It's our last day in New Zealand today, tomorrow we fly to India (via Australia and Singapore unfortunately!). We've spent the last two weeks in the campervan travelling around the North Island. We started in Wellington which was a nice city, visited the National Museum, Parliament, Botanic Gardens and rode the historic old cable car. After Wellington we drove up to Napier - a town that was destroyed by a massive earthquake in the 1930s and rebuilt in Art Deco style. The architecture is amazing and we could have easily got carried away in all the antique shops. It's nice that the whole town had a different identity to some other generic New Zealand towns.

After Napier we explored the Taupo area where the highlight was probably Huka Falls - a rapid type waterfall that looks like it's straight out of Thorpe Park. Next stop was smelly Rotorua with it's bubbling mud pools, geysers and horrible sulphur air. We cleared our lungs out after Rotorua with a trip to the surfy town of Mount Maunganui.

Next we headed inland and caught the second day of the New Zealand vs. Pakistan test at Hamilton then went Black Water Rafting in Waitomo Caves. This involves climbing down underground and floating in freezing water through glow worm caves in an inner tube. It was great fun, especially jumping backwards off an underground waterfall.

We then spent a few days up north on the Coromandel Peninsula, The Bay of Islands and the Kauri Coast. Went to a thermal beach on the Coromandel where you could dig a hole and form your own hot tub! The water was so hot that you had to mix it with sea water to stop it from scalding. The most relaxing day was spent sat on the deck of a yacht cruising the Bay of Islands and chasing Dolphins - awesome.

We're now in Auckland and realise we have no plans for our trip to India tomorrow, oh well, sure it will all work out. We're off to have a look round the city now so goodbye from New Zealand and we'll update in India!

Matt and Katie