We were up early and raring to go this morning, eating breakfast in the luxurious Camp Estate kitchen, chatting with our hosts Nina and Roger. We were intrigued to learn that Roger used to be in charge at a boarding school for senior boys so hosting at an up-market lodge is quite a change for him but, as Nina says, you get a better class of grafitti, and if people don't behave he just calls their parents! After breakfast we set off for the 25 minute drive furthe...

Our first night in New Zealand and we both slept very badly, but no fault of our comfortable bed at Camp Estate. More to do with jetlag, trying to sleep when we are used to being awake and over-active brains which simply refuse to shut down! Nevertheless we managed to get ourselves up at the appointed time in order not to miss breakfast. We looked out of the window and wow! No view! Just very thick, cold, damp, mist. Not quite what we were expecting. Feeling som...

Our long awaited and eagerly anticipated trip to New Zealand began with us coming very close to missing the plane. We had the day to end all days in Hong Kong, rushing around like mad things trying to get everything done. We eventually left our home in Happy Valley less than two hours before our flight was due to depart and Friday traffic in Hong Kong is legendary! We finally turned up at the airport just in time to walk straight through and reach the gate just a...

All good things must come to an end as we surely know and we woke up today knowing that our wonderful trip across the length and breadth of both islands of New Zealand was almost at an end. We will take a wealth of memories away with us of the stunning places we have seen, the marvellous places we have stayed and the wonderful people we have met along the way. Not forgetting all the excellent food and wines we have tasted, and there have been many thrilling exper...

We had an amazing breakfast at the lodge cooked by Barb, the chef. We very much enjoyed a medley of poached fruits, muesli and yogurt followed by delicious corncakes which are apparently a New Zealand specialty but we had never tasted before! As our trip was nearing the end, we drove into nearby Warkworth looking for souvenir or gift shops. If they are there then we obviously looked in the wrong place! We scoured Warkworth from end to end and can only say that i...