Our final entry from New Zealand on the day that we fly to Santiago for the last leg of our trip... The second half of our trip around New Zealand was in a camper van that we rented from 'Jucy', which turned out to be a great company, easy to get hold of and pretty good value for money.

We picked up the van in Christchurch and from there drove straight up the coast to Kaikoura, to do a whale-watching trip in the afternoon. It was a fantastic few hours out on the boat, a bit slow to get started but by the end of the afternoon we had had four sightings of great sperm whales as well as a huge school of dusky dolphins playing near the boat and a large colony of fur seals. The evening was spent doing a pub quiz qith all the Magic Bus crew that we had tracked down, a lot of fun although none of us came close to winning!

The next day we caught the ferry across to the North island through the Marlborough Sounds and then spent spent four days exploring Wellington. We visited the excellent Te Papa museum, took a ride up the cable car, walked to Cuba Street with the 'tipping buckets' scuplture, saw the waterfront, drove down to Oriental Bay and had a night out on Courteney Place. On the sunday we spent the day with Rob, Kristina's work buddy from Winchester, having a great Chinese with him and his travelling companions in the evening.

And then the proper road trip began! We started by driving up the east coast, going down to the southern Cape Palliser and then visiting Martinborough, one of the main wine regions of NZ. We then headed up to Hawkes Bay and went wine tasting at Trinity Hill winery, cheese tasting, chocolate tasting, plus a walk up Te Mata peak for panoramic views... and to work off all the food! We visited the Art Deco towns of Hastings and Napier before heading inland to Lake Taupo, where we had hoped to skydive and do the Tongariro Crossing, but unfortunately the weather prevented both at that time...

And so we took the road to Rotorua, stopping at Huka Falls, the Craters of the Moon geothermal area and some rapids created by the opening of a dam. That evening we went for a traditional cultural evening at Mitai Maori Village, where we saw warriors paddling a war canoe, traditional singing and dances in a village setting, the Haka and tried an amazing Hangi meal, after which we were taken down to see glowworms around their sacred spring. The second day in Rotorua was our activity day at the Agrodome, where we did zorbing, jetboating and the 'Swoop', which involved being swung through the air harnessed in a sleeping bag! The freefall was terrifying, although after that it was just an amazing flying feeling! A very exciting day followed by a night out in Rotorua with the NZ 21's rugby team, rather random but a lot of fun, especially watching the Haka being performed in a park at 3am! The third day was spent seeing some of Rotorua's amazing geothermal sights. Wai-O-Tapo with its geyser and colourful Champagne Pool and Artists Palette. Then on to the Buried Village, which was destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption, covering the vilaage in metres of ash and mud. And finally Hells Gates, to see some mud pool before relaxing in our own mud bath and Sulphuric spa. A relaxing couple of hours... although we and our clothes did stink of sulphur for a fair few days...!

Up to the Coromandel Peninsula next, where we climbed Mount Mauganui and visited Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove in beautiful sunny weather. All the time we were ringing Rotorua to check on the possibility of skydiving and the weather improved so much that we could book ourselves in and head back to Rotorua. And so we finally got the chance to jump out of a plane at 15,000 feet, attached to a man with a parachute... The most amazing experience ever, although quite unreal at the time, especially the silence when the chute opens and amazing views over to Tongariro and the Pacific Ocean.

We then drove up to Auckland to visit Northland, stopping at Te Aroha for an early morning hike up the mountain there. We didn't get to see a lot of Auckland city itself, because of the very wet weather, but headed up the east coast of the Northland peninsula, seeing a very grey Bay of Islands, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the Mission House and Stone Store at Kerikeri and the beaches of Doubtless Bay. We then drove right to Cape Reinga to see the northernmost point of New Zealand and the clashing of the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea. Then sandboarding at the giant sand dunes, which was lots of fun although terrifying and a lot of effort to get up the dunes again! Back down the west coast we stopped at the Kauri Museum to learn about NZ's tallest trees and their effect on life in the country.

And now we are currently just outside Auckland, waiting to fly to Santiago... which we will tell you all about at some point!!