gas cooker 3 double beds a large shower/toilet a microwave, LCD TV that we have to re tune every night when on our travels. At the risk of being called wingeing poms we do have a few challenges ahead of us. The DVD player which has no power source. Not to mention each night we are lucky to get power with our dodgy 240v cable. The grey water is not emptying other than through its overflow so I can sense a phone call tomorrow to Apollo for some advice. Also I (Simon) am starting to look like John Travalta in the absence of a hair cut but at least my eye infection, that plagued me throughout Melbourne, has finally responded to eye drops.

We are off to the Bay of Plenty which is meant to be very special tomorrow then we will have a look at the west coast before heading back to Auckland and south.