Our ferry trip across to the south island was largely uneventful as a lot of ferries are. However, unlike your typical trip from Dover to Calais, you weren't sat on board staring out at a channel of water. Instead you were looking out on the epic landscape of the south islands bays. It brought with it the great sense of anticipation and awe as we'd heard on numerous occasions that the scenery the south offered so much. Our first day on the island was one which ...

The 'River Valley Lodge' was a breath of fresh air. It was placed at the bottom of a v-shaped valley and after a quick chat to the owner we were parked up alongside the lodge next to their magnificent river. The lodge included a spa along with the chance to do grade 5 white water rapids and/or horse treks. The best bit about the place was that it had that homely feel about it which was very welcome when you've been living out of vans. None of us lads took the op...

The drive down to Taupo was unfortunately our first experience of a chip in the windscreen. The joys of driving eh?! But I can't complain too much because the views just seemed to be getting better and better. We came over the horizon to the awe-inspiring sight of the largest lake in the southern hemisphere (it's bigger than Singapore don't you know). The first day here was spent navigating our way around the town before driving out to see Huka falls. The river ...

Rotorua sure is a smelly place... And not just because us lads turned up in our camper vans which now have a slight eau de man about them.  The drive from tauranga to rotorua was a fairly straight forward hour journey down another of the state highways. After going through the city's industrial estate we arrived in the city centre which was surrounded by your typical shops, banks oh and geothermal pools of sulpher! The scene was surreal. You were literally in a...

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 Taur...