North Island

After a scenic ferry ride from Picton over to Wellington we went downstairs to fetch Jack to find he'd been right by the sheep lorries all the way - it really smelt! Escaping into the fresh air we headed to hostel car park we were staying at, only to find that their car park was on a hill - an obvious place to advertise campervan parking!! Anyway after trying out a few spaces we left Jack and headed into windy Wellington which really does deserve it's title and joined a friend of Lizzys, Jon and his sister for dinner. Taking pity on us they invited us to stay at theirs while we explored Wellington which was greatly appreciated!

We spent the next few days exploring Wellington - shopping, sightseeing, trying to sort Tiffs Thai visa! Was really nice to be part of other peoples 'normal life' for a few days. The Friday was Jon's birthday so we joined him and his friends for drinks, a meal and a trip to the theatre to see 'Lonely Hearts', a musical his sister, Eleanor was producing which was really funny! The following day we drove an hour north of Wellington to the New wine conference where we had a great day seeing Richard and Hilary again, seeing Richard preach and attending the morning and evening services. We left feeling thoroughly blessed by the day which, a couple of week earlier we hadn't known about!

After finding out that Tiff's visa was going to be delayed for a few days we left Wellington to explore new ground. We ended up being invited to stay with Jon's friend Dan and his parents who live in Masterton which just so happens to be in a great wine region known for its Pinot Noirs. We spent a lovely few days staying here, going to a few wine tastings, some olive oil tasting and exploring down to the south coast where we found a huge seal colony with seals basking in the sun right by us - we avoided being chased by them successfully! Dan and his brother also took us to an animal sanctuary where we got to see the iconic New Zealand Kiwi (a white one and a brown one!) and some other, more noisy birds!

Driving back to Wellington in a retired hearse (Dan's parents are funeral directors), we spent the day helping Dan move flat while we waited for Tiffs visa to be ready for collection. Thankfully her visa was granted and with passport collected we met Jon and Eleanor for dinner followed by drinks and jazz before driving back to Masterton. 

The next 2 days we spent journeying north towards Hamilton, where Parachute festival was happening. Dan was also going to Parachute so, hitching a ride with us we squidged 3 in the front of Jack (don't worry parents, there were 3 seats!) and set out towards Roturua via Lake Taupo (the largest of NZs massive lakes) where we stopped for refreshments (FYI - Gingernut ice cream is delicious!). Roturua, known for it geothermal activity, was a very surreal experience. On arrival we went via bubbly mud pools to kerosene creek, a natural hot spring where we went for a dip and a shower under the hot waterfall...lovely! Next stop was the hot/cold river where a hot river and cold river merge (bet you couldn't have guessed!) and you bath in whatever mixture of hot and cold you wish - weird but wonderful!!! The following day we went to Whakarewarewa Thermal village where we were shown around by Maori guides. The village is still very much a lived in village complete with an impressive kitchen area (just hang your food in the boiling water or into the box for a steamer effect) and communal outdoor baths. Wandering around we saw the nearby geysers erupting, steaming lakes and then went to a Maori cultural performance - Tiff got picked to try one of the dances and rather unsuccessfully managed the little poi left handed - best left to the professionals, the Haka was much more impressive!

Next stop was Parachute festival which started Friday afternoon and kept us entertained until Monday with loads of live music all day, everyday. The festival which has about 20-30,000 delegates combines a morning worship session and preach in the sunshine followed by live music by christian artists in a number of venues over the rest of the day. Was a great few days and now have plenty of new music to look up when we get back.

With a week left before we had to hand Jack back we hotfooted it up the Coromandel Penninsula to Cathedral cove, a very pretty beach and cove - the best bit being the toilets with a window looking out over the ocean! Afterwards we stopped at Hot water beach where, at low tide hot water bubbles up - finding a spot to dig a hole where there weren't people digging already however, was impossible, so we settled to paddle through the warm/boiling bits and left to find our campsite.

The next few days we spent exploring north of Auckland, reaching Paihia on our first day, where Sian and Debs had lived and worked for a few months quite a while ago now.  We headed out on a day sailing trip around the beautiful Bay of Islands, stopping at a gorgeous island for lunch and clambering up the hill for 360 degree panoramic views of the stunning surrounding area. The following day, we went to the Waitangi Treaty grounds where the 1840 treaty was signed between the British and the Maori people which was really interesting. After this we headed up the coast, stopping at Mangonui for 'World famous' fish and chips whilst overlooking beautiful coastline and watching the local fisherman bringing in their next catch. We carried on up to the very top to camp for the night.

Just a quick side note from Lizzy:
Now everyone, if I asked you if it was possible to break a toothbrush in 2 what would you say? I know what you're thinking of course it's probably not that difficult. But what if I said, is it possible to break a toothbrush in 2 whilst brushing your teeth, what would you say? Previously I would have said no of course not, they're pretty strong, you don't hear of people snapping toothbrushes. Well that night whilst brushing our teeth Tiff managed just that! how? I still don't know. I think she's a superhero trying to hide her identity and in a moment of distraction showed her super strength and true self! Of course she denies this...

Next day we did the final 5km to Cape Reigna, the northern most tip of the North Island where the Tasman and Pacific seas collide into each other, although not in a straight line as Tiff hoped for. On our way back down we stopped of at the huge sand dunes and at 90 mile beach, a strip of beach similar to Fraser Island which people can drive along, Jack however would have got stuck so we kept him on the road and headed down to Whangarei for the night. We found a great campsite with free hot showers and hot tub (ahhh luxury!) which was right next to some beautiful waterfalls we explored the following morning. Before carrying on our journey back to Auckland we drove out to Whangarei heads, another portion of beautiful coastline. We spent our final night in Jack right next to the sea, packed him up (it's amazing what we've accumulated in 6 weeks!) and then dropped him off the following day in Auckland.

We had a few days in Auckland where, to be honest we didn't get up to much. Found a nice church followed by a chinese lantern festival in one of the parks on the sunday and then spent the next couple of days shopping and exploring Auckland. We did make our way up the sky tower and watched people jump off it (attached but still weird to watch). Our final day we got a ferry over to Devonport and wandered up an old volcano, the view from the top is meant to rival the Bay of Island and we'd have to agree, it was beautiful!

Next stop, Bangkok.....