Time to leave the North Island, and the vessel of choice is a ferry very similar to the ones used to cross the English Channel. Ah, this country continues to remind me of home. A very smooth crossing, taking only 3 hours to cross the Cook Straight (it has been known to take upwards of 10 hours, although the Captain was in a lot of trouble for that one). From Picton and the Marlborough Sounds, we drove through Marlborough Valley, which is largely covered by vin...

Early morning in River Valley means getting out onto, unsurprisingly, the river (the Rangitikei). Lots of good rapids on this trip (better than Mission Beach, for anyone who's interested) many of them grade 5. And you can really see the river in action along here - the former 'arch rapid' has been renamed 'new rapid' and is currently impassible after heavy rains, erosion et al caused a rockslide to dump a large number of even larger rocks in the way. Got off the...

South again, past the 'great lake' and Turangi. We stopped off at Tongariro National Park (again?) for a trek through native bush. Yet more tremendous views, waterfalls and mighty volcanic scenery. For the afternoon we slowly departed civilisation and headed to River Valley (population = the staff of the hostel) buried amonsgst yet more green-topped hills and formidable cliffs. After settling in, spent the late having a refreshing dip in the river. It wasn't...

First off, ignore the photo - it's just the best view of Taupo. Today was a lazy start followed by a lazy ride back to Taupo. Mor eglorious scenery etc. Very little to report. Watched England's rugby league team (or 'Team Gillette Fusion') get beaten.

Keen to hone my riding skills I joined the morning ride out to see the sunrise and so, aboard the faithful 'Apache', I was among the handful of people to see the sun rise albeit with a smattering of cloud precluding the awesome photograph I had pictured in my mind. Yet more amazing trekking to be had on this trip, and having had some practice yesterday I think I may even have been in control as we sped along the beach. I should apologise to Apache for getting h...