New Zealand's North Island(Or: The Adventures of Tiffany-Crystal, Queen of the Kiwis)

Time seems to be accelerating: the last two weeks here in New Zealand seem to have vanished in the blink of an eye, but at the same time we've managed to see and pack in a huge amount. We knew we'd really like New Zealand, but nothing prepared us for how stunningly scenic it would be, or the huge variety of experiences we'd have in just a fortnight - from sunshine to snow, beach life to suffering extreme weather conditions?.

Our Kiwi adventure began in Auckland, where we landed from Brisbane with a day or so to sight-see before picking up our 'Wicked' campervan we'd booked over the Internet. Auckland's a really lovely city, with lots to see and do; it's quite compact but we've not found ourselves running out of things to see over the couple of days we've had here in total. Museums, art galleries, shops, markets, and lots of tempting food for us to try. We hunted down the famous 'White Lady' the burger van we'd been told about last year while in the North Sea by an Aucklander who claimed it was a "must see" and an Auckland institution. It exceeded expectations and had to be seen to believed, with its fairy-light decoration and mini tractor to tow it into place each night!

Our road-trip began when we picked up the van; each Wicked camper is spray-painted with a funky design and we were allocated one covered in Playboy bunnies. Accordingly, we christened the van Tiffany-Crystal, a name we thought suited a Playmate. And so Tiffany-Crystal became our home for the next 10 days as we drove around and explored North Island?.

First we headed south and east to the Coromandel Peninsula, calling in at Thames where we did a bush-trek through a startlingly green and prehistoric-looking forest. That's one thing that struck us about New Zealand as we flew in, how green it looked after Australia and how much the green, mountainous landscape reminded us of home. A real highlight of the Peninsula for us was Hot Water Beach, where we took a spade and literally dug ourselves our very own hot water spa, taking advantage of the thermal springs bubbling up through the sand. It was a very strange (and hot!) experience, sitting on the beach in bikinis in the middle of winter, watching the brave surfers in the freezing cold sea whilst trying not to scald ourselves in water that can reach temperatures as high as 65�C! There were lots of very pink toes and other body parts on the beach that day!

We had a little stop in Mount Maunganui, and then headed down to Rotorua, renowned for its geothermal activity and mud pools. While we were there we got to experience and learn about Maori culture when we attended a hangi, or traditional feast, where the food is cooked by steam and hot rocks in pits dug in the ground. The food was delicious: roasted chicken and lamb, potatoes and kumara (sweet potato), and stuffing - a real feast for two hungry backpackers! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, as we got to see traditional Maori song and dance and were treated to a demonstration of the world-famous haka. Quite intimidating! While in Rotorua we also visited the Hell's Gate geothermal park, with steaming craters, fumaroles, and bubbling mud pools - a truly unbelievable landscape. Everywhere in Rotorua the smell of sulphur pervades, evidence of the geothermal activity just below the surface - even the public parks in town have steam rising from certain areas! It was like being on the film set for Jurassic Park!

Our next stop was Taupo, with its scenic lake and stunning mountain views of Tongariro national park. It was here that we noticed the temperature drop significantly and were really glad of our newly-acquired winter clothing! It stood us in good stead when we went to the Tonagriro national park itself and went for a snowy walk to Waitonga Falls. It was a winter wonderland, and the sight of Mt Ruapehu, its snowy peaks standing out sharply against the azure sky, was truly breath-taking. The snowy landscape was a bit of a contrast to the paradise islands of Thailand 3 months ago, and we worked out that there was a temperature difference of around 30�C between the two locations - talk about travelling from one extreme to the other!

On the coast again at Raglan we returned to a slightly more comfortable temperature - it still didn't stop us from lingering over a warming coffee in one of the funky cafes there! Raglan's well known for its summer surfing scene, but that's something we'd rather leave to the hard-core locals during these winter months! We contented ourselves with admiring the pretty little town and black sand beaches. We went to see another black sand beach, and after a nail-biting drive down some very twisty, uneven roads, we were rewarded with the moody beauty of Karekare, the setting for the film The Piano. It was stunning, yet another dramatic scene from a country we've found to be so scenic and photogenic.

Heading north, past Auckland and into the Northland, we arrived at Whanagrei, looking forward to a few interesting walks and beautiful vistas our guidebook talked about. Unfortunately, our timing couldn't have been worse: the Northland was hit by some of the worse weather conditions seen in a long time, with huge gusting winds and torrential downpours cutting power off from thousands of homes and flooding whole streets. Major flooding and destruction of trees occurred, and as we were driving up to the Bay of Islands we were having to drive through dips where the floodwater reached our headlights (that highway was later completely closed to all traffic). It was a bit of an unnerving experience; but we made the best of a bad situation and saw what sights we could and weren't cooped up in the van too much. We saw our first real-life kiwi bird, visited ceramic artisans and a chocolate 'boutique', and saw Waitangi, where nationally important and historic treaties were signed. It's such a shame the weather was so awful as we'd heard such wonderful things about that whole area and its beauty; but we did get a bit of sunshine and so got an idea of how pretty it is. It's definitely a place we'd like to come back to- maybe in the summer, when the weather's less extreme!

We would have liked to have stayed longer once the storms had passed, but time was pressing, and we had to return Tiffany-Crystal to Auckland. We did, however, find time to see (and use!) the world-famous Hundertwasser public toilets at Kawakawa, a masterpiece of tiles, glass and a living-grass roof. A really elaborate public convenience, another 'see-to-believe' sight! Whangarei got a second chance on our way down, and we benefited from the floodwaters when we visited Whangarei Falls. The spectacular torrent of water roaring down was quite different to the docile and elegant streams we later saw on postcards!

Unfortunately our campervan road-trip had to end and we reluctantly parted ways with our beloved Tiffany-Crystal - we'd seen a huge amount with her, stopping at many more places than we've just recounted and clocking up nearly 2,000 km. Word hardly suffice - we'll let the photos do all the talking. We've loved the freedom that having our own transport gave us - we've been able to stop at little places and sight on a whim upon seeing a sign and have managed to see some great little places that we would have passed right through on a coach. It's been a totally new experience, something we'd definitely do again, and looking back it's hard to believe the amount we've managed to cover in such a short time. Navigating the sometimes appalling roads armed with only a large-scale touring map and no itinerary was interesting?. but a LOT of fun. Campervan life, with our sweet little camping stove and cool box, convertible table/bed, and driving along listening to cheap CDs we picked out of a bargain bin has just added to the experience. It's such a shame all good things have to come to an end?.

So, to summarise New Zealand: two weeks is NOT enough, but we're grateful for having had the chance to discover it's a place we'd love to come back to. A land of stunning scenery, many waterfalls, delicious ice-cream, fascinating Maori culture, sailing opportunities galore (Jess is getting ideas?), and laughably cheap wine. We've loved every minute of it. It's been so different to the rest of our backpacking trip so far, and having a campervan has given us ideas for mini-adventures back home?