Hey everyone, we're back with another blog, but this time from the North Island. So much has been promised, rude people, great weather, beautiful landscapes & massive commercialization. Not everything you hear can be believed!

February 8:

This morning was so rushed, our washing hadn't dried & check out was at 10am. We also planned to catch the InterIslander Ferry over to Wellington on the North Island. First time in a capital city for a while now!
We eventually left the campsite around 10.30 & hit the scenic road to Picton, which was stunning, maybe not appreciated at the time due to the speed we were travelling! Picton was seemingly straight forward at first glance so we decided to grab lunch, relax a bit & then head to the info centre to book onto the 1.20pm ferry. Bad idea to relax, I (Matt) walked to the info place to find out some stuff about the 2 ferry options & to book tickets. I queued for about 40 mins, then finally at the front the woman on the counter said I had to join the other queue because she was going on lunch.
I was fuming, but what can you do apart from kill them & serve time? I wasn't ready for jail just yet, so I huffed & walked out! The only option now was to head for the boat & hope they had tickets & room for 2 cars. They did, we booked on for the tidy sum of $240 per vehicle.
The boat was really cool, it had a sun deck, restaurants, a bar, 2 lounges, games rooms & cinemas. Me & Ed spent half the time playing on a pool game in the bar while the girls read their books.
We headed into Wellington harbour around 3 hours later & drove the cars off with no dramas. The drive through town was similar to that in any Westernised capital city, frightening & everyone out for themselves. All there was time to do today was grab some food for tea & find a campsite, so we did. Oh yeh, decided to relax our achey muscles with a spa!

February 9:

Wellington's famous museum, Te Papa was first on the itinerary for the day. We used public transport to get to town, check us out!
The museum was immense. 6 floors of all sorts of different things. From geothermal activity, simulated earthquakes & natural disasters in NZ to a preserved Collosal Squid, a blue whale skeleton, random sculptures & forgettable artwork. We all loved it, could have spent longer there but our legs were aching!
Then we took a walk to the cable car & rode that up to the botanical gardens. It was no more than average & to top it off we had the most annoying cockney family sat infront of us all the way to the top!
Back in town we managed to lose Ed & Sara so we headed back to the campsite alone. We had a take away & watched a film in the van.

February 10:

Well the weather really didn't live up to expectations other than that Wellington is in fact the windy city. It was pouring down this morning & all we had planned was to try & find some nice beaches on the way up the coast. Instead we just drove! The only real stop was for a coffee.
Well, that is until we reached Taihape, home of the 'Gravity Canyon'. I'm sure you can see where this is going. We spent a while deciding what to do, before opting for the 'Flying Fox'. Basically a 1km zipwire, that you shoot along headfirst @ 160kmph. It was ok, but doesn't really compare to the Canyon Swing or a sky dive.
After the fun stuff was over, we stopped in a small ski town called Ohakune. We found a campsite, Ed & Sara stayed in a little cabin to escape the rain & the van! The 4 of us went to 'Beef n Beer' for tea & the food was amazing.

February 11:

We casually took a drive into town after checking out, to get phone credit & pick some things up for lunch & dinner.
Our route out of town took us straight past the volcano that was used for 'Mt Doom' in Lord of the Rings. Real name is Mt Ngauruhoe. Unfortunately for us, the clouds were low & visibility was as bad as it could get really. We were disappointed but bought a postcard instead. Ed decided to hang around to get some decent pictures so me & Carly headed on towards Lake Taupo.
There were some beautiful stops along the way so we got plenty of cool photos. Carly decided we should have a beer by the lake while we wait for Ed & Sara to catch us up. It was really nice there, the sun even made a rare appearance!
When they did eventually catch up, we had set up camp right on the lakeside. A really nice spot & about time we found somewhere free. It's been costing a small fortune, so Mum & Dad have your wallets at the ready. Just playing......cheque books would be better. I am kidding don't panic, I've actually started selling my body to raise cash for food. Literally, I swapped 2 toes for a Big Mac meal!
The sandflies were back to annoy us once again, but nowhere near as bad as on the South Island.

February 12:

So our arrival in Taupo was pretty early today, we stopped in at the info place to see what there is to do. As we thought, there was nothing in town. All the geothermals & activities & North of the Town towards Rotorua. We didnt hang around, just got back on the road & headed for Huka Falls. They were impressive, the sheer power of the water was amazing.
Our next stop was 'Craters of the Moon', a huge open space filled with craters & holes that bellow out 140 degree steam permanently. Really did look like another planet. Really enjoyed having a look around. Just a shame that some people have no respect for these places, there were cigarette butts & water bottles scattered around everywhere. It's a shame.
We wanted to check out the Aratiatia Rapids but first stop was the prawn farm. You can actually fish for prawns & have them cooked by a chef for nothing. We didn't have time for any of that, so I had a go at winning some cash prizes on the golf hole in one. Came close but not close enough. We headed to the rapids & basically you have to wait for the dam to open, then the water races through, creating rapids. It was cool to see & clearly a popular attraction.
We all hit the road to 'The Hidden Valley', where you get a water taxi to the geothermal areas. The sights were awesome & the choice of names were cool too. 'Diamond Geyser' for example.We spent well over an hour looking around before heading back to get a campsite. Wish we didn't bother, the campsite we have is disgusting! Not like it's any cheaper either!!!

Will be in touch again soon, hope you are all missing us both. Not long til we come back the beautiful England! Boo.