It was only a short drive to Auckland but first we had to go to Browns Bay which is a northern suburb of Auckland. I'd been looking for an underwater case for the camera since Koh Tao, and managed to find one on the Internet in a little shop in Browns Bay. After the quick stop over, we had to get to Auckland airport to drop Irene off. We said goodbye to Irene, Mel found a possum sleeping in a bin, and then we grabbed a taxi back to town. It was really strange...

It was only another 45 minute drive until we were in Paihia; the main mainland town in the Bay of Islands. It's a really nice town, one of, if not the best seaside town I've been to. There's no gaming arcades or funfairs just little shops, cafes and spectacular views. Also, probably the main reason I like it so much is there is so much fishing! We have even booked on a six hour fishing trip to try and catch some Kingfish tomorrow! If that's not en...

We got up early so we could get on the road and drive up towards the Bay of Islands area. It was a fair drive and we stopped off along the way to make a pancake breakfast. Mel had read about a good walk we could do, so we made a detour to do it. It was further out of the way than we'd thought but when we got there it was so peaceful. There were some caves to explore at the beginning of the walk, the path lead right into them. It wasn't until we were in th...

Today we wanted to get upto the Coromandel area but we didn't leave the park till gone 11.30am. We'd been told about a beach that has hot water just under the sand, and all you need to do is to dig a hole and you've got a hot pool. It took a few hours to get up there but it was a beautiful day again, and they call this winter? The last few days have been like an English summer! The beach was busy with loads of people who had the same idea as us, they ...

One of the things on our must do list for New Zealand was black water rafting, and we'd booked a trip for the Waitomo Caves. It should of taken us about two hours to get there but ended up taking nearer three thanks to a missed turning. Once we'd arrived, there was only three of us and the instructor going on the trip. Just a short drive from the office and we were at base camp near the cave, and the instructor kitted us out with some rather fetching wet ...