Well what a first week we have had in New Zealand. It only took around 24 hours to fall head over heels in love with the place. We arrived into Auckland airport on the 12th after a short flight and we were blown away with the sights just from the aeroplane window. As you are coming into land you are met with picturesque views of small islands, turquoise waters and lush green fields and hills. We hadn't even landed on the runway and we were already getting a taste of what New Zealand was going to be like. We have flown into many places and dealt with lots of immigration and boarder controls so far but none as strict and careful as this. The people are all really friendly but they make sure they do their jobs. Before having our bags X-rayed after immigration we forgot to mention on our forms that we had hiking boots with us, we informed them before they went through the scanners and good job too as we would have had to pay $400 each for not declaring them. The ecosystem here is rather delicate and just the slightest microbe of algae or bacteria in the soil on the boots can disturb things quite a lot. So we made our way over to the relevant desk whilst our hiking boots got a good clean. After chatting to the customs bloke about all things rugby we were handed back a sparkling clean pair of boots and we made our way through the airport and out onto the streets of Auckland. Welcome to New Zealand.

The weather in New Zealand is like the weather in England. One minute it's sunny the next it is grey and raining cats and dogs. But being English we felt at home with the grey clouds and rain and for the first time in a year we were not expecting sunshine during our stay. We had sort of forgotten what it was like to feel cold as we have became so used to the sun shining on our faces. We were collected from the airport by our hotel and were there after a 10 minute drive. The Kiwi Hotel done exactly what it said on the tin, cheap and cheerful but with Indian management they made a mean lamb madras and butter chicken that we threw down our hungry throats in seconds. Excited to be in a new country we couldn't sleep with thoughts of what lay ahead of us racing through our tiny minds. After watching many TV shows in our room Ash finally slipped off into Kiwi filled dreams whilst I caught my first Newcastle United game of the season against QPR, I'm not sure what time it was but it was in the small hours I know that much due to the time difference. The game itself was enough to send me to sleep and before we knew it was time to get up. We wasted no time making our way to the Happy Camper office to pick up our new home on wheels for the next three weeks. With the freedom we felt with Bert we thought it would be silly not to do the same with our time in New Zealand and we opted for a hire camper, a lovely brand spanking new Toyota that Ashleigh christened Bertha. She's a little on the small side and it took us a few sleeps to get used to the limited space but we love her now. It's nice driving along not worrying about the gear box or even the engine falling out of the bottom of it. Plus it's an automatic and very relaxing to drive as the car does all the hard work, this is great as it allows us to sit back and take in the sights more whilst we drive. We wasted no time starting our road trip as we have to make every day count and we drove north to the top of the North Island, arriving in Waitangi a few hours later. Waitangi is a smashing little place situated on the northern coast and we were here with one main purpose, to visit the Waitangi National Reserve, the birthplace of the nation. But by the time we had got there it was getting a little late in the day so we decided to leave it till first thing the following morning. Finding a camp site down on the sea front, we bedded down between the ducks and the green grass for the night.

Early the next day we were back at the Waitangi National Reserve and booked in for the first tour of the day. Our guide was a Maori woman called Denise who could name every member of her family reaching back 17 generations. After a quick introduction she lead us down through the reserve and down towards the shore where the war canoe Ngatokimatawhaorua is housed. This is a very impressive hand carved canoe that is 35metres long and is carved from a single tree. It is adorned with many carvings of Maori faces and patterns and it was hard to believe that it was constructed not using any modern day materials for example, instead of using glues they used the natural resin from the wood to bind the pieces together. Denise kept rubbing the canoe as she talked about it and we later learnt that this is something that the Maori do to connect and communicate with the spirits of their ancestors. Describing the Maori carvings she told us why so many carvings show faces with their tongues sticking out, this is to show that all they know and the teachings of their culture over the years have been past down verbally as they did not have any written form of the Maori language for teaching purposes. We also learnt that the tattoos that many Maori have on their faces can only be earned by all members of their tribe agreeing that they are worthy of the important honour. The more tattoo's you have, the greater a leader you are. We made our way up towards the Treaty House that was once the home of British resident James Busby who played a crucial role in the lead up to the signing of the treaty. Here we learnt all about how the British and the Maori came together in sovereignty offering the Maori people full rights and possession of Maori lands and resources. But the best part of the tour was saved till last. We walked up a small hill to the Whare Runanga, a Maori meeting house. Now this is not any normal house and more like a work of art, with every inch of it adorned with a carving or traditional Maori pattern. Before entering the Whare Runanga we had to take off our shoes as this is a sacred place of the Maori and where they come to talk to their ancestors. They compare entering the Whare Runanga to steeping back into your mothers womb and as we may have walked where blood had once been spilt we needed to remove our shoes ensuring that the 'womb' would not be contaminated with war and evil. Inside the Whare Runanga was breath taking as each wall had individual hand carved panels of different figures all meaning different things. The one that stood out was of the Maori god of the sea that held it's tongue between it's hand. The story goes that the Maori believe that we came from the oceans and that the whales are the sacred creatures of the sea god and they are linked to them as a Maori's eyebrows are the shape of a whales tail. When she pointed this out we couldn't help but notice the resemblance. If you hunted the whale's the sea god would pull you down into a vortex and punish you with the waters powers. Denise then said "...and I wasn't surprised to see what happened to Japan as our sea gods punished them", we found it amazing that they actually believed that the cause of the tsunami in Japan was down to the god's not being happy with them whaling but it was good in a way to see that the modern Maori still believe in the old teachings. Denise finished our tour by singing a Maori love song that the Maori men would sing going to war as they knew they might not be returning to their loved ones. She had a beautiful voice and it resonated around the Whare Runanga reducing Ashleigh to tears. We finished off our time at the Waitangi National Reserve watching a kappa haka Maori performance that showed different Maori training techniques for a strong and subtle body and even taught the men the haka that I was more than willing to learn.

That afternoon we drove back down the road to Auckland to take in the sights of the city. It is a great place with the skyline dominated by the Sky Tower. We had decided to check out Queens Wharf as this was the site for the rugby fan zone. The rugby world cup was well and truly in town and as you drove down the roads, streets and cars were littered with the flags of the partaking nations. We spent the night in the Heineken bar watching a couple of games surrounded by high fiving Canadians followed by Scottish fans chanting "WERE SH*T AND WE KNOW WE ARE!" and it was the perfect way to get us in the mood for our up coming games over the next few weeks. The next morning we woke with our heads a little fuzzy from the stream of Heineken we had enjoyed and saddled up to hit the road. We drove three hours south to Waitomo to witness one of the most beautiful things we have ever seen in our lives. The Glow worm cave is the largest attraction to these parts and it's not hard to see why. We paid $48 each for an hours guide through the grotto like caves that were subtly illuminated. The limestone caves were like those of Halong Bay and had stalagmites and stalactites everywhere that glistened with the waters that seep through the cracks leading towards the surface. The caves started with a walk and descent into the main chamber that opened out into a cathedral like structure with the ceiling of the cave being some 14 meters above our heads. Our tour guide added to the mystique and atmosphere as facts about the cave and the glow worms whimsically poured off his tongue. Think of New Zealand's version of David Attenbrough and your somewhere close. He should have been on TV and he made the tour even more enjoyable. Unfortunately photography was not permitted in the caves as any light source exposed to the glow worms results in them stopping their glow making them impossible to see. They look like tiny specks of a bright blue light and were easy to see in the cavernous roofs of the caves. But the main spectacle was still to come. We made our way down to a small jetty underneath the caves and boarded a small boat. The only light that could be seen came from the guides small torch and slowly he pulled the boat into an opening using a series of ropes. The Maori translation for the name glow worm literally mean stars over water and I couldn't think of a better description. As our guide pulled us through the cave, just above our heads thousands of tiny bright lights shone like stars in the nights sky. It was a crazy thing to see and words or picture even would not do it justice. It was like staring at crystal clear star constellations that you could reach out and touch. It was a magical experience and something that we will never forget. After an hour of making our way through the caves we were pulled back into the day light and the tour was over. Worth every cent.

All that was left to do that day was to drive an hour back up the road to Hamilton where we would be meeting our friends who we worked with on Lindeman Island, Philippe and Zoe as we both had tickets for the All Blacks game against Japan the next day. We had arranged to meet in the same camp site the morning before the game but we turned up a day early so we could find where things were. On the evening we were sat in the camp kitchen after having a bite to eat. A girl came in with dark hair all dressed in black with her hood pulled over her eyes. She shuffled around the kitchen behind us turning all the taps on and off. She then shuffled to the fridge and looked inside then turned on the microwave with nothing inside it and left the kitchen. This kept happening every five minuets for around half an hour. We were getting a little bit freaked out by this strange girl who was shuffling around the kitchen, I even said to Ash "she's harmless...looks like she might have a learning disabilities or OCD or something like that as she keeps doing the same thing again and again". We heard the lock going on the door and we thought "Great, here we go again, taps, fridge, microwave then door" so first the taps went, then the fridge, then the microwave and then she placed a toy turtle on Ashleigh's shoulder. She jumped not knowing what was going on and I turned round thinking she was pulling on her hair. All of a sudden the girl pulled back her hood and took off a wig and it was Zoe who was crying with laughter. Philippe had been stood at the window filming the whole thing and laughing all the way. They had got us good and proper. It took some time for them to stop laughing and for us to get over the feeling of being taken for a ride. We spent hours in the kitchen catching up on what we had been up to since life on the island and turned in for the night ready for the next day and the big game.

The day of the 16th was one of excitement. None of us had seen an international rugby game live before and being a world cup game it added to the excitement. Kick off was not until 8pm so we had the day to spend walking around Hamilton taking in the sights and soaking up the atmosphere. Flags of all nations flickered in the wind on the streets as you walked by and we couldn't help but be impressed by the effort that had gone into it all. After collecting our tickets we made our way to the fan zone to watch the build up of fans before the game and sank a few beers with the help of $9 Steins. What a bargain and they definitely had the desired effect. Steins are so big it's like having a drink out of your Dad's pint when you are a kid. Time was ebbing closer to kick off and it was time to get into the swing of things. Face paints on, me and Philippe opting to black our whole faces out with the silver fern on our cheeks and to finish off the look Zoe placed her black wig on my baldy bonce. The ladies went for a more classy look with silver ferns on their cheeks and Maori swirls on their faces. So looking like 1920's minstrels we hit the streets and headed for the Waikato Stadium. Within minutes we were being photographed by people and even by the local newspaper. The reporter took our names and promised to put the picture in the paper. We are not sure if it made it in but if you have a spare copy of the Waikato Times from 17th September, be a star and pop it in the post for us. The closer we got to the stadium the streets became more littered with fans of all nations coming together to watch the game. We split up from Philippe and Zoe as we were in separate stands and after a hot dog and grabbing some beers we took our seats to a fantastic view of the pitch. Everybody was in good voice and spirits and as the players made their way onto the pitch a massive roar went up. We started to get excited as we knew that after the national anthems we were due to get a first hand account of the All Blacks doing the haka. As they lined up the ground was silent until the start of the haka was proclaimed by the team bellowing "HEEEEEEEE" and stamping their feet to the ground setting themselves into position. The crowd went wild. Watching the haka gave us goosebumps and if we were the players stood opposite them watching it we would have just said "Na it's alright, I don't fancy playing any more. I will just see you back in the changing rooms lads!" as it must scare the sh*t out of you. With formalities over the game got under way and from start to finish it was all New Zealand. They were in a different class altogether from Japan and the score line showed as much. It was try after try for New Zealand but the whole stadium went up when Japan scored their one and only try of the evening. Ash was pleased they got a consultation try as she felt a bit sorry for them but it was great to see every fan, New Zealand or not, getting behind Japan and still cheering them on. We had watched a brilliant, if only one sided game and we walked away from the stadium feeling that we had just seen this years world champions in action. As newly converted New Zealand fans we met back up with Philippe and Zoe and made our way back to the fan zone to finish off the night the way it had started, with beer.

With fuzzy heads, we woke the next morning and saddled up for a little road trip to Rotorua. It was great driving in our two van convoy as we hadn't had the opportunity to do it with our camper van travel time. Rotorua AKA Sulphur City can be smelt before it is seen but it's like smelling cow's poo when driving in the countryside, you sharp get used to it. Of all the places in the Bay of Plenty nature has given plenty to Rotorua. With it's natural thermal wonders we knew the best way to cure our rugby hangovers was to soak them away in one of the many natural thermal springs. On route we took a walk taking around an hour to blow the cobwebs out of our heads and we took in the sights of geyser's and boiling bubbling mud pools that were mesmerising to watch. The colours of the earth due to the sulphur levels were bright reds, pinks and oranges. We watched one of the geyser's from a lookout point for a while hoping that we would be able to catch it erupting but unfortunately it wasn't to be. After our walk through the thermal park we were back in our vans and drove through Kerosene Creek and on to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. As you drive through you can see massive clouds of steam rising up from the trees and you can easily mistake them for clouds of smoke. We finally arrived at the Waikite Thermal Pools and we wasted no time getting into our swimwear and into the pools. The water is pumped directly from a spring that is at a constant temperature of 98 degrees, it is held in a number of different tanks until it cools to between 32-45 degrees and then pumped into the different pools that seem impossible to leave once you have got in them. The site has a caravan park attached at the side of the pools and for $4 more each on top of our entry fee we were able to stay the night. Bonus. The pools were the perfect way to wind down and we spent many hours soaking in the pools trying to get over the stunning surroundings of the countryside. So looking like prunes we finally managed to pull ourselves out of the pools and Philippe and Zoe kindly cooked us dinner on the terms that if we brought our wine and cheese they would bring the food and do the rest. We spent hours talking over dinner and slept well afterwards, there must be something in the water.

Staying at the Waikite Thermal Pools you had unlimited use of the pools so the next morning we were up early and back in for a good morning soak. Before we set off we took a walk along the small nature trail that runs adjacent to the camp site. The trail takes you upstream to a massive spring that is in a constant state of angst and had been for centuries. It's clarity, mind bending temperature, bubbling waters and billowing steam is utterly mesmerising to watch. But the time had come for us to go our separate ways as Philippe and Zoe were making their way up north towards Auckland and we were heading south towards Wellington. It had been great catching up, spending time with them and giving them some advice on Southeast Asia as they were flying to Bangkok in a few days time. We retuned to our car to find that they had left us a package of food and a note thanking us for the past few days which we thought was really nice of them and if you are reading this Philippe and Zoe the food definitely didn't go to waste and I'm sure your loving the street food. So we set off for Lake Taupo a few hours drive south from Rotorua. The lake itself is huge and the sights are supposed to be stunning but unfortunately for us the grey clouds had set in along with the torrential rain and you couldn't see out onto the lake for more than 100 metres. So with the sight seeing out of the window we had to settle for a night in the pub watching England take on Georgia. The next day was just as cloudy and we set off on the long drive towards Wellington, driving up Mount Ruapenu along the way. It is a crazy place New Zealand as one minute you are driving along a country road, the next you are driving on roads with snow piled high beside them. The mountainous views are stunning and once we reached the summit of Mount Ruapenu we had to get out for a quick romp around in the snow. "YEAAAAHHHHH, it's like Christmas!" Ashleigh said as she ran about in the snow like an excited kid. We loved it and after watching people on sledges and the skiers going up on the ski lifts for a few minutes we retreated to the warmth of our van and drove back down the windy road towards Wellington.

After our longest drive in New Zealand so far we arrived in Wellington knowing that the next day we were catching the ferry to take us to the South Island. By the time we arrived in Wellington there wasn't much time to do much else bar find a camp site, have a shower, a bite to eat and hit the sack. We were determined to do something with our last day on the North Island and with our ferry due to set off at 2pm we left our camp site early the next morning so we could be at the Te Papa Museum for the doors opening. You are supposed to allow half a day to make your way around the museum as it is packed with great exhibitions but we had to make do with a few hours. The Te Papa is Wellington's biggest tourist attraction and it is not hard to see why. The building itself is impressive then you go inside and the interior is just as mind bending. In Te Papa there is something for everybody and it covers a wide range of topics and aspects of history. As expected there is a heavy emphasis on Maori heritage with impressive displays even with a Whare Runanga as an exhibit. You senses are constantly bombarded as you make your way around the museum with many interactive features. One of the highlights for me was getting a look at the world's largest specimen of colossal squid also known as Squid Vicious that was captured in New Zealand's waters. The half ton, 10 metre long specimen is illuminated in an equally long tank and as you stare at it you expect to see it move. It looks like a real life monster and not of this earth, so much so we had to go look at it twice. Another favourite was the earthquake house that played video interviews of victims of the Christchurch earthquake as the room would shake to give you a feeling what it must have been like to be indoors during the quake. Very moving and quite unbelievable to see the damage that it done to Christchurch and to it's inhabitants. We made our way around the museum at break neck speed to ensure we saw it all and we wished we had the day to take our time as it is a great and interesting place. But we had a ferry to catch so we made our way to the ferry terminal excited at the fact that we were on our way to the South Island. So that pretty much raps up our time in the North Island, we have covered 880 miles in a week and tried to do as much as we could. We now have two weeks in the South Island and we don't plan to take our foot off the gas.

Love Peter and Ashleigh x