Day 137- We were unsure whether to pay for one of the Maori cultural shows on offer at the thermal villages, they are quite expensive and don't seem very authentic- more a tourist trap. So we didn't bother with the night cultural show which includes dinner and dances for crazy money and we just drove to the thermal village ourself. Once there we discovered anybody could walk in and look around and that a guided tour was only $18. So we signed up and met our gui...

Day 136- After checking out we drove to Mt Manganui, the main reason for our visit here. We parked up and found a map so we could plan our route up the extinct volcano. It was chilly as it was still early but perfect clear skies above us. We set off toward the peak and passed loads of runners on the way, we found a seat half way up and admired the views overlooking the Pacific and nearby islands. It was quite busy at the top but it was understandable why, the vie...

Day 135- Today we were heading to Hot Water Beach, a beach which has pockets of thermally heated water where you dig a hole in the sand and sit in the hot pools. Low tide was at 8.30 am and to ensure you dig at the right spot you have to be there 2 hours either side so we had to get there fast, It was an hour and a half drive to Hot Water Beach so we checked out at 8am and we were on the road. We managed to make in there in an hour so had plenty of time, we hired...

Day 134- Thames had a great little Saturday market on in the main street full of home-made goodies. After walking the whole market Lloyd bought a jar of Manuka honey and we gave in to a mussel fritter and a caramel cake for later in the day. The mussel fritter was amazing, the lady served it in bread and told us to put some sweet chilli sauce on - good advice. Before heading back to the car we stopped at a charity shop and picked up some cassettes for the car, we...

Day 133- Today was the first day with our rented car, we were picked up from the hostel at 9am and taken to the depot, after a few signatures we were out in our Nissan Sunny which we named 'Sunny Sam'. It took us about 20 mins to get out of the city, this was our first experience of how organised the roads of New Zealand are. Our first stop was 'One Tree Hill' which we found after asking for directions as the place was completely unsign-posted and was actually in...