Woke up early don't know if it's because we're on the east coast or because I'm still a bit confused about the time zones - we lost a day, but now there's an extra day n the month, so it should average out! Found it's easier if only one of us is trying to move around inside the camper van at one time, not much room and it seems to rock like a boat! But we slept well and after Tony had a run and a swim, we set off for the Bay of Islands further up the coast. Had a lovely afternoon there, including a raspberry and white chocolate ice-cream, yum yum, and went over to Russell on the ferry. It's lucky we were nice and relaxed, as there then followed a hair raising journey across the centre of North Island (it doesn't look too bad on th map!) Several hours of mountainous roads with hairpin bends, were interspersed with unexpected roadworks - it seems to be national re-surface your roads week - where a man would suddenly step off the verge waving a STOP sign! We soon learned how important it is to ensure all the cupboard doors are securely fastened (and the fridge) to prevent all our belongings making a bid for freedom every time we screeched to a stop! We drove through the Waipoua forest and stopped to visit Tane Mahuta, the oldest living tree in New Zealand (over 2,000 years old) Couldn't hug it though as you're not allowed near it because of the very fragile surface roots. Also stopped en route at Naturally Alpacas, but couldn't hug them either as they were in a field. Arrived at the campsite in Katui in the rain and opened a bottle of wine to steady our nerves (mine were frayed from going round all the hairpin bends and Tony's from me shrieking every time we did so - hopefully it'll be good training for the roads in South America!) Heading to Rotorua tomorrow.....