After two nights sleep, a quite drink or three in Petone and a major shop at 'Pak n Save' (and I mean major, this is the survival supplies for 5 people for a fortnight) it was time for the long road trip to Coromandel. We climbed into the red van that I have come to know and love and watched Kowhai house, and civilisation disapear. Everyone was pretty knackered so there was little banter, mostly just Toby telling us about New Zealand. Coromandel is about 400 miles away so of course we were not going to drive there in one day. That would certainly offend Toby's idea of getting there safely. He must be the most cautious driver I've ever known, we stopped every couple of hours, so we could either eat or so that he could have one of his naps. These things, eventually, would become the fuel for many in group jokes.

Our destination for day one was Rotorua, but first we got to see a significant amount of the North Island. First stop was Bulls, which is one of the most bizarre places i have had the pleasure of visiting in New Zealand. As you may have guessed, the town is quite fixated on cows. Fair enough, this is where their main income has come from, but, nearly everything was named after cows and personified cows were painted to many of the walls. "A town like no udder" was written on the sign as we entered town. Apparently there has been quite a controversy in this place, caused by milk that was labelled "milk from bulls".

We also stopped by Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand and a popular tourist spot. It's definitely worth a look, it really is huge, and it's quite easy to be fooled into thinking you're looking out to sea rather than onto a lake.

Tongariro National Park was also on the drive through. Really breath-taking. Mt. Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu can be seen really clearly from the road. The former was actually used in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings as the model for Mt. Doom. There was a lot of digital enhancement but you can still see the resemblence. We had a die hard Lord of the Rings fan in our group who was particularly impressed. I'm also a fan of the trilogy and can see why the films pull so many people to this country. I think if people come here expecting Middle Earth they would be disapointed. That is not to say New Zealand doesn't live up to it, I would say it surpasses it. All evidence of Jackon's Middle Earth has been taken away (apart from Hobbit holes at Hobbiton) and without a tour guide, you would never recognise most of the locations used in the film. The drive was incredible and I spent most of the time fixated at the window, so many rolling hills, sheep and so green, just like everyone says.

After about 10 hours of driving we arrived in Roturua at Central Backpackers where we were to stay for a couple of nights. The town seemed quite lively, even off season, but the first thing that struck me was the smell. The sulphur from the thermal springs creates an overwhelming, eggy, smokey smell. All we wanted to do was go inside and have tea, as it was quite cold at this time. Many games of "s*** head" were played, then early bed-time, again, after some philosophical conversations. We were working at the kiwi sanctuary tomorow, Rainbow Springs. Our first kiwi encounter.