It's a sad statement, but so far in NZ I've been really impressed with their roads. We've pretty much followed their state highways which, unlike England, are one lane roads with numerous passing lanes scattered throughout. They were apparently built over horse tracks meaning they often take a meandering route around the edges of mountains and other landscape. The result is breathtaking views in a peaceful environment between our destinations.

We've reached Tauranga now and after settling down for a starbucks and some shopping during the day we met with Sarah (the lovely teacher we met in Rarotonga). She invited us to camp outside her parents house just outside of the city in a place called... Bethlehem! The house was beautiful and we were welcomed so nicely by both her mum and dad who had prepared some pumpkin soup and avacados for us. I'd never really tried avacados before, but they're a big thing over here and we were taught that they're good on toast and with balsamic vinigar. The verdict - delicious! As we kept chatting the evening rolled on and Sarah took us 'out on the town' to an amazing mexican place for food followed by a local bar and pub to sample the local drink. The whole day reinforced that the people of New Zealand are some of the nicest we've met!

After sleeping quite well overnight (many thanks to the additional blankets) we were advised to take a trip to Mount Maunganui before continuing on our road trip down to Rotarua. The mount was just over 300 meters tall and sat on the edge of hot salt water pools next to the stretch of golden beach. It was clear to see why tauranga had become one of the most popular spots in NZ! Typically us lads took the difficult trail to the top - knackering! It was well worth it though, the views were simply unreal. You could see for miles and miles across the marina, bay and surrounding forest.

After our climb we stopped for a bite to eat before heading onto Rotorua - home of the main geothermal activity! It's sure going to get smelly :-)