Monday - Today we(Me, Neeley and Fiona - who has joined us on the trip since Wellington) left 'Taupo' for 'Rotorua'. We arrived by lunchtime and checked into "Central Backpackers". It is $20 a night with great facilities and in easy reach of the town centre. We then decided to take a tour of the town after visiting "Ronnies" the best bakery ever, doing one of the free thermal walks. We went to "Kuirau Park" and walked round the grounds past the steaming lakes, mu...

Saturday - Today before we started the drive to 'Taupo' we decided to squeeze in the 2h, 7km, walk to the "Silica Rapids". We walked through a mountain beech forest, dark marshlands and volcanic rocks all with "Mount Ngauruhoe" in the background. We then reached the rapids having walked alongside a cascading stream, arriving at the creamy-white rocks where the rapids desended. Such a spectacular and interesting sight. From the rapids we then caught a lift back to...

Thursday - It was a 4h drive from 'Napier' to 'Ohakune' in the 'Tongariro National Park'. It was really great countryside with rolling green hills, dark volcanic style rocks, rocky unsealed roads and also past "Mount Ruapehu". One funny part of the journey was when the road we were on was blocked by cows! We had to follow them for 2km down the road before they parted to let us through! When in 'Ohakune' we checked into "Mountain View Motel" and paid $25 for a dor...

Wednesday - We left 'Wellington' today. I drove and it took the long 5h car journey to 'Napier ' to recover from last nights major drinking session, Neeley and Fiona both slept for the 2 and half hours before the lunch stop; so it was just me and the radio! We stopped at a nice cafe in 'Woodville', and had beautiful toasted sarnies, before heading back on the road to 'Napier'. The journey was very easy as the roads we very straight and between the green rolling h...

Sunday - Today we dropped the car off at "Quality" cars and took the ferry from 'Picton' to 'Wellington'. The journey across the "Cook Strait" took 3h and was quite calm, we also met up with Fiona on the ferry (whom we met in 'Kaikoura'). We docked in 'Wellington' and we met by the "Quality" car rental man and our very swish black automatic Nissan Sunny. After dropping Fiona off at her hostel we negociated the very complicated one-way system to our hostel. After ...