Here's the second of today's updates now we have easy Internet access...

We arrived in New Zealand at 8pm on the 2nd August, and it was cold and rainy - a reminder of home! In case you're not sure, New Zealand and Aus are über strict when it comes to customs and they work hard to protect the agriculture of their countries. You have to fill in a small card upon arrival stating that you don't carry any wood, plant material, insects etc so that there is no risk of disease entering NZ. Craig did have a handful of nuts and a banana - this led to our bags being put though the x-ray again in case they would find any rogue bananas and then be able to issue us a hefty fine. Luckily it was just the one, and even with this minor stop we were through the airport and at the hotel within 90 minutes.

A giant bed (no floor-mattress in sight!), a lovely ant-free shower and complimentary tea/coffee - this was much more like it! We initially planned for 2 nights in Auckland at first, but we didn't factor in the time zone change as we got here so we actually missed a day (oops).

No biggie though as we were both eager to get on our way. We shared an awkward taxi with a couple that were heading to the airport (our destination was en route) and arrived promptly to collect our camper van. We went through all the paperwork (Craig gave his driving license etc while I enjoyed the free drinks machine) and then the lady went to fetch our van. Rolling up to the office door is a flower patterned, simply adorable little van - I felt my excitement building and Craig felt his masculinity slipping away...

We had a little mooch about the van: stove, sink, fridge, kettle etc - everything we could need and the seating area in the back converts to a bed. So off we went in our very own Mystery Machine, heading south!

Craig found the van really easy to drive and to be fair he's done a cracking job of manoeuvring the winding roads and steep hill-starts and kept us in one piece :)
The scenery around the roads was stunning - exactly as one would expect in NZ. Rolling hills, towering forests and thundering rivers frame the road and made us 'ooh' and 'aah' every so often! Our only regret so far is that we should have brought the Lord of the Rings soundtrack on CD!

**We've also noticed that the cows seem to ominously flock to the top of the hills - they're pretty steep but they all stay standing, is this a sign of the weather, or the apocalypse or something? If anyone knows why they do this rather than stick to safe ground then please enlighten us!**

We arrived in Waitomo after a 3 hour drive. This is the place where the world famous Gloworm caves are located.
We managed to find it and get our tickets, and a lovely photographer gave us some tips on where to visit in Waitomo the next day. We waited a few minutes and our guide arrived and led us down into the cave. We had a history of the site, discovered by a Maori fella and an Englishman (we always loved a good discovery didn't we?) back in 1887 by following the river. Once inside, he described the cave and it's properties which was fascinating. It was also very dark since we were no longer near daylight. We could feel the odd drip of water on our necks as we admired the stalagmites and stalagtites and passed through the narrow, eery walkways. At one point we walked into pure darkness and couldn't see where we were putting our feet until the guide found a power switch for the light! We then went deeper and spotted some of the shapes made in the limestone and more magnificent nooks and crannies as we navigated towards the boat. All the way, our Maori guide explained the significance of areas and the life cycle of the gloworms. We also saw some 'fishing lines' - the term given to the string-like projections that the gloworm uses to capture it's insect dinner - once the insect flies towards what it thinks is daylight it becomes trapped and is wound up and eaten! Makes eating with a fork seem boring! Once we had all safely got into the boat, the guide went through a few ground rules - arms and legs inside the boat, and no talking as this frightens the little gloworms and their defence mechanism is to turn out their light.
We then proceeded to be gently pulled along in complete darkness through the cave. The ceiling was decorated with hundreds of thousands of tiny blue gloworms, shining like stars on a clear night. It was so dark we weren't even able to make out the person next to us, and so silent that you could hear your own breath as you inhaled. To describe the boat ride as magical would be an understatement. In fact, I think everybody, everywhere, should see this little gem at least once in their lives. We left quietly, silenced by awe at how nature can always surprise! Fun fact #1: the caves are technically owned by the farmers that own the land above, who then rent it to the caving companies for a fee - go farmers!

Following the caves, we found a campsite with a powered unit so we could plug ourselves in and operate the electrics in the van and set up our bed for the night.
We then visited the only pub in Waitomo Caves Village, Curly's, for dinner and drinks before braving the cold on the quick walk back. And of course the only solution for the bitter evening cold - the hot tub!

We woke up bright and early the next day and following the photographer's advice the day before, we drove a little further into Waitomo for a bush walk at about 8am. It was the Ruakiri nature reserve and it was an absolute delight. We walked through forest and along muddy pathways, across a river, and through/under narrow cave passageways. The highlight was going through a small limestone entranceway and coming out at a giant cove inside a cave, with the river thundering beneath us and our only light to guide us out of the cave was my iPhone! It could be likened to walking inside a cathedral and noting how small you feel in comparison to the majestic building - although there's nothing man-made about it!

After our refreshing start, we drove further down to Taupo. We passed a little town that reminded us of Twin Peaks (if you've ever seen the TV series) and it even had a saw mill!

Once at Taupo we grabbed some supplies from the supermarket and lunch at a local chippie (another home comfort!) and headed to the harbour on the 'Great Lake'. Our boat of choice wasn't one of the several cruise liners eagerly awaiting passengers, or even one of the adrenalin-fuelled speedboats. No, we went for a vintage 1920's sailboat (once owned by Errol Flynn), now owned by a Kiwi couple and operated by the husband, Jamie. We hopped aboard and made ourselves comfortable on giant beanbags while the other 4 guests took their seats (this boat normally takes 24, we had 7 on board, including Jamie!).

It's probably worth mentioning that it's been pretty cold so far, as expected, and we had donned our raincoats and hats for the trip. When we left the dock it was manageable in terms of the temperature, but the further we got out the colder it got, and the provided blankets came in very useful! We sailed around to the Maori rock carvings (although only carved in 1980 as a tribute) - normally people jump off and have a swim, but you may be shocked to learn that we all passed on the swim! There was even local Maori music playing as we sailed around, followed by a bit of Adele on the way back! We were given some soup to warm up as we admired the snow-capped mountains on one edge and the $2 million+ real estate on another!
Fun fact #2: the lake sits on top of the 2nd largest volcano in the world, and the only time it's erupted was a long way back and could be felt in Rome!

Here's the second of today's updates now we have easy Internet access...

We arrived in New Zealand at 8pm on the 2nd August, and it was cold and rainy - a reminder of home! In case you're not sure, New Zealand and Aus are über strict when it comes to customs and they work hard to protect the agriculture of their countries. You have to fill a small card upon arrival stating that you don't carry any wood, plant material, insects etc so that there is no risk of disease entering NZ. Craig did have a handful of nuts and a banana - this led to our bags being put though the x-ray again in case they would find any rogue bananas and then be able to issue us a hefty fine. Luckily it was just the one, and even with this minor stop we were through the airport and at the hotel within 90 minutes.

A giant bed (no floor-mattress in sight!), a lovely ant-free shower and complimentary tea/coffee - this was much more like it! We initially planned for 2 nights in Auckland at first, but we didn't factor in the time zone change as we got here so we actually missed a day (oops).

No biggie though as we were both eager to get on our way. We shared an awkward taxi with a couple that were heading to the airport (our destination was en route) and arrived promptly to collect our camper van. We went through all the paperwork (Craig gave his driving license etc while I enjoyed the free drinks machine) and then the lady went to fetch our van. Rolling up to the office door is a flower patterned, simply adorable little van - I felt my excitement building and Craig felt his masculinity slipping away...

We had a little mooch about the van: stove, sink, fridge, kettle etc - everything we could need and the seating area in the back converts to a bed. So off we went in our very own Mystery Machine, heading south!

Craig found the van really easy to drive and to be fair he's done a cracking job of manoeuvring the winding roads and steep hill-starts and kept us in one piece :)
The scenery around the roads was stunning - exactly as one would expect in NZ. Rolling hills, towering forests and thundering rivers frame the road and made us 'ooh' and 'aah' every so often! Our only regret so far is that we should have brought the Lord of the Rings soundtrack on CD!

**We've also noticed that the cows seem to ominously flock to the top of the hills - they're pretty steep but they all stay standing, is this a sign of the weather, or the apocalypse or something? If anyone knows why they do this rather than stick to safe ground then please enlighten us!**

We arrived in Waitomo after a 3 hour drive. This is the place where the world famous Gloworm caves are located.
We managed to find it and get our tickets, and a lovely photographer gave us some tips on where to visit in Waitomo the next day. We waited a few minutes and our guide arrived and led us down into the cave. We had a history of the site, discovered by a Maori fella and an Englishman (we always loved a good discovery didn't we?) back in 1887 by following the river. Once inside, he described the cave and it's properties which was fascinating. It was also very dark since we were no longer near daylight. We could feel the odd drip of water on our necks as we admired the stalagmites and stalagtites and passed through the narrow, eery walkways. At one point we walked into pure darkness and couldn't see where we were putting our feet until the guide found a power switch for the light! We then went deeper and spotted some of the shapes made in the limestone and more magnificent nooks and crannies as we navigated towards the boat. All the way, our Maori guide explained the significance of areas and the life cycle of the gloworms. We also saw some 'fishing lines' - the term given to the string-like projections that the gloworm uses to capture it's insect dinner - once the insect flies towards what it thinks is daylight it becomes trapped and is wound up and eaten! Makes eating with a fork seem boring! Once we had all safely got into the boat, the guide went through a few ground rules - arms and legs inside the boat, and no talking as this frightens the little gloworms and their defence mechanism is to turn out their light.
We then proceeded to be gently pulled along in complete darkness through the cave. The ceiling was decorated with hundreds of thousands of tiny blue gloworms, shining like stars on a clear night. It was so dark we weren't even able to make out the person next to us, and so silent that you could hear your own breath as you inhaled. To describe the boat ride as magical would be an understatement. In fact, I think everybody, everywhere, should see this little gem at least once in their lives. We left quietly, silenced by awe at how nature can always surprise! Fun fact #1: the caves are technically owned by the farmers that own the land above, who then rent it to the caving companies for a fee - go farmers!

Following the caves, we found a campsite with a powered unit so we could plug ourselves in and operate the electrics in the van and set up our bed for the night.
We then visited the only pub in Waitomo Caves Village, Curly's, for dinner and drinks before braving the cold on the quick walk back. And of course the only solution for the bitter evening cold - the hot tub!

We woke up bright and early the next day and following the photographer's advice the day before, we drove a little further into Waitomo for a bush walk at about 8am. It was the Ruakiri nature reserve and it was an absolute delight. We walked through forest and along muddy pathways, across a river, and through/under narrow cave passageways. The highlight was going through a small limestone entranceway and coming out at a giant cove inside a cave, with the river thundering beneath us and our only light to guide us out of the cave was my iPhone! It could be likened to walking inside a cathedral and noting how small you feel in comparison the the majestic building - although there's nothing man-made about it!

After our refreshing start, we drove further down to Taupo. We passed a little town that reminded us of Twin Peaks (if you've ever seen the TV series) and it even had a saw mill!

Once at Taupo we grabbed some supplies from the supermarket and lunch at a local chippie (another home comfort!) and headed to the harbour on the 'Great Lake'. Our boat of choice wasn't one of the several cruise liners eagerly awaiting passengers, or even one of the adrenalin-fuelled speedboats. No, we went for a vintage 1920's sailboat (once owned by Errol Flynn), owned by a Kiwi couple and operated by the husband, Jamie. We hopped aboard and made ourselves comfortable on giant beanbags while the other 4 guests took their seats (this boat normally takes 24, we had 7 on board, including Jamie!).

It's probably worth mentioning that it's been pretty cold so far, as expected, and we had donned our raincoats and hats for the trip. When we left the dock it was manageable in terms of the temperature, but the further we got out the colder it got, and the provided blankets came in very useful! We sailed around to the Maori rock carvings (although only carved in 1980 as a tribute) - normally people jump off and have a swim, but you may be shocked to learn that we all passed on the swim! There was even local Maori music playing as we sailed around, followed by a bit of Adele on the way back! We were given some soup to warm up as we admired the snow-capped mountains on one edge and the $2 million+ real estate on another! Fun fact #2: the lake sits on top of the 2nd largest volcano in the world, and the only time it's erupted was a long way back and could be felt in Rome!

Once we got back from the arctic-like wind we hopped back in the van and to our next campsite. Oh, and these camp sites are all 4-5*, meaning lovely showers, kitchens and this one even has a geothermally heated swimming pool and hot pool! So off we went to relax in the hot pool before retiring to the back of the van for a much-needed rest!

Ciao for now!
Xx

Ciao for now!
Xx