New Zealand: North Island (Auckland, Cape Reinga, Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua, East Cape, Napier, Tongariro National Park, Whanganui, Wellington)

After seven weeks of travelling by bus, it was a real luxury to pick up our hire car and hit the road. First we headed to the Far North, stopping off several times along the way to sample local cheese, honey and a farmers' market, before reaching Ahipara at the foot of Ninety Mile Beach (which our apartment overlooked). This was our base for a tour up to the Cape Reinga lighthouse, at the very North tip of the island, which included stop-offs at some stunning white silica sand beaches and even some sand-surfing!

We have been blown away by the number of stunning yet deserted beaches on the West coast, on the Coromandel Peninsula and on the East Cape - of every possible colour (white, pink, golden, dark brown and even black). Added to the numerous forests, waterfalls, mountains and geothermal sights in Rotorua, the North Island is far more spectacular than we expected.

We enjoyed the hot springs as well as a bit of Maori culture in Rotorua, but our trip to Hot Water Beach - where you dig your own hot tub in the sand - was less successful, as you had to strike it lucky to hit upon a warm spring (we didn't!).We did get more than a little wet in Taupo though, where we went on a jetboat ride to the foot of the Huka Falls.

Perhaps the most rewarding experience here so far has been crossing the Tongariro Alpine pass - a 19km one-day walk across the mountain range, where we saw some stunning emerald-coloured crater lakes alongside snow-capped peaks. We thoroughly deserved our NZ wine that evening - which we'd picked up from a winery near Napier.

The weather has been wonderful most of the time, but in Whanganui we even sat in the outdoor hot tub while it was raining, which only added to the experience!

After 3,000km of driving, we're heading to the South Island on Wednesday, where we have another 3,000km road trip ahead of us.