Auckland had finally arrived, our last stop after 6-7 weeks in our little van, which had done us proud!! Surprisingly we had no problems finding the Escape campervan depot and everything went smoothly. What a relief knowing we had received no fines for scratches etc as it had taken some beatings over our time in NZ!! Before we handed it back we made one last stop at Mt Eden on the outskirts of the city centre, which was a volcanic crater which you could drive or ...

Today was what one would call a beach day, visiting so many breath taking beaches it was unreal. We started of in the doubtless bay area of Matia Bay, it was a little out our way on a peninsular but we had seen pics of two bays seperated by a pinnacle that looked stunning in the shape of a 'W'. When we got here it was exactly like the picture but we couldn't figure out how to get an aerial view of both the bays for a nice pic so Kate took us up the penninsular se...

We came across Matakana on our road trip towards Goat Island, which we gave up on when we realised we had to get a boat to it or swim, which would have beena little chilly. However we are really glad we bumped into the small village of Matakana as it was a saturday, and a lovely day - it was thriving.. with a really nice farmers market selling all the local products such as Jams, chutneys, vinegarettes and wines. There were also tool smiths, butchers etc all add...

We have absolutely loved our time on the Coromandel Peninsula as the weather has been perfect for us, so warm! The coastline along the penninsula offers some amazing scenery, bays, islands, forestry and plenty of activities for all. Our first stop was the fantastic beach of Whangamata with the coromandel forest park and tairua forest bordering the township. It is this beach that offers some of the best surfing breaks in New Zealand along the 6km stretch. The beac...

Today we headed up to the main township of Tauranga to the Bay of Plenty. It was an absolutely perfect day so we wanted to make the most of it. We got some info from the local visitors centre as we wanted to do a walk that gave use 360 degree panoramic views of the Bay of Plenty and the surrounding harbour etc. We were told that climbing Mt Maunganui was what we were looking for right next to the main beach along the marine parade. It wasn't a huge mountain, it w...