Hello, "how you going" as they say in NZ!!

So we started in Auckland picked up the camper car, its not big enough to be a van, so im calling it a camper car! Still not great at parking it, but its not a van!! And we hit the road!

We drove north and reached our first stop, 3 hours away. A beautiful campsite right next to the beach! The sand was soft, the sun was hot and the sea was warm and clear! So we were a happy pair and stayed for two nights. Sleeping in the camper car, the first night was actually really good, we woke up in the middle of the night, looked up through the window to see the brightest, clearest stars!

Next stop was further north, to karikari peninsula. Which was recommended by a kiwi bloke who was staying at the first campsite. So we drove through the bay of island and eventually arrived at stop number two. The bay was called Maitai, and it was beautiful. A small, yet empty beach, with the bluest water!! We met a canadian couple who had been a dug up cockles on the beach, and were cooking a pickling them! They let me try some, and they were delicious!

We continued up, right to the top of NZ, to a place called Cape Reinga. Where the Maori people believed the spirits departed this world for the next, and Tasman sae and the pacific ocean collided!

That night we drove down and stayed at Owera, and cooked up some huge green lipped mussles!! They were delicious and very cheap! On the way to Owera, we drove through the forest to see the giant Kauri trees, which were up to 2000 years old, and huge!!

We continued our journey to a spot called hot water beach. The clues in the name. It was a hot water beach! You took a spade down to the sand and dug until you got to the hot water and bathed until you were lobster red! It was really cool, sitting in this lovely hot pool right on the beach front! The water is heated by a thermal rock below the sand.

That night it did not stop raining, all night and all of the next day! We headed for Rotorua, and stopped off at a blueberry winery on the way, where we tried some blueberry chilli chutney and liquers!!

Rotorua, the Eggy town! It was really cool, driving into town seeing steam rising up! We had a look around the towns park, where there were thermal steaming pools and boiling mud!! Pretty rendom to see this in the middle of a town!! Our camp site had a thermal pool, which we used and had a little soak, which was lovely.

That night we visited a Maori village, to learn about the culture and traditions! The Huka was really good and the Hangi meal was tasty. Although the evening took a cheesy spin, when we were made to stand, hold hands with everyone around our table and sing bloody songs!! One, being "you are my sunshine"! The bus journey back however, was funny, the driver had us singing again, although this time it didn't feel as cringey, as she took us around the round about, 5 times or more, singing "she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes"! Nutter.

We also visited the wildlife park and saw and fed the animals!! Nice cheap activity and i got to stroke the lion cub! The Walabees were funny too!

Taupo now, and its lovely. More thermal springs, which are so nice to soak in after sleeping in the camper car!! Ha!

Hope you are all good?? Missing you all.

Lots of love Kate and Jon xx