Saturday 21^st October – Day 22

The alarm went off at 03:30 and Sean and I wearily got up.  Our layby was close to the main road and lorries carrying freight rumbled by all night making sleeping difficult to achieve.

Whilst releasing the van’s water valve I noticed that our hot water pipe had been severed and was hanging down from the bottom of the van.  We taped up the loose ends to stop them dragging on the road, we’ll need to get that fixed in Wellington.  Of course, it also meant that we had cold showers too which certainly woke us up!

We arrived at the ferry terminal and checked in.  With the time at 04:45 it was no surprise that there was only one other campervan due to sail.  The journey itself was rather uneventful and seemed to pass by pretty quickly.  It was sad to see the south island disappear but watching the sun rise over the Cook Straits raised our spirits.

Sean and I parked our van in Wellington having disembarked the Interislander ferry.  We needed to get our hot water pipe fixed and after a few phone calls we had tracked down someone who could make the repairs.  We had to make the short journey to Lower Hutt but our directional sense held firm and we found the garage at the first time of asking.

We had to wait for 30 minutes before our van was seen but the mechanic managed to fix our pipe in less than a minute when he got round to seeing us.  What a difference having the right tools makes.  It would have taken me much longer!  We weren’t charged for the repairs and the sun had come out too.  Result!

On our way out of Hutt a car pulled up next to us at the traffic lights and beeped its horn.  The car next to us was full of people wearing Scotland rugby tops and waving Celtic scarves at us!  They had seen our flag and my Scotland rugby top – what a place to meet each other!

Sadly as the day wore on the weather deteriorated and heavy traffic meant it was evening time when we arrived at our campsite in New Plymouth.  Sean and I went out to pick up a couple of beers to go with our tea and I ended having to show some ID as a local shopkeeper thought I might have been underage!  I’m not quite sure whether that should be taken as an insult or a complement!

We decided to use the remaining time in the evening to do some much needed clothes washing and have an early night.  We had managed 917kms since yesterday morning and needed to rest in preparation for our last week.

Sunday 22^nd October – Day 23

Sean and I both woke up at 07:00 and felt great.  After a good sleep we were ready to take on Mount Egmont.  Sadly the weather had closed in and the national park had shut.

At New Plymouth’s iSite we booked our caving trip at Waitomo Caves for tomorrow.  Whilst there we got into an interesting debate with the iSite staff who enjoyed giving us stick about the All Black’s meeting with Scotland at next year’s Rugby World Cup.

The weather was not going to improve any time soon so after completing our sight seeing of New Plymouth we hit the road bound for Waitomo Caves.  It promised to be a good drive and indeed it was – we made great time.

Having arrived at Waitomo Caves we parked the van and decided to take the Waitomo Walkway.  Over the next three hours or so we saw incredible views of the nearby caves and canyons along with an abundance of waterfalls.

Having enjoyed our walk so much we thought we would write our postcards for home and head out for a meal in celebration.  Waitomo Caves is a very small hamlet but it has an incredible appeal.  We certainly are looking forward to our caving tomorrow.  Again, lets hope the weather holds.  It was a shame not to have climbed Mount Egmont but overall we have been very fortunate on the trip so we weren’t too down in the dumps.

Monday 23^rd October – Day 24

We woke up at around 07:00 and found ourselves in the middle of a downpour.  If too much rain had fallen our caving expedition would be called off.

After quick showers and breakfast we headed for ‘Black Water Rafting’ at 08:00.  Despite the deluge of rain out trip was still on although those in the afternoon had been cancelled.

We met our tour guides Dan and Josh along with Alan, Jon, Paul and Carol (who were on their honeymoon) who would be making the trek with us.  As a group we got into our wetsuits and headed for Waitomo Caves.  After a spell training how to abseil we began our five hour trek through the caves.  The trek consisted of a 100ft abseil into the caves, then a pitch black zip line ride into a glow worm colony.  What an experience that was!

To see more glow worms we needed to raft through to another cave.  In order to get into our rafts we had to jump from a 10ft rock into a stream below, and into the raft at the same time.  Josh set off a loud bang and all of a sudden glow worms came in to view all over the place!  We spent an hour paddling around taking in the awesome sights.

After that we trekked through various caves looking at fossilised whalebones and even climbed up two waterfalls on our way back to daylight.  What a trip!

After a shower and lunch Sean and I headed for the Waitomo Caves Museum.  It was interesting but not the same as trekking through them!

After picking up provisions and refuelling again we hit the road.  We had enoyed Waitomo Caves but needed to keep moving north as we were hoping to reach Cape Reinga tomorrow.  With today being New Zealand Labour Day traffic and bad weather held us up as we eventually came to a stop in Kawakawa just after 21:00.  We had seen Auckland on the way north and were looking forward to going back there in the next few days.  As with most days during this trip we had another fantastic day (despite the weather).

Tuesday 24^th October – Day 25

Sean and I woke up at 07:00 having had a mixed night.  Throughout the night we could hear cars and voices passing by the van.  We had a quick breakfast and shower and moved on.  On our way out of our layby we noticed that there was a sign saying ‘no overnight camping’, needless to say we made a quick getaway!

Our target was Cape Reinga, over 200kms away, and we spent 3 hours fighting our way through torrential rain and very slippy dirt tracks.  We made it to Cape Reinga at 12:25 and made our way down to the lighthouse there which was the northernmost tip of New Zealand.  The scenery was breathtaking and we had the pleasure of sunny weather at long last!  With the improving weather the views got better so we decided to have our lunch there.

Before long it was time to head to Paihia (only 8kms from Kawakawa where we started today!).  The journey over the quagmire roads was much easier in the dry weather and we arrived in Paihia at 16:30.  We were booked on a Bay of Islands jet boat ride and a horse trek tomorrow so we checked in to a campsite and prayed that the now pleasant weather held through the night.

We spent the evening mixing with the locals and generally winding down having completed the last of our long haul drive of this mammoth trip!

Wednesday 25^th October – Day 26

Our alarms went off and Sean and I got up to find glorious weather outside the van.  You can never predict the weather in New Zealand and especially in the Bay of Islands.  We needed good weather and had been lucky.

After breakfast we headed into Paihia and met up with our horse trek guides Carleena and Cindy.  We had a short drive up to ‘Horse Trek’n’ and were introduced to our horses.  I had the world’s most docile horse, Jimmy, whilst Sean had Bozie who apparently “had a sense of humour”.

After short instructions on the basic techniques we were on our way through Waitongi Scenic Reserve.  We spent just over two hours trekking and loved every minute of it.  We didn’t even have sore bottoms afterwards!

Back in Paihia we grabbed lunch and then checked in for our Mack Attack jet boat ride.  Mack Attack offer jet boat cruises around the Bay of Islands along with commentary all at 50 knots!  Our guide, and pilot, was Thommo, a Maori, who showed us around the Bay of Islands including taking us into various caves and tunnels along the way.  The ride was enjoyable too, although rather tame compared to our experiences of Queenstown the week before!  Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and we managed to get some superb photos along the way.

Back on dry land the time had come to make the journey to Auckland.  The trip itself passed by quite quickly, only three hours (and 330kms) from Paihia to Auckland and we arrived at our campsite just on 20:00

The campsite looked pleasant enough, with good facilities and even a free pool and spa, but we had arrived at our final destination of the trip and as such we were a little down.

We decided to make out tea and spend the rest of the evening going over the experiences we had gained over the trip so far to cheer us up.  We had done a lot, so we couldn’t be too down after all!

Thursday 26^th October – Day 27

We woke up with our alarms this morning feeling tired.  I think having finished all the major activities and long drives my body and brain have finally given up!

After breakfast we rang Backpacker again to find a company to replace our windscree.  Fortunately, Smith & Smith were in the area and after finding them on a map we were on our way.  The windscreen we needed was in stock and we made an appointment for 08:00 tomorrow to get a replacement fitted.

After organising our new windscreen we filled the van with diesel for one last time and replaced our gas cylinder with a new one.  Sadly we had nearly completed all our chores before handing the van back.

We headed into town to see the sights.  Our bus journey passed by quickly and we spent a couple of hours trekking round Auckland and finding our bearings.  We took in the very impressive Sky Tower, which we are planning to go up tomorrow for its panoramic views of Auckland.

We went through Albert Park into Auckland Domain Park and on into the War Museum.  We spent three hours looking at the New Zealand history and the impact global affairs has had on the country.  Eventually we were thrown out of the museum at closing time (lost track of time again!).  Back at the campsite we had tea and went for a swim at the campsite’s pool.  It was another early night as tomorrow would be another early start.

Friday 27^th October – Day 28

Sean and I got up with our alarm at 06:00 feeling weary again.  This trip had taken its toll!

After showers and breakfast we drove out to Smith & Smith to get our windscreen replaced.  Having dropped off the van we made the 30 minute walk back to our campsite as there were no bus stops on the way AT ALL!

We caught the bus and arrived in Auckland just before 09:00.  With Sean’s keen interest in all things maritime we decided to visit the National Maritime Museum.  We spent several hours walking through the museum and talking to a volunteer guide called Roger who had made a lot of the model ships that were on display.  We even managed to see the Auckland Cannon being fired at midday.

Afterwards we headed for some lunch and Sean and I took the opportunity to collect some final souvenirs for the folks back home.  The weather was good and we were enjoying our last day in Auckland.

Having collected everything we needed we set out towards the Sky Tower.  Apparently the views from the observation decks are superb – and indeed they are!  We decided to go to both the observation deck and the sky deck to take in the panoramic views.  Auckland is a beautiful city and it was such a good way to see it.  We had a coffee in the observatory café, watching the sky divers fall passed the window, enjoying the view.

All too soon it was time to leave and head for Smith & Smith in Takapuna.  We arrived at 17:00 (after another long walk!) to find that the windscreen hadn’t been replaced – apparently the wrong one had been delivered.  After a few phone calls it was arranged for the windscreen to finally be done back at our drop off point tomorrow morning.

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