Sunday - Up very early today (6am) to join my tour to 'Yosemite National Park'. It was a bit chilly this morning but we were soon going to warm up! We set off at 7.30am. We left 'San Francisco' and headed over the "Bay Bridge" onto the freeway. After a couple of hours we reached the "San Joaquin Valley" and the golden grasslands, hence the title "California: the Golden State". They went for miles, but also included many fruit orchards, as agriculture is the main ...

Well I have made it, I am now in the 'USA'!! I arrived in 'San Francisco' airport on Wednesday at lunchtime and took the BART (metro) to Downtown 'San Francisco' and my hostel "HI San Francisco Downtown". It is $22 and really nice, it has a great location and the dorm rooms are big with an en-suite shower room. I had a shower when I first got in and then had a wander around the city to get my bearings. It is really easy to navigate as every street seems to end up...

Saturday - We left the 'Bay of Islands' today and headed back to 'Auckland'. On the 4h drive we passed the "Wharengi Falls", which were georgeous!!, and took the costal route back. We got to 'Auckland' and checked into "City Groove" (v. basic hostel, $18, close to town and home to cats). We left Fiona there to chill out and went to drop the car back to "Quality Car Rental", the depo was all the way out at the airport so we had a lengthy bus journey back. All was ...

Thursday - We left 'Auckland' and drove 4h up the coast to the 'Bay of Islands' right at the far tip of 'New Zealand'. It was a really nice and sunny day, which made the drive nice. We drove through stunning costal scenery, picturesque green hills and tiny sandy bays. We arrived in 'Paihia' and checked into "Saltwater Lodge". It is $21 and really nice; en-suite, good kitchen and huge TV lounge. We had a little wander around the very cute town, little craft shops ...

Wednesday - We left 'Rotorua' early (9am) and headed to the 'Coramendel Penninsula' on our way to 'Auckland'. What a beautiful drive it was, through rolling hills and past golden bays. We got to the 'Hahai' and had our lunch on a bench overlooking the white sand beach and its clear green/blue sea. Then we drove to the "Cathedral Cove" lookout and decided to do the 1h30 walk down to the cove itself. On the track down we followed the sign for "Stingray Bay" as this...