Yesterday evening we went to shorebird centre near Miranda where we saw loads of bar tailed godwits who had flown non-stop from Alaska and Siberia to get there. It takes 8 days! We also saw Wrybills which are unique to New Zealand and have a bill that curves to the side - weird! We then pitched up at Miranda camp ground to find they had there own hot springs (don't mind if I do thank you!). We watched the New Zealand v France game in the TV room with lots of exci...

Yesterday we spent a relaxing day in Mount Manganui when I sent howellsey off to walk round the mountain and to have a swim in the sea while I bought some 'essential' clothing (you'll see why when I show you it!). We read, snoozed, wandered and generally didn't do much at all - perfect! We headed off this morning towards Auckland and stopped off at Katikati for a coffee where the first and only Ulster settlers arrived in the late 1800's. There was a massive rugby...

Today, we left smelly Rotorua, and headed up through Te Puke (the kiwi fruit capital of the world - 80% of all kiwi fruit in the world is grown in this area apparently). The local signs emphasise this point with cartoon kiwi fruits telling us to drive carefully and put our litter in the bin - cute! We drove through as we fancied a wander up mount Manganui and then decided to stay. It's a lovely place with an excellent campground right by the mountain and beside t...

We decided to spend an extra day in Rotorua to give me a chance to do a bit more horse riding. After having a wee go in Fiji my appetite was whetted and I went for a 2 hour trek just outside the town. What an amazing afternoon. We trekked through the 700 acre farm of the owners before going through native bush up to a view point where we could glimpse the lake and we had a great view of Ngongotaha (the mountain that overlooks Rotorua) for the majority of the trek...

Today we had a complete day of relaxation and luxury. I even found that holiest of all backpacker's grails - a hair drier!! We went to the Polynesian Spa voted by Conde Naste readers as one of the top 10 of it's kind in the world! We soaked in natural hot springs then Howellsey had a massage whilst I had a skin therapy of exfoliation and Rotoroua hot mud. Yummy! Following this we finished the evening off with a nice meal at Macs where Howellsey had 6 of the bigge...