Howellsey was up at the crack of dawn to hike to the Cape from our campsite. As it is a one way trail (shame!) I had a little lie in and went up to collect Ian at the cape. The Cape is where the Maori believe their ancestors leave for the afterlife and it is also the meeting point of the Tasman sea and the Pacific Ocean. There's a cool light house there and some amazing views. We did a short cliff top walk and then headed for the Te Paki sand dunes. These were li...

Today we drove up the coast to Cape Reinga. It was a very long drive through miles of fruit orchards and beef and sheep farming country with occasional small towns en route. The scenery was beautiful and the roads winded past silica spits and glimpses towards the east coast. We stopped at Coopers beach for a walk along the sand and a view of the spectular pohutukawa trees (pronounced poo-hoo-ta-ka-wa or something like that - Nicole?) also known as the Kiwi Christ...

What an amazing day!! We were up early to catch our boat which was not the quiet chugger I was expecting. It was a cool catamaran which bounced and bombed it's way into the Bay and over to the town/port of Russell to pick up some more people before we were on our way proper. The Bay was beautiful and the islands were really pretty and ranged from tiny rocky islets to massive islands with $11 million homes on them! We didn't spot any dolphins or orca unfortunately...

So we arrived in New Zealand at the same time as the Australian rugby team and instantly became aware that the whole country is RWC obsessed!! We picked up Willy (world cup willy the amazing camper van) who is brilliant and headed up north on Route 1 towards the Bay of Islands. We found our first camp site with a fab view of the shore line. We were joined by a multitude of French and Irish rugby fans!! Businesses and residents in New Zealand have been asked to ad...

We arrived at Stoney Creek late last night and were shown to our bure which Ian had arranged to be a wee bit special for the last couple of nights on the proper honeymoon leg of our trip. And what a good job he did! We have a nice spacious room with running hot and cold water (luxury!) and it even has it's own little jacuzzi bath! We intend to spend a few more relaxed days here before flying out to NZ. The place is a bit eccentric to say the least with loads of r...