Got here in one piece !! nothing cool about it Jan, from mountain passes to six/ seven lanes but Squid knew where she was going.We spent a long time looking for the site, it was a first for us,I think I came off a lane too early as we left the bridge, however we are here, the campsite must have every camper in Auckland on it. As I´m getting out of the van there are two couples sitting having a drink, they recognised us from Te Anau, I said to them this is ...

Here we are, sulphur what a smell, the campsites we looked at all said smell free, hope so. We had a lovely drive up mainly through forrest but still going up mountains and down the other side, poor old Squid she will be glad to see the back of us.Site very nice but I can smell something not as bad as in town though.We walked around saw quite a few geysers and steamy pools but decided to go and see the "Buried Village", Alison can remember a children&#...

We woke to a beautiful day,spent the morning looking around the town the architecture is art deco, lovely.Drove further along into Hawkes Bay and had a walk along the beach, plenty of vineyard tours on offer but have to resist as I´m driving,it is a very nice part of the country need to put it on the list for the next time!! Next stop Rotoroua.

The crossing was a bit damp at first but it cleared for us to take some lovely photos.It took three hours to sail over, I was a bit dubious about driving the camper van on but it was straight forward,thank goodness. We spent most of our time on deck with a few other mad people, one New Zealand chap talked to us for a long time telling us about the different islands we were passing and what we have to see on the north island in the short space of time we have lef...

Arrived in Picton early evening, we used is as a stop to catch the 7am. ferry but it is a lovely wee place, should have made an effort to get here sooner.My main mission here is to say hello to Pat´s daughter but the shop she has is closed,other shops are closed too, one of the shop owners is getting married today so they were all at the wedding. There is a large Scottish influence here, we went to the Hairy Haggis pub/restuarant for our tea,we were there f...