Kawhia to Rotorua Via (Cambridge and Tirau) 19th to 20th March After a half hearted nights sleep in Kawhia due to some extremely heavy rain we were quite relieved to see the sun rising so without hanging about we headed out to a picnic site just outside of the town where we sat and ate breakfast. Thankfully the van was completely clean after the nights rainfall which saved me the job of scraping off the road that had stuck to the sides of the vehicle. On a missi...

Mangawhai Heads to Kawhia Via (Ambury, Waitomo Caves and the Piripiri Cave) 17th to 19th March After a night in a layby just outside of Mangawhai we wasted no time in getting up to try out our new toy. Before eating breakfast we pulled around to the Mangawhai Heads Reserve to enjoy the sun climbing into the sky, while sipping on a warm cup of tea. As the day started to kick in we headed into the town to grab some bait from the local store in readiness for what w...

Bay of Islands to Mangawhai Heads Via Cape Reinga (16th - 17th March) After a great day yesterday on the Bay of Islands we spent the night in a car park for campers in Paihia. Due to heavy overnight rain we awoke with the the surrounding area sweating with dew, across the road the trees glistened in the morning sunshine as we tucked into our morning cereal. After breakfast Rachel headed off to use the internet while I cleaned the camper up. Following a quick spr...

Auckland to Bay of Islands Via (Leigh, Pakiri, Mangawhai, Russell and Paihia) 10th to 15th March After a short flight from Australia we touched down in Auckland at around 5.30 in the evening. There was a spattering of clouds across the sky with plenty of warm sunshine. As we left the airport we headed for the bus which would take us into Auckland city centre. On arrival there we booked into Nomad's Backpackers where we would get our feet for two days before co...

Sydney - 6th March to 10th March So....Sydney, Australia, our last stop on our roller coaster of a journey down the east coast. We pulled into the transit centre on the Greyhound around midday; with no messing about we jumped straight on the train to Bondi Junction to head to Olli's flat which would be our base for two nights. Unfortunately I could not catch up with him as due to personal issues he had flown back to the UK but his sister was there to keep us com...