Hey People,

Well here it is, the trip of the North Island. We did this in around 2 and half weeks, so much faster than the South, but there's less to see and the scenery is nowhere near as stunning. But a fab time was had, as always and here goes.

So, we started off in the capital city of Wellington, which seems to be a really nice city. We only stayed a couple of nights and did suffer with capital fever. It's been so long since we've been in a real city and we did get a bit of fever. Slightly nervous about being in a big place and a little out of sorts, so we scarpered quick enough!

And how many of you have heard of Waipukarau? And can you say it?! Well, anyway, that's where my Grannies sister and her husband live, I guess some of you will remember my Grannie came over this way to visit them in October when my parents came to see us. Well, anyway we stopped in to visit them and to catch up a bit. They left Scotland 40 years ago (to the week we were there!) in a 30 seater plane which took them three days!!! They had three kids in tow and apparently they were the only ones who weren't sick on the plane!! Oh dear God indeed! It was great to see them and for Rich to meet them, and to see where they are living.

We then headed up for a quick trip to Napier - the Art Deco city. But we were only there for a few hours before heading over towards Whakapapa (pronounced Fucapapa - "Wha" in Maori is "Fuc", for those who are interested) where we mastered the Tongariro Crossing. This is a 17km walk over and between the Ngauruhoe and Tongariro volcanoes. Said to be one of the worlds best day walks with spectacular views. So we set off all merry at 7 am thinking this will take some doing.....and it did! Unfortunately for us, around three hours in and 1900m above sea level, the weather turned and just as we reached the top the cloud came in and it started persisting it down! Persisting and persisting and sleeting! We couldn't see a darn thing and were soaked through two jumpers, a t-shirt and a rain coat - each. It was 7 degrees halfway down when we finally ate our sandwiches feeling mighty miserable and unimpressed by the Germans singing happily around us. It was at this point that I noticed my fingers had turned to fat sausages and it really would be a good thing to get a move on. So, onwards we went. Well, aimed to, we couldn't move so fast after a twenty minute lunch stop as the old joints and bones had all seized up. Anyway, we made it down to the bottom in time to wait an hour (!) for the bus to come and collect us (yes still soaked and by this time freezing). I won't even mention the issue with down hills and knees, that still bloody well hurt, 3 weeks later. But yes we did indeed conquer the Tongariro Crossing - one of the greatest walks in the world! Hooray indeed.

So the rain didn't stop for three days after this as we whistled through Taupo. A good sight was the Huka falls which are not high but have so much water going through them that they provide 45% of the North Island electricity needs. Two silly people kayaked them a few years ago, at 50% survival rate, that's one they can keep. The rain still kept coming as we arrived into Rotorua, another volcanic area that smells mighty like sulphur, although we have it on good authority that the smell was left by some fairly recent visitors of ours! No comment from me. When it finally stopped raining, we visited a Thermal Wonderland where we saw boiling and bubbling mud pools, sulphur pools, geysers and caves of sulphur. It was a pretty amazing place and looks how you might imagine the moon to look. Everywhere in this town smells of sulphur (even the washing machines!) and there is steam coming out of the ground all over the show. I don't think I'd feel safe living there but there you go. We also went to visit the Buried Village which was buried by a volcanic eruption in the late 1800's and has since been excavated. Interesting bit of history and all the more reason not to buy a house there.

The sun finally started to shine and we had a couple of lazy days getting a last few rays. In the Coromandel Peninsular we found a beach called Hot Water Beach. An experience that should be had! So, the trick is arrive at the beach two hours either side of low tide, rent a spade and dig for your life amongst all the other tourists. Try not to look at the successful ones with too much envy and keep on digging. But if you look slightly too sad and useless the successful ones will come to your aid! So, what you find is hot water under the sand and if you get the balance of this and sea water coming in just right, you've got yourself a cracking little bath! So, that's where we were sitting for hours on end last Tuesday! Cathedral Cave is also worth a look, but not if you've a Tongariro Knee.....

The Bay of Islands was pretty much our last stop in the campervan and as soon as we arrived in Paihia, the main town, yes did the rain start. We had planned a boat trip out into the Bay, but meekly postponed it cos we couldn't face getting wet again. But still the next day was beautiful and we went out on an ultra fast "Excitor" boat and listened to "happening" music all the way around. We only looked on to the divers with a little envy and were happy listening to Barry White as we cruised around the nicest cove in the Bay.

We are now in Auckland and the campervan has gone (with 5945km more on the clock) . But we're not sad, we're all good. It's getting near to hometime and we're extremely happy with what we've seen and done in New Zealand. Thank you all for your encouraging messages, we did indeed manage to summon up some enthusiasm for the last couple of weeks.

Hong Kong is calling now. We leave New Zealand on Tuesday and head back towards the Northern Hemisphere. Time is ticking pretty fast now and it's actually hard to believe we'll be home so soon. Wow, what a year.......

See ya oh so sooooooonnnn!

Kate and Rich xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (grinning!)