3rd-4th April It didn't take long to get from Rotorua to Matamata so we where there around dinner time whilst it was still light. We parked at a free car park called Pohlen Park in the middle of a housing estate. There wasn't anything there, just houses all around us, which was awkward, a big field, a playground and a sports hall. It was probably the most awkward place we have parked as it was literally in the middle of people's houses but it was very close to H...

31st March- 3rd April On the way to Rotorua, we headed down highway 2 and stopped in Te Puke at Kiwi360, an organic farm where you could go on tours of the orchard. We didn't go on a tour but took a picture with the famous huge Kiwi and bought some kiwi products from the shop. Rotorua wasn't far at all so we were there with loads of the day left. We parked in the town centre and went to the iSite centre to find out about trips. We decided that it would be cheap...

29th-31st March On the drive from Coromandel I took the wrong highway without even realising and I was following signs for Thames not Tauranga. It was about half an hour, maybe more, before any of us noticed and that was only because we checked our location on the phone! It added a bit more time to our journey but not too much, plus it was still a lovely drive with lovely scenery! We got to Mount Maunganui in time for dinner and parked at a free parking area on...

28th-29th March The drive from the lakes to Coromandel (again a town and a region) was the longest one yet, around 400km, but we didn't have anywhere we wanted to stop on the way to see things so we headed straight there. It took us about 7 hours as we got stuck in loads of traffic on the motorway but it was a nice drive to see all the different scenery. It was weird driving to Auckland and seeing a big city after just seeing the countryside and villages for a w...

27th-28th We set off from near Kaitaia along state highway 1 and towards Opononi and then to Lake Kai Iwi, near Dargaville. It was quite a bit of a drive and most of the drive was through mountain roads which were very windy! Nath felt sick they were that windy, plus the on and off rain meant I had to drive even slower. We got back onto the twin coast discovery route in Kohukohu and had to take a car ferry across the water to Rawene. It didn't take long at all ...