So we arrive in one of the most isolated major landmasses, originally populated around 800 years ago by the Maori people who managed to scare off Abel Tasman. It was not until years later when James Cook on his way to Tahiti finally made a breakthrough and decided on his second visit that it might be worth the Birtish interest to colonise the land. There are no indiginous mammals in New Zealand and before the Brittish settlers came the Maori's main source of protein was birds, such as the Kiwi, and fish. Today everywhere you look there are cows and sheep and a few lamas and emus thrown in too.

Our initial experience of NZ was very pleasant indeed and we had a luxurious first few days in and around Auckland, where we were taken such good care of that we were a little worried about heading off on our own again. We were met at Auckland airport by Marie's friend Leanne and her boyfriend McCraine. It took us a little while to get out through security after baggage claim, as they had some questions about our hiking shoes and tent in our bags. This was sorted however, after assuring the authorities that it was all brand new. From the airport we headed up North for a few days camping in Puiri Bay just south of the Bay of Islands. It took us a while longer to drive up there than expected (those long windy mountain roads really are long!) and we arrived after dark and had to carry everything from the car, as the campsite gate was shut. Unfortunately the site was not sheltered from the relatively strong winds up there and the 10man tent blew down the next day and kept us up the following night, as it would collapse onto us every few hours if we did not hold the sides up. This made for a slightly eye-opening experience for us, as we were planning to camp most of our way around NZ and both froze incredibly during the night in our very thin (practically non-existent in Marie's case) sleeping bags. But despite the wind and the odd shower, the sun did make an appearance and Leanne and Mac had brought plenty of supplies and a cooker so we were treated to hot meals and cider, which made it a great few days for us.

During the day we drove to the Bay of Islands and visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the British and the native Maori entered into the Treaty of Waitangi on the 6th Feb in 1840.

This treaty handed New Zealand over to the British crown while guaranteeing Maori rights over their land and traditional gathering and fishing rights. The coexistance between the British (or Pakeha) and Maori is a very important part of the New Zealand culture. It is nice to see how the Pakeha are also proud of the Maori traditions and almost tell the legendary stories of the Maori tribes as if they were their own. The mixture of place names from British names such as Wellington and Queenstown to Maori names like Wangarei and Waitomo makes it tricky for the likes of Marie and I to keep up and remembering the next stop in our itinary a task in itself. But that is all part of the expereince of course and we are very much enjoying it!

The next stop was Haruru Falls and then off to fish Pippis in the sand with the guidance of Troy, Mac's mate whos great great great grandfather interestingly enough signed the original treaty in 1840 and is therefore a real native and new a lot about the history of Nz and how to make things out of flax leaves. Pippis are mussel or clam like things that are boiled and are rather chewy. Marie and I tasted one or two, but decided they are not really worth the effort.

Back in Auckland we discover it has been very hot and sunny all weekend and try not to wish we had stayed - although Marie and I were both very pleased to have made it up North, as we wouldn't have seen it otherwise. It was a real delight to have a roof over our heads though, and I for once had a break from the constant mosquito attacks I have been suffering from since Fiji.

Over the next few days in Auckland we did some sight seeing (for free) in the city and in the evening Leanne would drive us to one of the local spots. One Tree Hill and North Head in Devonport had some stunning views of the city and on the last night we all went to Mission Bay for ice cream on the beach. Auckland is a lovely city and is in fact the third largest city in the world yet only has a population of 1.5 million so the actual city centre is not very big. I know for certain that had it not been for Leanne, we would not have had the chance to see the city or the Bay of Islands as we did, so a huge thank you to her and Mac!

Setting off from Auckland and a warm bed with a view to the next five days being spent in a tent again filled us both with fear, but so far we are enjoying our first stop on the journey down south. We have booked our coach trips now for the entire rest of the journey through the country with InterCity that takes us from place to place whenever we want to go and the first coach went far beyond expectations.

We got the coach from Auckland to Rotorua via Waitomo, which is the home of the famous Glow worm caves for which a tour was included in our bus ticket. The coach driver spent the entire journey giving facts, stories, recipes and general information (while driving) some of which we have just repeated to you. He generally seemed to go over and above what was expected of him to make everyones experience better. The limestone caves tour was quite interesting and once again the tourguide was incredibly enthusiastic and made the experience all the better with a few cave and worm jokes. The tour concluded with us all piling into a small boat in the dark and in complete silence and being pushed around beneath thousands of worms, with glowing tails, on the cave walls above us. This was a pretty spectacular sight although we couldnt help but wonder where all the flies go once the worms mature.

Arriving in Rotorua we did in fact smell it before stepping off the bus, as was warned by the guide books. The hydrogen sulphide coming up from the natural vents in the thin crust means an almost steady smell of rotten eggs, but this is easily forgotten and goes unnoticed until you pass a particularly strong outlet. The camp site where we are staying is located by a park that has many geothermal pools with steaming hot water and the site itself has a hot pool which is at about 37 degrees. Being one of the world's most concentrated and accessible geothermal areas, there has been lots to see whilst we have been here and we have managed to make the most of the free sights and walks in the area. The backpacker place we are staying at not only has tent sites, but also has dorms and rooms to rent so there are a great deal of facilities we can use here including a fully equipped kitchen, dining and living room, so we are able to cook which is a luxury we weren't expecting. There is a big raggae festival happening here in Rotorua this weekend so lots of people arrived on Friday for RaggaMuffin and the place is buzzing with activity.

On Friday we blew our budget and donned our hairy feet for a trip to Hobbiton, one of the movie sets for the Lord of the Rings movies and the Hobbit. The set is built on a farm in Matamata and although the original set was taken down after filming, it has all been built again and left up this time, following the filming of the three Hobbit films in 2011. The set is now owned 50/50 by the farm owners and the film company and there is no doubt they are earning a significant amount on these tours. The tour was quite pricey, but worth it, as we had a really nice day in the sunshine, relatively quiet, a good tour guide, lots of photos and the tour ended in the Green Dragon Pub, where we got to sample some cider which is brewed especially for Hobbiton. Before our tour we went exploring around Lake Rotorua and found lots of birds and geothermal pools, plants and scenery clearly affected by the acidic water in the area. Some of the birds have even lost the webb on their feet due to the acidity of the water. The eggy smell can still be pretty overwhelming and is not the nicest thing to wake up to in the morning.

On our last day in Rotorua we went for a walk from Laje Rotorua up to Whakarewarewa, a thermal village. Our walk started by the eggy smells by sulphur bay and headed up alongside Puarenga stream which was full of boiling hot pools and sulphur vents. It took us a good few hours to get to Whakarewarewa but we decided not to pay the $30 entrance fee and so headed back to town along Fenton street (possibly the longest street in the world). Despite the day starting with a cloud filled sky, we both managed to get crispy in the sun and are sporting an attractive lobster-red glow on our cheeks. Tomorrow we are heading off to Taupo so we will be saying "Smell you later" to Rotorua.

Signing off, Marie and Sophie