Well it really has been a long time since I updated this so about three blogs are going to follow! Once leaving Havelock North we drove to Napier for most of the day. It is a beautiful 1930s styled town due to an unfortunate earthquake meaning that everything had to be rebuilt, therefore art deco land was born! Everything was art deco and so infinately cooler than anything else. We followed a self guided walk type thing to see all the main buildings and walked along the sea for a bit. Once we left there Alex drove the couple of hours to Taupo. Fairly uneventful drive to Taupo and found ourselves at the Craters of the Moon that afternoon - a geothermal park with loads of steam coming up through the ground - and also went to visit a waterfall nearby.
We then attempted to drive back to where the campsite was... well the designated field you are allowed to camp in for free. Drove around for quite a while actually, meeting some dead ends and driving along roads a campervan probably shouldn't until we gave up and decided that we were close enough! Another campervan pulled up later on so we all decided we were ok and would stay. It was our first night actually staying in the campervan so we cooked up a feast of venison sausages (thanks Ma!) and invited our neighbours in for a chin wag over uno and timtams. Perfect.
Got up bright and early the next day to go to the nearby hot springs which you can just rock up and bathe in... we had no other means... plus it was very cool but a little like being in a zoo as it was the beginning of a popular walk in the area. Washed off and went to the big excitement for the day - PRAWN FISHING. We had a bit of a guided tour around the nurseries and alex fed the baby prawns, i was too chicken, and then we were ready to go fishing. We sat next to the pools on little jetty things in drizzle and pretty cold weather to catch NOTHING. Several hours of big fat nothing. So back in the camper we got and tootled to Rotorua to stay with the Spurdles and not sleep in the van another night!
Rotorua is the area of New Zealand where the Maori tourism occurs so we did our best and visited a Maori village and went to a cultural show that evening followed by a hangi - traditionally underground cooked food. It was delicious and we shared a table with two other pairs who were also campervanning around so that was cool. In the afternoon we had also scored free tickets to go a wildlife park so went and petted a baby lion cub! Alex actually acquired some teeth marks in his shorts from the little thing. The weather all day was a little off but in the evening it truly poured... lucky us!
The day after we took our camper - Edie - to the Coromandel. A perfect weekend in the sun in the most beautiful setting. I sat with my nose in the guide book hunting out little scenic places to stop so we pulled up places every hour or so to look at a waterfall or visit a winery. The first day we went to Pearoa which produces a famous NZ drink and then finished the day in a little cove recommended as somewhere to stay by the tourist information lady - "you cant freedom camp, however there is a little place down the road where it is unlikely anyone will be visiting after a certain time"...! Pulling up next to the beach, listening to the waves and looking at the amazing stars was delightful!!!
The second day we did a few walks and went to a winery in the middle of nowhere, before heading to Hot Water Beach for low tide. If you dig a hole in a certain place hot water comes up from under the sand and proves natural hot pools to sit in. Pretty packed though! We pulled up on the edge of the road, next to the sea again that night, and once again the scenery was spectacular.
We went from the Coromandel to Auckland to stay with Alexs aunt and uncle, and get a nice shower! We got there via Thames, which I mention because we had our best New Zealand pie there. What a winner!
Leaving Auckland for two days to head north was also the beginning of a wonderful adventure. We covered a fair distance this day, getting to Paihia, in the Bay of Islands. On the way we went past pink sheep, a funky designer toilet and sat and had fish n chips in Whangerei. We got to the Bay of Islands with time to visit the Treaty Grounds - where New Zealand became one, and booked ourselves onto a tour for the next day.
The tour took us to the very North of the island, via a Kauri forest, sandboarding on some mega dunes and boogieboarding in the sea, and back along 90 mile beach and a fish n chips for dinner! Awesome day. I was particularly good at the sandboarding.... alex says extra mass helps, the coach driver reconed it was the board... I think im a natural.
Our last day with Edie was simply driving back to Auckland and our last few days in Auckland were spent avoiding the horrible rain and therefore not doing too much!
We had an amazing time in NZ and major thanks go out to everyone who helped us along the way with accomodation and food.