Hello!! Well we're finally back to civilisation! Just in Hamilton at the moment, it's a city about 100km south of Auckland, so I better fill you in on what we've been up to for the last few days... Saturday 22nd July - Picked up the campervan!! Exciting stuff! It's pretty big and was quickly christened Bertha! or big bertha when she can't hear us!! Decided to get on the road straight away and made the short drive up to a town called Whangerie after stocking up on supplies. Parked up at a really friendly campsite where the views were gorgeous of pine covered mountains just behind. Sunday 23rd July - Up fairly early, I think sleeping in a campervan will be something we'll get used to! Lesson one, don't sleep with the heater turned off! Brrrrrr!! The weather was gloriously sunny during the day but the clear skies meant at night it was freezing. We set off to see some waterfalls just outside the town(see pics!) They were pretty impressive! On the road north again, we're heading to the very top of New Zealand via several places! To say we're on 'highway' one the road is interesting! Imagine the snake pass and we're about there! Oh and add in the sheep and cattle on the roads! Arrived at a town called Pahia in the Bay of Islands and went to Waitangi just outside, the birth place of New Zealand. It was here that Maori chiefs signed an agreement making the various tribes one people under the protection of the British. This happened about 1840 and the giant canoe in the pictures was made to celebrate it's centenary in 1940. Really interesting to hear about, also saw performances of maori songs and dances and a Haka! (Not the haka performed at the rugby,that belongs to a tribe north of wellington, but it was just as impressive!). Camped for the night in a place just outside Pahia called Haruru falls. Take a look at the views of the falls from the back of our van which looked out onto the lake! Beautiful! Monday 24th July - Back into Pahia for a boat trip in the Bay of Islands.It's supposed to be on of the most beautfiul places in New Zeland and it didn't dissappoint with 144 islands!! Anyway there were reports of dolphins in one part of the bay so we went to see them, and then got in the water with them!!! Me and Laura got wetsuits on and dived in!! Problem was they didn't want to stick around! Have you ever tried keeping up with a dolphin swimming?!?!?! It doesn't happen!! But I still managed to touch one before they went away and Laura got up pretty close! Also went to see the hole in the rock(again see pics!) a massive hole in on of the islands you can drive a boat through! Was a really beautiful trip, all the islands looked gorgeous in the sun and the water was like a millpond! We left Pahia late afternoon for a campsite just north of Kaitaia, the last town of any real significance heading north. We went via a town called Manganoui for our tea. They have a fish and chip shop that is built out over the water,apparently they used to catch the fish out of the window of the shop!! Truely the best fish and chips I've ever had! Tuesday 25th July - The campsite we arrived at late the night before is right on 90 mile beach. It isn't quite 90 miles but it is a seriously long beach! Sand as far as the eye can see. It's so long and straight that it can be used as a road! Sadly rental vehicles are band from using it!! So we had to stick to normal roads to make our way to the very northern tip of the north island, cape reinga. The last 20km of the drive is on unsealed roads! We felt like we'd just got out of a tumble drier when we arrived! To break up the trip we stopped at some giant sand dunes(again see pics!). These were massive, like something out of the sahara. Finally got all the sand out of our shoes and carried on to Cape Reinga. You look out to sea from the lighthouse there and you see.....sea! Lots of it! At the cape the tasman and pacific seas meet causing amazing waves! It's also a sacred maori site, there's a tree on the very tip of the cape who's roots are supposed to be the enterance to their underworld or afterlife. So being as northerly as you can get we headed back down south, as it started getting dark we were just south of Kaitaia so found the nearest campsite....oh dear! It was in the middle of nowhere and the home to some hippies I think. As if it wasn't cold enough we had a power cut in the middle of the night too! So no heater again! The only good thing about the place was the stars! I've never seen so many in the sky, it was amazing! Wednesday 26th July - Knowing how far we had to travel south and the slightly backwards surroundings we got up early and hit the road. We travelled down the west coast of the northland or Kauri coast as it's known. The kauri tree is native to New Zealand and they grow very slowly but end up massive! We stopped in a protected forest to see the biggest ones in New Zelaand(see pics) The tallest or God of the Forest was so tall it's untrue and is around 2000years old! whilst the father of the forest is another tree which isn't as tall but is even wider, I think it's trunk has a 17m diameter! The rest of the day was spent driving mainly, only stopping to get a car ferry across one of the rivers, which was run by a Welshman! He told us the orca whales came up this far inland chasing stingray but we didn't see any! Finally made it back south of auckland where we stopped for the night, spending the evening in an Irish bar with live Irish music. Sadly we'd just missed out on the finals of the National New Zealand paper, scissors, stone tournament! Thursday 27th July - After the 6 hours of driving yesterday we've taken it easy today. Drove for an hour to the city of Hamilton where we had a quick stop to change travellers cheques and get some lunch and now we've arrived in Waitomo, famous for it's caves filled with glow worms, so we're due to see those tomorrow. Apologies if this has seemed rushed (yes there are lots of spelling mistakes!) and a little boring! We'll try better next time when we're on a computer that isn't so dodgy and there isn't so much to tell you all at once! Take care everyone. Love Paul and Laura xxx