We planned to swim this morning but as the pool hadn't opened we found ourselves having a soak in the hot mineral pools! It wasn't much exercise but it was a good way to start the day.We had been informed that the gondola and luge at Rotorua were better than Queenstown. So having found a good deal with bookme .com Graham thought he would give it a go. It became an exceptionally good deal when we were presented with two tickets for gondola and 4 luge rid...

After a another wet night we were't sure what today's weather would bring but luckily there was little rain, so things are improving. The area between Taupo and Rotorua is full of geothermic parks and it was difficult to decide which to visit. We chose to visit a place called Orakei Korako because it had good reviews and was supposedly less busy than other parks if you got there early. We arrived at 8.30 ( the park having opened at 8am) to find we were th...

It rained all night and it was still raining this morning but on the positive side we didn't have to pack up wet tents like some people on the site. We went and did some geocaches along the beach. The area has black pebbly beaches which aren't the most attractive and they may have looked better with blue skies. On the way to Taupo the temperature problem in the camper van reoccurred and even though Graham topped the radiator up with water it didn't se...

Still raining so no cycling but wine instead. I know 10 O' clock in the morning is a bit early to start drinking wine but the Wine Centre was an interactive wine education centre! First you had to go sniffing lots of smells fruity, nutty, woody etc and then we sat and watched a film and had six glasses to sniff and taste. The experts on the video told us what we were suppose to be smelling and tasting. We both agreed the most expensive was best so I think we ...

OK I know we have been a bit smug about the warm dry weather but I think it might be pay back time. It started raining yesterday evening and hasn't stopped since. We have just had an almighty thunderstorm and now it's just wind and rain but it's not cold! It briefly stopped raining this morning so we had a pleasant run along the river before we left. We might have appreciated the scenery a bit more as we drove north if the weather had been better. St...