Woe, that bread certainly made for some great toast this morning! Another day of beautiful weather was only matched by the scenery encountered. Today was spent exploring the Bay of Islands. Captain Cook counted 144 islands in the bay. However, since a more formal definition of an island states that it must have vegetation and never be buried under the tide, the number of islands has subsequently been recalculated to 88 - still a fair few. The rest are now class...

Today, I said farewell to my friends and struck out on my own, heading north into Northland. My first stop, after about 150km, was Whangerie Falls, a very popular and beautiful waterfall. Next I went to Kawiti Glow Worm Caves. The site has been owned by the same family for many generations. I was lucky enough to be given a personal tour of the cave by the granddaughterrof the man who found the cave. The glow worms are beautiful little creatures who live in clu...

Today I was taken for a drive to see the sites and landscape North of Auckland. The weather was somewhat showery and warm, but we managed to avoid getting caught in most of the showers. Travelling up the East Coast, we stopped off at Orewa Lookout to view the beach. Then we drove further up the coast to Omaha Beach, another beautiful beach with white squeaky sand. Next we moved across to the west coast and stopped at a lookout over the Kaipara Harbour, with...

It had been raining overnight, and the day was set to be overcast and humid, with temperatures in the mid to late 20s. We set off for Auckland Museum. Their special exhibition is currently World of Wearable Art (WoW). I'd heard about the WoW shows in Wellington though I knew they wouldn't be on when I am there, so it was a real bonus getting a chance to see these amazing costumes close up. Next we looking at the Maori section, where it was fascinating to learn...

Today I departed Australia and set course for New Zealand, and the next leg of my epic adventures. Dragging the suitcase behind me I left the hotel and walked to the free tram zone and boarded one of the swanky new trams to get to Southern Cross Station. Here I joined the long queue for the SkyBus to the airport. As soon as one bus was loaded, the next one was available and I'd boarded within 10 mins of arriving. Only 20 mins later I was at the airport. A ver...