We've had a couple of driving days from Collingwood in the far North, through Westport and down to Franz Josef Glacier. Whilst on the subject of driving, it's something the New Zealanders are rubbish at! They all drive like its Sunday afternoon with the exception of those few that drive at 100mph everywhere. They overtake on blind bends with the aid of an extra sensory perception or the population is so small the statistical likelihood of something coming is sm...

We are now as far north as you can be on the South Island without a boat! We caught the ferry from Wellington on Thursday, the ferry crosses the Cook Strait and then makes its way through the Sounds to Picton. The scenery is stunning. We spent the night in Picton, explored the local coast road and found a very good Irish pub. From there we have gone to the far north, through Nelson and up to Collingwood. We drove out to Cape Farewell and had a walk along Whara...

We are taking a strange route around the North Island. From Hawke's Bay we drove back up to Taupo to see the lake. Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ, it's the same size as Singapore and was created by a volcanic explosion many years ago. Geography lesson over, last time we came here the weather was so bad you could hardly see the lake so we had to come back. Taupo & Rotorua are the two main geothermal areas and half way between then is Wai-O-Tapo, "...

What a journey! The East Cape of New Zealand, the journey between Opotiki and Gisbourne can be done two ways, the main road or the coast road, we took the coast road. The road hugs the coast for most of the six hours it takes to get round and when it leaves the coast it takes you up and over the mountain range on near vertical roads! This route is a must though, it has everything the Great Ocean Road in Australia has and more. The towns you pass through are a li...

We have swapped the Green Machine people carrier we hired over Christmas for a Green & Purple Jucy! How things have changed from the Audi & MG! We have spent the last few days on the Coromandel Peninsula, the area to the East of Auckland. The road is mostly coastal all the way with a few breaks over mountains to the next gorgeous bay. We called in at a few of the tourist hot-spots like Cathedral Cove, Cook's Beach & Hot Water Beach and all in all lo...