Christchurch to Kaikoura and back again ( Days 27 - 30)

We decided to head up north to Kaikoura for the Easter weekend (as travellers we kind of found Easter a mild inconvenience as everywhere was far busier and nowhere was open). The drive took about 2 and a half hours and followed roads that had been completely ruined following the Kaikoura earthquake a few months ago, so tunnels were caved in and roadworks were common. However, all in all the drive was still fairly easy. 

The weekend was pretty much made up of surfing (Thomas) and taking photos of surfing (me) at several different spots in Kaikoura. Even to a novice like me the waves looked pretty perfect, but being on rocks instead of sand looked painful to wade out into the sea.

We had planned to visit Kaikoura's famous seal colony and see a few other sights but the road further north was closed and so this wasn't an option for us anymore. The town itself was very small and uninteresting but the uniqueness of Kaikoura came from the sea being placed right next to the snow topped mountains, which was very beautiful. 

We stayed there until the afternoon of the next day and then decided to go back to Christchurch that evening as we had booked to go and visit one of Christchurch's tourist attractions: the international Antarctica centre, the following day. The journey took an extra couple of hours as, although we had travelled up without problems, the main road heading south was now closed and we had to make a rather long detour inland to avoid the usual road. However, we still made it back pretty early, and just in time for Christchurch to spring even more rain on us. 

The international Antarctica centre was a good outing (although I'm glad we got it half price - $59pp is a lot for what you get. The downsides were the loud screaming children (it was Easter Monday), and the rather outdated displays. The upsides were the hagglund ride and 4d movie - Thomas practically screamed like a girl when there was water sprayed into your face.) 

The next day was spent sorting out our van and cleaning (and having freezing cold outdoors showers) before going to the airport for our next adventure. (The thing we were perhaps most looking forward to was having hot showers and more often than once a week.)

New Zealand it's been amazing.

Tekapo to Christchurch (Days 23 - 26)

The day dawned bright and sunny and we were looking forward to seeing this lake (overlooked by the Church of the Good Shepherd) after seeing millions of photos of this very picturesque scene. However, before this we took what we thought was only a little detour (but actually added on an extra 2 hours) to see Mount Cook from an another viewpoint, after seeing it from the alternate side when we were at the glaciers. 

We drove towards the mountain, stopping en route to take photos, and we drove, and we drove, but still didn't seem to be getting much closer to the mountain. Eventually, we decided we had achieved our goal of seeing Mount Cook from the other side (and it was a very impressive mountain and all) and so we could now turn around. We then drove and drove until we finally reached our destination of Lake Tekapo. To say we were disappointed by the lake was an understatement. 

In our opinion, the town was highly touristy and overpriced, the lake was grey and nothing overly special (considering how many beautiful lakes there are in New Zealand) and there were a lot of diggers and other building equipment surrounding the lake and spoiling the view. The rather boring (not at all historical by European standards) church sat right next to a car park (which is conveniently not shown on anyone's Instagram photos), and filled with about a million Asian tourists, so for a while we felt we had stumbled into the wrong country by mistake. 

The rain then started and trying to make the best of a bad situation we headed to Tekapo hot springs and ice skating rink to see if our afternoon could be salvaged somewhat. It couldn't. The ice rink was closed and the hot pools looked like tiny man made swimming pools, not the natural hot pools I had been expecting. At this point we gave up and went to find some overpriced hot chocolate as it continued to pour with rain, coming to the decision that Tekapo was definitely not for us. We then decided to drive on to Christchurch, reaching our destination that evening. We had used up a lot of money in petrol all to see something that was definitely not worth it and it was the first place in New Zealand where we had really felt disappointed. (Although I have been particularly harsh here - maybe we didn't see it in it's best light since it was cold and raining? Maybe we had been spoilt by so much beautiful New Zealand scenery that this didn't live up to expectations?) 

The next day the rain continued and we headed into Christchurch, or specifically New Brighton Pier (perhaps based on Brighton in England but a bit less impressive?) The obsessive surfer of course headed into the waves (no surprise.) After this we were feeling pretty cold and with no sign of the rain abating anytime soon we went in to a shopping centre to find some shelter and found a cinema. We bought a lot of junk food (obviously not from the cinema but from a supermarket due to ridiculous cinema prices) and watched The Ghost in the Shell (a fairly average movie.) With the rain still hammering down there was little more we could do for the day and we headed to our campsite early.

The next morning the sky still looked grey but there was no rain which was great for us as we had booked a horse trek with Waimarakiki river horse treks for 10am. I was pretty excited and the obsessive surfer announced that he would be amazing and win all the races (even though we didn't come out of a walk.) Our horses were named Nemo and Dory and were very well behaved and we enjoyed ourselves (even though the scenery was kind of grey and boring) and our tour guide very kindly took me out for a canter around after dropping the surfer off (I think he prefers riding waves to riding horses.) 

We then went back to the beach and both had a little surf (although at our very different wave levels.) after this we headed into the city centre as we had failed to go there so far and were struck by how much the city had been devastated from the 2011 earthquake (something I had only vaguely heard of before visiting the city.) The whole centre seemed bleak and a little creepy. The cathedral in the main square was half rubble and had been left to become wild and overgrown. It was a very sombre sight but gave us a greater understanding of how much the city had suffered. The city took very little time to walk around as there is practically nothing there, and just as well we finished early as the rain started again even more heavily than before and didn't show any sign of stopping. (It continued all night and since the campground was next to a river this was a little worrying, although luckily we were still on land the next day.) 

The rain continued the next morning, although this of course was not going to deter the obsessive surfer. There were a number of surfers who were crazy enough to be jumping from the end of the pier into the water (which was a good few metres into murky brown water with a lot of very big waves.) The obsessive surfer made his way to the end of the pier and stood on the other side of the railings, but in the end his fear of heights won out and he took the rather more sensible (yet more strenuous) choice to paddle out rather than jump. I stood on the pier to watch them as the waves were pretty huge and definitely not suitable for myself and my banana board and by the end was completely drenched and very cold. 

It was then time to say good bye to Mr Banana (my very friendly and very yellow surf board) and send him off to his new home as we had fortunately been able to sell him before we left the country. We then decided to go get some burgers and two muffins each (one is not enough for us ever) as we were feeling pretty bored of the rain and needed cheering up (or so we told ourselves to justify our super cheat meal.) 

That afternoon the rain cleared (finally) and we wandered around Canterbury museum - it's free and was a good (i.e. not too strenuous) activity after eating a lot. We then went to a couple of other beaches around Christchurch and saw a rather beautiful sunset before heading back to our free campsite again by Coes Ford.

Dunedin (Days 19 - 22) 

After our amazing trip to the spa we started the very long drive to Dunedin (around 4 hours from Queenstown.) The drive took all afternoon and we eventually reached Dunedin when it was dark. We went into the city to find something to eat and ended up at a really good and decently priced Japanese restaurant just off the main square (or octagon as it's called) where the sushi was awesome. We also saw an impromptu Haka performed on the main street, stopping traffic and pedestrians alike. We were quite impressed with Dunedin already, also it was a big city, much to our surprise as we had never heard of it before arriving in the country. 

The first day in Dunedin we woke up early (again) and went to St Clair beach and, right next door, St Kilda beach. After assessing the waves at both locations the obsessive surfer deemed St Kilda the better of the two and went off to surf. Unfortunately, it was again proving incredibly hard to paddle out and after a few attempts he left the water and told me that it was absolutely freezing cold (and thus the reason he was unable to paddle out to the waves.) We managed to eventually find somewhere  wetsuits could be hired, and getting a thicker wetsuit, the super obsessive surfer again tried to catch some waves, with a bit more luck this time. (I say super obsessive as it takes real love to face this water temperature - it was genuinely freezing.) At this point he dramatically announced that today would probably be his last day surfing of the whole trip as it was just too cold (and he hates cold weather more than walking.) 

With that we decided to have a look round the city and saw some of Dunedin's landmarks i.e. the train station (the building was an interesting sight and Dunedin had more impressive architecture than the majority of New Zealand cities we had visited - perhaps because of its Scottish heritage but who knows?) We also wandered around some of the Streets, following a map of famous street art in Dunedin, and saw some cool artwork tucked away down streets throughout the city. 

That evening we decided to get a half metre long pizza (which sounds big but isn't even vaguely a challenge) between us at one of the central restaurants. Feeling adventurous we decided to get a nacho pizza, which was confusing but actually quite good too. However, unsurprisingly this wasn't enough for us (as we eat enough to feed two fully grown elephants) and so we then found a supermarket and stuffed ourselves with some extra food. 

The next day we again headed straight for the beach, even though the obsessive surfer had previously declared he would never surf again in New Zealand. After watching the waves for approximately 5 minutes he decided perhaps he would have one more surf. I'm guessing the waves were pretty good as surfer's stood around exclaiming that 'it was on' and 'the waves were sick' and 'gnarly' (and far too big for me - the humble beginner - so I took to my other role as Professional surf photographer for the morning.) 

That afternoon we drove down the Otago Peninsula in search of wildlife - specifically the chance of seeing penguins and albatross. We reached the penguin area only to be told that you were only able to view the penguins if you paid for a guided tour (for only $99pp!) Upon hearing this price we very quickly headed for the exit and went on to the albatross area. Again though we were told if we wanted to see the albatross we would have to pay $50, which again wasn't going to happen. Luckily we went to a viewpoint about two minutes walk away where we could see the enormous albatross flying over the cliffs (and enormous is really not an exaggeration here.) We also went down to a little beach (which was closed at sunset so that they could charge you to see the penguins arriving at dusk) and were lucky enough to see three seals basking in the sun. So although we didn't manage to find any penguins we did see some seals and albatross and avoided paying a substantial amount of money (double yay.)

Before it got dark we quickly stopped off at Baldwin Street, which is the steepest street in the world (see pictures), although pictures don't quite reflect the steepness of this street. We watched several cars do the climb up but decided against driving Ned to the top incase he died on the way.

We aimed to leave the next morning to go to Tekapo but the obsessive surfer upon checking the internet for the surf said thatreally we should go to the Dunedin beaches immediately instead. This time the waves looked a little less scary and I had a go too. Although I somehow managed to get stuck in the middle of the smashing waves which wasn't too much fun, and added to this had a serious case of brain freeze from the appallingly cold water. Consequently, after this ordeal I decided to stick to the slightly smaller waves and played in these, whilst the obsessive surfer surfed the real waves. We then were ready to begin our journey towards Tekapo, another fairly long drive for Ned, stopping at a free campsite about 50km from Tekapo.

Queenstown (Days 18 - 19) 

We drove the 100km to Queenstown in the morning and arrived in the town at exactly the same time as rush hour (something that was becoming some sort of habit) and were immediately struck by how small the town was (although this shouldn't have been a surprise considering everywhere in New Zealand is absolutely tiny.) We wandered around the streets and bought a croissant each from the bakery (Thomas refusing to let me try any of his pain au chocolat and stating every 5 minutes that it was really cold.) 

We found a sweet shop called the Remarkable Sweet Shop, go there and EAT all the fudge - seriously - they gave out free fudge samples and we maybe sampled 75% of the flavours (there were at least 20 flavours.) We finally decided the best one was creme brûlée, got a rather large block of this and finally managed to leave the shop. 

The next task was to try and find Thomas some new flip flops, which was almost an impossible task, as he refused to have any with plastic in the middle. Consequently this seriously limited his options (he also likes to check every single shop before going back to his favourites and trying them on and then deciding on a pair.) Safe to say this process took a while but finally he settled on a pair for a decent price and by this time we were ready for some lunch (YAY.)

We headed to the famous Fergburger - seriously don't even consider not going here, it's definitely worth the hype and the huge queue (also you can never really avoid the queue, it's there if you go at 11am or 4pm, it's ALWAYS there.) The burgers were amazing and not ridiculously priced. They were also massive and thanks to previously consuming a large amount of fudge we were impossibly full afterwards. 

However, we decided that since we were already so full a few cookies couldn't really hurt us now and we stopped at the Cookie Time Cookie Bar (Cookie Time is a famous brand of cookie in New Zealand) and we got three cookies each (they were warm and delicious.) 

After sampling most of Queenstown's food we decided to go on the luge after enjoying the one in Rotorua so much. This one wasn't quite as fun as the one in Rotorua, however we still immensely enjoyed going as fast as possible downhill in little plastic carts - definitely worth the money. We had decided against going jet boating (which is the famous extreme sport in Queenstown - along with bungy jumping ) as the price was ridiculous for what was essentially a 25 minute boat ride. 

The next day we had booked (via bookme again) to use a hotel's spa/sauna for only $12.50pp so this meant we could finally shower again (showers were becoming pretty tricky) and these showers were even more amazing because they were hot. We spent a great 2 hours in the spa area and felt super clean after (in comparison to the slightly homeless looking people we had resembled beforehand.) We were feeling refreshed, we were actually clean, and ready to tackle our pretty long drive to Dunedin. Queenstown got a massive thumbs up from me despite the cold weather but maybe that was because of the exceptional food?

Greymouth to Queenstown (Days 15 - 17)
Upon reaching Greymouth we attempted to find somewhere to wash our clothes (finding nothing in the entire town) and instead managed to find a campsite for the evening that had a washer and dryer (thank god.) The 'campsite' was actually a community hall in a rather creepy looking town. The lady staying in the hall kept opening her windows and looking down at us as we ate and got ready for bed but never actually came outside, adding to the creepy atmosphere.

We went into Greymouth the next morning (or more specifically Cobden Beach) where there were apparently some waves. We pulled up at the beach to find that there actually were some waves which was surprising as we hadn't been lucky so far. Thomas was beside himself with excitement and immediately took to the water. However, the issue was that the current was formidable and so paddling was impossible and in the end he was unable to get to these perfect waves. He was understandably fairly upset after this and stood at the waters edge looking forlorn and taking photos of the waves. Greymouth was nothing exciting and we now had clean clothes (we definitely weren't clean but at least our clothes were) so we decided to move on and do the long drive down to glacier country. 

This drive took at least 3 hours but we finally reached Franz Josef glacier at about 3pm. We quickly realised it was a lot colder down here (you know since there were lots of mountains and all) something we were not too prepared for. We set off walking the track to the glacier viewpoint along with a lot of other travellers who, like the Tongrario alpine crossing, looked like they were out to conquer Everest. The track was about an hour and a half and fairly easy (albeit freezing cold.) The glacier was an impressive sight (although the photos don't really do it justice) and after a glass of wine (in a restaurant where the food smelled amazing and it took extreme will power to not order the whole menu) we headed to a free campsite (which was about 15km down a gravel road - poor Ned) and was only about 20 minutes from our next destination - Fox glacier.

The next day I managed to drag Thomas on 2 separate walks (normally he can only handle one a day or he gets grumpy.) The first walk took us around Lake Matheson giving impressive views of Mount Cook (the highest mountain in New Zealand) reflected in the lake. The view was definitely worth the walk (and the bitter cold - it was even more cold today and my fluffy socks and hat were finally getting some use.) 

After a breakfast in front of the mountain we moved on to Fox Glacier a little further up the road to walk up to this viewpoint. This glacier looked perhaps a little less impressive than the Franz Josef glacier (in the photos it again looks like a kind of muddy ice puddle - not at all the scene in real life.) The scenery in this mountainous area was seriously beautiful (perhaps even more so when there is more snow) and in the afternoon we moved on again to tackle a very long drive down to Lake Wanaka where we would stay for the evening before going to Queenstown the following day. Ned had a rather strenuous journey and started to make a slightly worrying whistling noise whenever he went uphill, but we made it in one piece and were looking forward to seeing Queenstown.

Wellington to Greymouth (Days 12-15) 


The ferry trip was spent mainly sleeping (me) and being a film director/editor (Thomas.) It passed quickly considering it was almost 3 hours (although maybe that was because of the whole being asleep thing.) When we reached Picton we decided to drive on to Nelson (about a 2 hour drive) as we had booked a kayaking trip in Abel Tasman for the next morning. The scenery was beautiful and we found a freedom parking area in Nelson (double bonus.)

The next day we continued the drive to Abel Tasman National Park as we had a kayaking trip at 9:20. We had booked this via bookme which was a great website for last minute deals on activities around NZ. However, kayaking trips were still super expensive and for a half day guided kayak tour it was $178 for us both. However, as we hadn't ever kayaked in the sea before we felt like this was the safer option than attempting to just hire a kayak and paddle in a circle for an hour (which was likely with my inferior kayak skills.)

The tour guide was very helpful and we were able to successfully kayak along to split apple rock (so called because it apparently resembles an apple split in half which is kind of true.) We then pulled our kayaks on to the beach to have a look around the caves before heading back to our starting point. The way back was definitely quicker (firstly because I was steering instead of Thomas who resembled a drunk driver when attempting to steer a kayak, and secondly because unbeknown to me Thomas had been having 'breaks' whilst he had been at the back of the kayak.)

The weather wasn't great and we were pretty cold by the end of the trip. However, the scenery was again very pretty (where isn't in New Zealand?) and the sand at Abel Tasman was amazingly golden. We had enjoyed our trip but to pay $178 for essentially an hour of kayaking was way too much.

We then decided to go on through Nelson Lakes and head towards Westport for the evening. We stopped at Lake Rotoiti where we had originally thought to camp, but the sandflies deterred us and we decided to keep going so we were nearer Westport for the next day. The campsite - Lyell camp ground - was at first glance a nice location (but overpriced) and even more so overpriced when we opened our door to discover the vast amount of sandflies in the area. We then decided it was best to not leave the car for the rest of the evening and we ate a supper of tomatoes and an orange so that we wouldn't have to leave the safety of the van to cook (and essentially face a severe biting from the sandflies.)

The following day we drove to Westport and went straight to the surfing area of Tauranga bay (what's new?) I was pretty excited about this surfing area as it was also the home of a fur seal colony. Thomas attempted to surf but the currents were very strong and he decided to wait until the tide changed, so we went to look at the seal colony instead. The seals looked quite like rocks at first, but there were at least 50 seals and seal pups. They were adorable and we spent a good half an hour just watching them (they were mainly sleeping but still kind of mesmerising to watch.) 

The surfing got better at the mid tide and so off went the obsessive surfer for a while. When he returned I tried (and spectacularly failed) to attempt surfing in this area too, managing to stand up once for a very brief few seconds. It was very rainy so the rest of the day was mainly spent eating. We decided to go to subway and then when we still weren't full went and tried various types of bread from New World (some weird Hawaiian pineapple bread thing and hot cross buns) so by this time we were feeling ridiculously full. Westport was very small and we couldn't even find anywhere to wash our clothes (which were really smelling now) so after one more morning of surfing here we decided we would head south towards Greymouth.

Unfortunately for the obsessive surfer the waves weren't very good and so we began our travel down the coast. This journey took us along probably New Zealand's equivalent of the great ocean road in Australia and we stopped on the way at Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks. These are basically rocks that look like they've kind of been stacked one on top of the other, therefore forming a stack of pancakes. They were actually pretty impressive and had formed blowholes where the water from the sea came up. The rest of the journey was very straightforward and in only a couple of hours we reached Greymouth; which was maybe a tiny bit bigger than the tiny town of Westport.

Whanganui to Wellington

On day 9 of our travels we woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the beach.This campsite was easily one of the nicest we had stayed at so far with the most amazing views, very clean facilities, and a cheap price. 

We headed to Whanganui to stock up on food as we had eaten virtually everything. After completing this vital task we went to check out some nearby beaches as it was a really sunny day. We stopped at multiple beaches - Foxton, Himatangi, and several others that I can't remember the name of (and that google maps cane even find!) as we made our way to our campsite for the evening. 

Each of these beaches were beautiful and virtually empty. However, for the obsessive surfer, these beaches were not really surfable and were described as 'a lake' or 'a mess' and so he became more and more grumpy. He had also managed to lose one of his flip flops so he had become a true traveller refusing to buy anymore and walking around everywhere in bare feet. Thomas perked up considerably though when we found ice creams just outside Foxton beach that were literally the size of our faces for only $3. The equivalent in auckland would have most likely been $15. This ice cream was definitely the highlight of the day (and probably one of he highlights of our trip so far - it was that great.) 

The campsite for that evening was free and next to a stream and set in a national park. Unfortunately next to a stream also meant there were quite a few sandflies which were becoming our nemesis at these campsites.

The next day we woke early as Thomas was desperate to surf again since he had had an entire day without suitable waves. We went straight to Otaki Beach, which was the closest one to our campsite, to find again a very flat beach. We decided to try and finally catch a fish and so set off on a kind of fishing mission (stopping at a total of 4 spots to try our luck.) However, we found no fish (Thomas did manage to get the fishing rod stuck on a rock though and had to use his surfboard to paddle out to the other side of the river to free the rod - so at least he got a surf in for the day in the end!) 

Again we woke early (as was becoming the norm) and drove down the Kaptiti Coast towards Wellington. We again stopped at various beaches as we headed South to try and find some surfable waves but again found nothing. At a bit of a loss as to what to do for the day, since we weren't catching our ferry until the next day, we drove into the Kaitoki Regional Park where we found the area where Rivendell (where the elves live in LOTR) was filmed (which was practically unrecognisable to the Rivendell from the films but still a good visit.)  After lunch the obsessive fisher (who was getting frustrated by lack of waves and lack of fish) again tried his luck fishing and again got absolutely nothing (this was becoming some sort of pattern.) After deciding to give up for the day we headed up to our campsite for the evening which was called Battle Hill Campsite and was home to a historic site (which are very few in NZ) where a battle between European settlers and the Maori took place. This was actually quite a surprisingly nice walk and gave a good view over the land. We then hudddled back inside the car as it began to rain again and played cards for the rest of the evening (something which we were becoming a little overly competitive about.) 

The following day we wanted to get into Wellington really early as we had to be at the ferry terminal at 13:45 and so were ready to leave at 6am. Unfortunately, we found ourselves locked in to the campsite and spotted a huge sign that we had both failed to read on the way in saying that the park was only open between 8am and 8pm. We parked in front of the gates and waited for the park ranger to come. Finally an hour and a half later we were on the way to Wellington, right on time to get stuck in all the rush hour traffic. 

Once we were in Wellington we first checked the beaches (of course) to see if there were any waves (which again there weren't) we did find showers at the beach (hadn't showered in about 4 days - new record.) 

We then decided to go to Weta Caves (where you could do a tour of the LOTR workshop.) We went straight to this LOTR ultra fan geek zone and had a tour of some of the props and costumes and were given a lot of information about the films themselves and the other films that Weta had worked on (most recently the girl in the shell?) At $25pp it was relatively good value and afterwards we headed into the city centre to grab some lunch. 

We managed to find a heaving food court - Capital Food Court - and bought a huge pizza each for $12pp. This food court was really worth a visit and there was a massive amount of choice for decent prices. On our walk back to the car we found somewhere selling French crepes and of course had to stop here (although they were apparently not as good as a true French crepe according to the Frenchman.)

There were so many awesome little bars and cafes in Wellington and generally although I hadn't expected much from the capital our first impression was that it definitely had a bit more personality and atmosphere than Auckland. Although, with only a morning spent there it's hard to know for sure if this was the case. We boarded our ferry at 13:45 and with much excitement began our trip to the South Island.

Taranaki (Days 6 - 8)

We arrived in the afternoon to New Plymouth and headed straight for the beach (of course.) Fitzroy beach was a 5 minute drive from the city and so that was our first stop. 

As was the usual scenario, Thomas went in first and then came in again later with me to help me as I was still useless a year later. Unfortunately today though it decided to pour with rain which meant my normal role of surfing photographer was a bit trickier and instead I mainly spent the time waiting for Thomas huddled inside the car. 

Once you were in the water it was comparatively warm to the outside rain, however after about an hour my feet felt like blocks of ice and I took that as a sign that maybe that should be it for the day. 

We then headed towards our campsite for the night (fortunately the rain had cleared by this point) and drove the half hour out of the city (or town really, nowhere in New Zealand can really be considered a city.) We reached the site only to be told it was fully booked (interesting as it looked to us like there was a mere 2 cars there.) This left us a little lost and we drove around for the next couple of hours attempting to find somewhere to stay. Luckily we managed to find a parking area we could stay in and so we could focus on cooking our next flavour of soup (tomato - not the best, very watery.) 

The next day we woke early and headed to check out some new beaches. Eventually the obsessive surfer deemed the waves at Back Beach good and went straight into the water (which was impressive as it was very cold.) We noticed everyone in this area was very friendly and interested in hearing about your trip - maybe as it is a little bit less of a touristy area than the other places we had been in beforehand? We then headed to another beach called Oakura where even I managed to catch some fun waves (with a little help from Thomas.) It was definitely easy to see how this was one of the most famous surf spots in New Zealand. 

Heading back into New Plymouth we passed a huge rock called Paritutu rock which was supposedly only a 15 minute climb. The climb started off easily enough before changing halfway to a practically vertical climb up a cliff face. At this point Thomas decided not to continue and I ploughed on up to the top in my flip flops (a questionable choice of footwear here.) The view stretched along the coast and on a clear day you would have been able to see Mount Taranaki (however we would never see this as the clouds were continually surrounding the top whilst we were in the area.) We headed back to our spot for the night and ate our soup in the van as the rain had come back wth a vengeance and showed no signs of stopping.

The next day we were again awake early and had breakfast in the car park of Back Beach as the obsessive surfer was so keen to start surfing again. The weather was a little better today and we decided to start heading down along Surf Highway 45 which circled Mount Taranaki around the coast. 

We stopped at multiple beaches along the route and eventually chose Opunake beach to stop at and do some surfing as the waves were a comfortable height for a beginner like me. After lunch we then continued along the highway. I had heard this highway was meant to be a beautiful drive and whilst the beaches themselves were impressive the drive was long, straight and pretty dull. Although perhaps this would be better if you could actually see Mount Taranaki which was still surrounded in cloud. 

What seemed like a long time later we eventually reached our campsite for the night - Waiinu campsite. Which was only $5 per night and sat right on the beach, the facilities were super clean and apart from one other van we were all alone. Thomas immediately pointed out that the waves were unsurfable and therefore it was a boring beach. However, he spent an hour attempting to fish with no success. The challenge now would be to try to catch a fish before the end of our New Zealand trip. 

From Rotorua to Taranaki (Days 4 - 6)

We reached Lake Taupo about 40 minutes after leaving Rotorua. We hadn't showered properly in a couple of days so we were pretty excited to see the lake, simply for the reason that we might smell a bit better after a swim. The lake was freezing but we had been lucky with the weather which had stayed sunny for the past few days - a rarity in New Zealand. 

The obsessive surfer moved his attention to fishing due to the absence of waves, and we went from shop to shop asking about where/what we were able to fish with the fishing rod that had been sitting in the back unused since we left. After finally choosing a black and gold fish hook thing (which I'm sure has a fishing name) we decided to finish the day watching the sunset on the waterfront with burgers and beer for the obsessive surfer/fisher's birthday.

That night we stayed at a free campground (Urchin campground) which was another hour from the top of the lake, which just demonstrates how massive this lake is (160km in diameter.) Arriving in the dark with Ned's very limited lights guiding us we found a very busy campsite and set our alarms for 5am so as to start the Tongrario Alpine Crossing walk nice and early.

The next day after aiming to start the walk by 6am we finally managed to start at 8am. One of the most well known and well walked tracks in New Zealand the 19.4km track crossed over the top of Mount Tongrario, passing next door to Mount Ngauruhoe (or Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings.) We arrived at the car park feeling vaguely bemused as to the huge amount of professional looking equipment everyone else seemed to have - walking boots, walking sticks, drinking water attached to their backpacks, walking trousers, walking coats etc. In contrast, Thomas was wearing shorts, we were in trainers and had ponchos in case it rained. To say we were not expecting the difficulty of this walk would be an understatement. 

The walk started very flat and the first 4km passed very quickly, we were positively laughing at the amount of preparation everyone else seemed to have done. We then saw a lot of steps appear in the mountain and the ascent began. This first uphill climb took us up next to Mount Ngauruhoe (to get to the summit of which was another 3 hours and which we didn't even consider trying.) 

This was a piece of cake compared to the next section of the walk. We were given a breather crossing a flat section which was most likely a volcano crater. As we climbed up the next part the temperature dropped massively, the wind picked up (until I wouldn't have been surprised if someone had been blown off the top of the volcano) and we were practically climbing up rocks that fell under your feet. We now understood why everyone was dressed as if they were about to climb Mount Everest. The view from the top was worth all the cold and the emerald and blue lakes looked spectacular.

This was the halfway point and therefore time for us to turn around (we had refused to pay $30pp - I repeat $30!!!! - for a shuttle bus to drop us the 15 minute drive from the end back to the start) and so we climbed back down the same way. The descent was arguably even more difficult and ended with me falling over several times (perhaps new balance trainers aren't a great substitute for walking shoes when climbing a mountain?) However, after just over 5 hours we returned to our van in one piece. The walk definitely lived up to all the hype. 

That afternoon we spent having a well deserved rest and Thomas attempted to fish for all of 5 minutes before he lost the black/gold fishing hook thing he had bought the previous day by catching it on a rock bringing his fishing afternoon to a swift end.

That night we stayed in the same campsite, had our usual new flavoured soup (cream of chicken - which was surprisingly nice) and woke up at 5am to begin the trip to New Plymouth in the Taranaki area. The sat nav had told us it would take about 3 hours to get there, so as we were making sure Ned took it very easy due to his senior status, we calculated it would most likely take us 5 (which it did.) We set off and quickly realised that although we had been told not to expect many petrol stations this had now became a reality at a time when our orange petrol light was on and we had forgotten to fill up our emergency petrol can we had bought just for this reason. Fortunately, our panic was short lived and we reached a petrol station within the next 30km, although this was a very tense drive as we both stressed about breaking down at 6am on a road where we had passed absolutely no other vehicles. We very quickly filled up our emergency petrol can and vowed this would not happen again (although it probably will.) 

Reaching the Taranaki area (one of the most famous surf spots in New Zealand) in the afternoon the obsessive surfer took straight to the water (where he planned to spend the next few days.)

From Auckland to Rotorua (Days 1 - 4)

Our first task (and arguably the most important task of our entire trip) was to pick up our campervan. This should not have been difficult; however it really was a mission in itself.

We were awake early as Auckland's incredible public transport system meanta journey that should take 20 minutes would actually take an hour and a half and involve a bus change and half an hour walking.We found lucky rentals without too much trouble and were told to wait about 15 minutes as they had taken our vehicle on a test drive. 15 minutes turned into 2 hours as they would have to change our tyres and 'there was something a bit funny with the brakes.' Feeling a little worried by this we returned in 2 hours to be told it would probably be another hour.

During this hour we watched at least 3 other customers having some form of issue. Lucky rentals were obviously having a few problems with the staff looking fairly harrassed. We were also not to be lucky as after a very long wait we were eventually told our vehicle's warrant of fitness expired on 12th April and so could we possibly change our travels for them and be in Christchurch on this date where they could extend this for us. This wasn't really an option so after our 4 hour wait they eventually asked if we could return tomorrow instead. Maybe these problems were the reason this company were substantially cheaper than any othe
However,the next day we were eventually handed our campervan along with a refund so we set off from Auckland happy, with 2 surfboards and a massive amount of luggage, which we would probably not use or need, crammed into the back.Our campervan was a little (very) cramped and a little (massively) scratched but this made him all the more lovable and by the end of the first day our van had been nicknamed Ned.

Our first stop was the town of Whangamata, about 2 hours from Auckland. We headed straight for the beach as Thomas was suffering severe surfing withdrawal after 6 weeks. There were some waves which were deemed good enough to surf and off Thomas disappeared for the next 3 hours only.

At this point it was already getting dark and we had a 45 minute drive to our campsite for the night - Dickey Flat Camping Ground. Yes it was pretty with a stream running down the side of the camp but for $8pp maybe they could have given us some showers.

The first day had sailed by pretty smoothly after our bad luck with the camper van and so it was time for a little more panic. This came in the form of losing our wallet, unpacking the entire van multiple times (which was not a simple task) and searching with the light from our phones as we had no torch (perhaps the most basic of camping items to have forgotten?!) An hour later, with both of us stressing that we were a million percent sure that the other one had been the last to have the wallet, it was found at the bottom of my bag. Although still neither of us have any idea how it got there (apparently.)

The next day we woke at 5am (some holiday) to get to the next stop in time for the sunrise (and the real reason was because the waves are usually better in the morning or so I have been told many times by the obsessive surfer.) We arrived in Mount Maunganui at about 7:30am and found a very pretty beach (or a lake as it was called by the obsessive surfer due to the absence of waves.) After breakfast we climbed Mount Maunganui which gave beautiful views of the Bay of Plenty. There were a massive amount of people that decided to make this very uphill trek even more challenging and run up to make the rest of us feel guilty for being so unfit. However, the view was definitely worth the pain and we definitely felt like we had earned our barbecue lunch.

The afternoon was spent attempting to surf the very mini waves (my level waves) and we got to the campervan parking early for our supper of our third and fourth new flavour of soup to try (chicken noodle was definitely the best so far although chicken noodle was an interesting description for it.)

The next day we woke early and had breakfast watching the sunrise on the beach.The obsessive surfer declared the waves were even less surfable than yesterday and we packed up our van and headed inland towards Rotorua.

Our first stop was Okere Falls, where there was a walk running the length of the river with various waterfalls. This was very pretty but in my mind I will just remember it as the area where I trod on a bee and had to hobble the last 20 minutes back to the car park after having a piggyback ride for approximately 30 seconds. ( Maybe slightly my own fault for deciding to wear flip flops instead of proper shoes.) Thomas had already cut his toe surfing so both of us had managed injuries within the first few days.

We then went to Hamurana Springs, which was virtually empty but definitely worth a visit as the waters from the spring were so clear and the Redwood trees were enormous. New Zealand nature at its best.

In contrast to our morning of nature visits our afternoon consisted of being as touristy as possible and we ended up at the skyline where we paid $50 each for a gondola ride and 3 luge rides each. I don't think either of us were too sure what this actually was except on the pictures it kind of resembled go karting. Without much expectation we had our first go on the luge ride and I can only describe it as feeling like you are competing in mario kart (albeit without throwing bananas and shells at your competitors, but which they should definitely add into the experience.)

The night was spent at TECT All Terrain Park after taking full use of BP Garage and their charging/wifi zone which was very helpful of them. This campsite was free, huge and in a forest so would definitely give this 5 stars.

The next day we woke early for Thomas to have a birthday breakfast which mainly consisted of giant marshmallows. We then headed straight to Waimangu Volcanic Valley which was basically a 2 and a half hour walk through the Rotorua volcanic area and was amazing to see. We stopped briefly at Kerosene Creek (a free hot pool) before beginning our trip South to Lake Taupo.