We set off early from Hamilton to Matamata to visit The Lord Of The Rings set of Hobbiton. Our tour guide was Leslie and she was quite funny! On the way there as there had been a storm the night before she kept getting out of the van to chuck huge tree branches out of the way! The Hobbiton set is situated in a farm which was about 20 minutes from Matamata. There are 17 out of the total of 37 hobbit holes still remaining and we got to stand in the most famous o...

On Thursday Carol and I were both a bit ill still after the food poisoning but we had booked our campervan so we both decided that we should still go ahead and pick it up. We checked out of the hostel and got a taxi over to the campervan place where we picked it up! We have named her Connie and she is massive! Its a 4 man campervan so we have 2 double beds, a fridge, microwave, 4 hobs, a grill, heater and a toilet and shower! Matt is designated driver and me chi...

Hello everyone, we arrived in Auckland on Tuesday22nd July. We checked into the hostel and then went out for a wander and a bite to eat. We met up with Jenny & kate in the evening from Fiji who were staying in the same hostel as us. Wednesday we got up and went shopping for some warmer clothes as we as in mid winter and didn't really prepare for this climate! Carol and I went to the supermarket which resulted in food poisoning! We thought we were fine an...

Day 1 & 2 - 8th & 9th July We set off for our 2 week island hopping on Tuesday 8th July. We got picked up at our hostel and got taken to Port Denarau where we boarded the Yasawa flyer which took us to the islands. The islands themselves are absolutely stunning, the 1st stop was South Sea island and it was so small you could have easily walked around it in 5 minutes. Our stop was the last stop the island of Tavewa and the resort of Coral View. It took ar...

Bula from Fiji! So Fiji is absolutely gorgeous it is like being in paradise. we spent the 1st 3 day in a place called Smuggler's Cove which is near Nadi airport where we arrived. It is set right on the beach front and has it's own swimming pool along with hammocks and kayaks. The 1st day we had a lazy day round the pool and the beach and took the kayaks out! It was very amusing, Carol and I went in one and Matt and Mark in the other needless to say there were...