Taupo to Wellington Via (Kirwhakapa, Masterton, kaitoke Regional Park and Turakirae Head) 30th March to 3rd April After leaving Lake Taupo we were set for a long drive. The road was thankfully mainly straight, well for the first 100km but the rest was full of twists and turns however the views we encountered were amazing. In front of us, and our destination, were the mountains of the Tongaririo national Park including Mt Ngauruhoe, aka Mt Doom from Lord of t...

Lake Taupo - 28th March to 30th March After a slow start to the day with the drive from Rotorua we eventually pulled into Taupo around 10.30 in the morning. As we made our way into the town we noticed a small place on the outskirts called 'The Bee Hive', obviously obsessed with honey at this current time we pulled over to check it out. As we wandered inside we sampled the free honey, 'of course' and then went to watch the bees at work. Inside the place they ...

Whakatane to Gisbourne Via (Te Kana, Waihau Bay, Te Araroa, Tikitiki, Anaura Bay and Tolaga Bay) 24th to 26th March Well, after an awesome few days in Rotorua it was back to the allure of the coast. We spent the first night just outside Whakatane or as the Maori's pronounce it, Fuakatane. As we awoke the first morning Rachel attempted to fish in the sea only to find the same problem I had experienced in that it was overcast and freezing cold. However we attempte...

Rotorua - 20th March to 23rd March After a night behind Lake Rotoiti we awoke to the sound of a horn blaring from somebody driving past on the road. Clearly the driver felt we should be awake so without any hanging about we jumped up and started the day but only after cursing the driver for scaring us half to death. Once we cleared breakfast we got started on the day's sight-seeing. Arriving back in Rotorua central our first impressions were confirmed, the plac...

Kawhia to Rotorua Via (Cambridge and Tirau) 19th to 20th March After a half hearted nights sleep in Kawhia due to some extremely heavy rain we were quite relieved to see the sun rising so without hanging about we headed out to a picnic site just outside of the town where we sat and ate breakfast. Thankfully the van was completely clean after the nights rainfall which saved me the job of scraping off the road that had stuck to the sides of the vehicle. On a missi...