I have not been able to write much in the last four or so days due to the on-line access but we sure have done alot and traveled through alot of very different eco systems in this fantastic country. The last I wrote was from Rotorua (Steam vents everywhere!) where we traveled south to Lake Taupo. From there we drove east to the Hawkes Bay Region to a little Art Deco town called Napier. This is a very big region for the Vino so needless to say we had a couple of r...

VERY Slow internet sevice so its real hard to post pictures - I'll update again real soon. We are leaving Nelson on the north coast of the south island. This place is SO beautiful!!!! ......V

Our drvie yesterday was a short one from the Geothermal rich area od Rotorua south to Lake Taupo - the largest lake in NZ. We got in early so it was off to get a daily fishing license from the local shop along with some advice on where to go spin casting for trout. The owner gave us a few location on the lake that were fairly close to town along with THE RULES..... I was very fortunate to catch a legal size trout (over 40cm) on my second cast. We thought if its ...

Took the drive down from Cooks Beach to Rotorua yesterday and it was - needless to say - Spectacular. The views everywhere you look are just beautiful. Lots of green rolling hills all the way out to the ocean with many different colored waters. We swam yesterday before leaving Cooks Beach and the water was a bit on the cold side but you got used to it pretty quickly. On the drive down, we saw alot of logging where they are cutting the trees and replanting. I'll ...

We had a long drive down here yesterday (7 hours) with a 1 hour lost detour - s*** happens - its not all bad getting lost.... Lots of very windy roads along the coast. It seems to be much greener up north as the hills here below the Coromandel Peninsula are dried golden. We got in here later in the afternoon just in time for the afternoon low tide to go do the Hot Water beach. Lots of other visitors there but it was still fun digging your hole in the sand for a V...