We arrived in Paihia which is the centre of the Bay of Islands. We enjoyed the look of the area so much we immediately booked in to a campsite for three nights which was situated a short walk from the town centre. We booked on the Cream cruise which got its name believe it or not from the ferry delivering cream to all the local islands. We had booked to swim with Dolphins on the cruise but unfortunately on our way out the pod of dolphins we encountered did not ...

We made our way through the Auckland traffic to Warkworth where we were given a very warm welcome by Dave's cousin Brian and his wife Charmaine. It was lovely to sit down to a roast dinner, our first since leaving home and we really enjoyed it. Brian and Charmaine live in an absolutely stunning location, only a fifteen minute drive from the town but with only another couple of houses in site. Practically all the land within sight is part of their property, twen...

We sadly left Rich & Vickies and made our way to the Coromandel peninsula. Beautiful scenery as we made our way along the East Coast towards Coromandel Town. Just outside of Coromandel is the Driving Creek Railway built by Barry Brickell. It is a little Heath Robinson but a fantastic feat of engineering. Barry put down every sleeper on the track as it climbs its way to the top of a mountain towards the eyeful tower where you have a fantastic view over the ba...

Today Rich and the girls (Maggie & Gissie, two beautiful King Charles Spaniels) joined us as we toured along the coast towards Whakatane and the lakes between Kawerau and Rotorua. Rich remembered some hot pools where we spent a lovely hour relaxing before heading off for lunch bedsides the lake. The dogs really enjoyed their day swimming both in the ocean and the lake and we enjoyed watching their fun. The cover photo on this entry was taken from Vicki and ...

Today Rich and Vicki thought it would be good idea to get some exercise so we made our way to the Mount which overlooks Tauranga. After a short climb we made it to the top for some spectacular views of the town and coastline. At the top we saw a stunt paraglider who had fantastic talent although on several occasions we thought he was going to crash, he did however land safely. We then spent a fantastic afternoon on the beach jet skiing. Rich & Vicki have a ...