Well, here we are again - our last day on the north island before travelling over to Picton early tomorrow morning. A note for Margaret - thanks for sorting out the house. Hope you're getting all these updates and we are having a fantastic time. David - sorry to hear you're having such bad luck with the car but trust it's soon sorted. Napier was unusual; very art deco but we had a job getting a coffee because everywhere closed down before 5 pm. Long journ...

Hi folks, We have now landed at Napier after a two hour journey from Taupo. Weather, of course, is wonderful (just to rub your noses in it, especially Nick) - we had a bbq last night! Yesterday morning, in Rotorua, we visited Rainbow Forest park, which consisted of an audio tour through gardens which consisted of birds, huge trout and a kamikaze parrot! We actually saw a kiwi in its natural habitat but as they are nocturnal, it was all in the dark! On to Tau...

Hello Everyone, Waihi had a wonderful beach but the site was very crowded. We went to Hot Water Beach but unfortunately the swell was so bad that we were not allowed to dig holes and wallow in the mud. We have now moved on to Rotorua and have had a splendid two days doing the sights. First we went to Te Paui to see the mud pools and hot springs and we went into the Meeting House and saw a splendid Maori welcome/show. We had to touch noses and shake hands, ...

Hello everyone, Here we are on the Coromandel Peninsula. We had a 7 hour journey down from Paihia yesterday. Good job we left early as the journey was longer than anticipated. We have found that we have to double the journey time that they are telling us in the itinerary! Most of the roads, although beautiful, are very windey. Quite busy at the moment as it's bank holiday. We are now off to Hot Water Beach to wallow and then we go down to Waihi Beach for a...

Hello everyone, Thanks for all your messages. Sarah - we have just got ourselves sorted as far as the camper van is concerned and although it's a bit cosy we are really enjoying it. How you managed with four kids I don't know! Rachel - glad everything is going o.k. Jessie - your dad does smile sometimes! Dont know the relevance of the colours but no doubt you will tell us when we get home. Weather has been wonderful today and we have just come off a boat t...