We had decided on a road trip.

First stop was to the southern end of the coromandel where we dropped Simon and Shelley off at Flo Crawfords place. Flo is a distant cousin of Janet and so you may argue that Simon, Shelley and Flo had similar ancestors. Flo lives in Thames and runs one of 2 butchers in the town. She lives in a lovely 2 bedroomed house perched on a hill overlooking the Firth of Thames. Such a beautiful setting... Flo introduced us to the latest addition to her animal family (she has a dog cslled lexi) .... Her new lawnmower is a sheep named Harvey !!!!!

Simon described the coromandel as the most beautiful place he had ever seen.
After leaving Simon and Shelley with Flo, June and I travelled up the eastern side of the coromandel peninsula. What a gorgeous drive .... Along the coast and up and down the mountains.... Lovely.

Doug had told us up keep an eye out for a place called HOT WATER BEACH

As we travelled North we noticed a sign pointing to the beach and rather than come back later we decided to take the road and head towards the beach. What a good job we did as we arrived just in time. An hour either side of high tide is when the beach starts to produce hot water. If you dip your toes into the sand an inch or so, you can begin to feel the heat pushing through. The idea is that in that position you dig a large hole - big enough for you to sit in and the hole will gradually fill with water - hot water from an underground fissure. Absolutely amazing and in some places the sand / water is too hot for you to stand on. June and I stayed on the beach for a short while and then went for a swim. - Lovely and refreshing.

Once we had washed ourselves off, we jumped back into the car and returned to our Northerly journey. Again, we nipped of the road to visit Cathedral Cove - stunning coastline with islands and coves, truly beautiful.

Eventually, we arrived in Whitianga (Pronounced phitianger). We drove around a short time and then spotted an apartment called the Waterfront apartments.

We were offered the choice of a studio flat - 1 Bedroom and a shower for $150NZ (£75) or the penthouse with Jacuzzi for $175NZ (£90). No Choice really. June jumped at the Jacuzzi option and so that was settled. The room was absolutely fabulous. Stunning views across the estuary and the bay and so we enjoyed the Jacuzzi and then sat on the covered deck with a glass of wine watching the sunset - Heaven. In the evening we walked into the town to a nice little pub for some food before walking back in the star lit evening and to bed - exhausted

Tuesday 27 Mar - Whitianga, Coromandel.

We left the apartment fairly early as we had quite a journey ahead of us. First stop was Thames to pick the kids up and then of to a small town called Matamata. A few kilometres south of the town is the pseudo-village of HOBBITON. This is the movie set where the Lord of the rings movies were filmed (well bits of them). It was fascinating to hear how the movie had been made. To be honest, Shelley, June and I didn't have a clue what was going on but Simon loved every minute of it and kept telling us that we were standing in the same place that Bilbo Baggins had stood. !!!!!

Following the tour we jumped back into the car and headed back South towards Rotorua. The journey was fine and we arrived at the Sudima hotel in plenty of time. Rotorua was larger than we had thought but it seemed clean and tidy. The hotel stood right on the banks of Lake Rotorua - a Thermal spring lake which smelled heavily of sulphur. We checked in and then spent an hour sorting out accommodation and rafting for the following day. At 5.45 we were picked up by Mark, our Maori driver who took us to the MAORI EXPERIENCE.

He drove us about 10km south to his village. We watched a display of the traditional Maori welcome _ Much nose rubbing. And then were shepherded around various sets / stalls where they showed us how Maoris hunted and played and worked. Then we moved into a theatre where they showed us some dancing and of course they demonstrated the HAKA. We were then moved into the dining room where they fed us an array of food all cooked in the HANGI method. Great food and Simon ended up eating 2 full roast dinners followed by 2 puddings ! You would think that he had not eaten for months.

The bus journey home was also eventful with the driver trying to arrange a sing-song….badly! And then to bed, once again exhausted.

Wednesday 28 March - Sudima Hotel, Rotorua

Off at 9am so that we could make our way to the Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-o-Tapu. The geyser erupted daily at 1015 so we had to be there in time. The Lady Knox Geyser sits in the middle of a thermal springs park which we had the time to explore after the Geyser had erupted. To be honest, we were slightly disappointed with the geyser - I think we had expected a massive eruption but is was gentle and controlled although it was impressive. The rest of the park just re-emphasised to us the destructive power and violence sitting underneath New Zealand.

Following that we had to return to the Sudima Hotel to retrieve Junes journal - Despite going back to check the room she realized that she had left it behind. Anyway, following a couple of phone calls she found it and we were on our way. Our next drive took us to a Bed and Breakfast house in a town called Te Kuiti. Half way there, June noticed a lake on the map and so we decided to divert to it to see what was there. We were really pleasantly surprised to see a fabulously beautiful lake, still and clear and crying out to be swam in. There was a lovely café close by and so after a sandwich, Shelley, Simon and I all jumped in… COLD. Forgot it was a mountain lake. Very refreshing though and the three of us had great fun jumping in off a floating pontoon. A brilliant interlude to our travels.

On we drove and eventually arrived in Te Kuiti - initial thoughts were that we had arrived in redneck town! Very industrial. The B&B we stayed at was called "Simply the best" B&B and it probably is. Fabulous views and a great location. Margaret and Graham told us that this weekend was the world sheep shearing championships and that some guys from Australia were over using their sheep to practice. They started early though and invited us to get up at 6am to watch !!! Clearly, that was not an option for the kids as they looked at us in shock when we dared to suggest it. But of course - never one to miss out, June decided that she was game for it.

Margaret and Graham recommended a local restaurant which they had recently enjoyed. ROSELANDS was some drive away but we sat outdoors on their super terrace and Simon and I enjoyed out first Kiwi BBQ steak - Lovely. After the meal, Lee the owner showed down a small track to a stone cliff which was covered in Glowworms….fabulous.

Thursday 29 March

As promised, Juney was up at 7am to watch the shearing….or was it to watch the big butch Australian shearers?

Following a fabulous breakfast - Cereals, fruit and toast with homemade jams and marmalades, we set of to the Waitomo caves. We had booked the BLACK LABRYNTH trip - a 3 hour trip into the caves with tubing, waterfall jumping and glowworms.

They kitted us out with wetsuits, boots and helmets and of we went. Firstly to a small area in the river where we had to demonstrate our ability to jump backwards into the river whilst wearing our tubes. And then into the caves…. Dark, wet, slippy but very exciting. The trip lasted about 2 hours and consisted of jumping into the bottom of waterfalls, slowly drifting along in an eel pattern and then finally all tubing along in complete darkness. The glowworms were our only light and as it appeared magical, the guide started to sing songs from the Lion King. Simon joined in and then before you knew it everyone was singing "Can you feel the love tonight" Everyone except June who got a minor grump on as she wanted everyone to be quiet ! Poor Juney.

We emerged from the caves, wet, Cold (June was frozen to her bones) and then we were off for a hot shower, a cup of hot tomato soup and a bagel - Yummy. What a fabulous experience - great fun and I think everyone enjoyed it loads.

And then the trip back to Auckland. We left the caves about 2pm and arrived back at Chez Barker at 5pm. Pizza and beer followed whilst we spun stories of our fabulous Road trip.

Friday 30 March

Up early at 7am and busy packing Simon & Shelley off to Queenstown. We drove them down to the ferry terminal at Devonport and they caught the 8am ferry to Auckland…. Sad to see them go but I'm sure they will have a fab time.

JB took us to Takapun to show us the town…fabulous beach with some stunning houses sat overlooking the beach and the bay. We had some food before driving to Devonport to get some stuff for an evening BBQ. June and I also managed to buy some lovely place mats and coasters.

In the afternoon JB and I played golf whilst June went off to visit an old friend = Rachael, from her University days.

Whilst playing golf my ball (inadvertently) fell into a large ditch and in an attempt to retrieve it I fell in….scraping my (L) leg…..not an attractive site

In the evening John and Jo had invited some friends around for a BBQ and we had a lovely evening sat on the deck eating meat and drinking Kiwi Red wine - Fabulous.