We have worked out that the New Zealand weather is a bit lazy, the reason been because usually early morning it is grey and dull and possibly raining. This however seems to clear around 10am after it has got itself woken up and had the usual morning brew, which knowing this is a big help in planning our very busy daily schedule. On this occassion we had left Waipu cove for the second time but this time enroute to Auckland city, this was around 2 hours so the sun ...

Having done the Treaty grounds and decided against the dolphin trip, the Bay of Islands now only had boat trips and nice views to offer us. We had taken in the views and on this particular part of the trip boat tips were not on the menu. Our next venture was to Cape Reinga which is the furthest Northen point of New Zealand, and according to the Maouri the departing point for a dead persons soul as it passes to the other side! This was a very long trip with windi...

Our first proper full day in New Zealand had arrived for which we had planned to go see the Waipu Caves as we were in the area and the write up on caves in New Zealand had been pretty good. We found the caves without too much trouble, but on route discovered this was another country that liked to leave half the roads as gravel tracks instead of finishing the job properly, so it was a bit of a bumpy ride. We decided on walking boots for this trip for obvious reaso...

In the air heading for New Zealand, eta 22:20, actual time of arrival surprisingly enough 22:20 New Zealand time not Oz. It didn't take us long to collect our bags and clear customs and passport control, which was quite a novelty. Now in the arrival lounge we looked for a full set of seats to get comfy on as this was to be our home for the night, we had decided because we were arriving so late we didn't want to pay for an expensive hotel when we could go true bac...