Today we returned our campervan-such a shame...not! We waved goodbye to our hell on wheels and headed off to our hotel by taxi. We had arrived on a particularly horrendous day. It was like a monsoon was passing through so we were glad to reach our hotel which was fantastic. The concierge took our cases and carried them to our room for us so they were waiting for us when we checked in. Another member of staff gave us an orientation of the hotel including the gym ...

After an uneventful time in Whangerai we headed North to the Bay of Islands for 2 nights before making our way back to Auckland. We stayed in a town called Kerikeri, famous for its orchards. There wasn't much else to report about the town itself save for the fact that it holds NZ's 2 oldest buildings if you're into that sort of thing. We used the town as a base only and arranged a trip the following day to the Bay of Islands itself. This is a Coastal area with ...

Papamoa is a quiet village on the coast and the holiday park we stayed in was literally on the beach and we had a fantastic see view from our spot. Fortunately it was quiet on the camp site too, free from annoying children who must have gone back to school following the Easter holidays. It was a lovely day so we got the table and chairs out and sat in the sun updating the blog and eating a late lunch-I know, bus passes please...! After a while I got bored and h...

Between Wellington and Lake Taupo we had a night in Napier but there isn't much to report in that respect. Suffice to say, Napier is an attractive town, completely rebuilt in the 1930's after an earthquake in the Art Deco style. Our next stop to note was 2 nights in Taupo. This town sits on the banks of Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in Australasia, apparently being roughly the same size as Singapore! After a long drive we headed first to Orakei Korako ab...

On this day we drove from our campsite to Nelson for a wander around the town and cathedral - which was nice. Having picked up something for breakfast and lunch we then headed west to Abel Tasmin national park, which is one of the smallest national parks in New Zealand and the only one on the coast. It also boasts forest scenes from the Lord of the rings.... Not that you can get to see them if you have a motorhome as the road is not accessible to such vehicles (...