Kia Ora New Zealand

You know life isn´t bad when you can overcome the disappointment of leaving Fiji by spending a month in New Zealand. We were both really excited to begin our Kiwi adventure, it was possibly one of the countries we were looking forward to visiting the most.

I know a month sounds like a long time but as we had hopes to visit both the North and South Island and do countless activites and sightseeing in both, it would mean that we would be rushed to fit it all in. With this in mind we decided that the best way to tackle it was to hire a campervan which would give us the freedom to go anywhere we want at anytime and not have to rely on buses. Also we felt it would be the most fun too!!

Auckland's Sky Tower

After only a few hours in Auckland we had already booked a campervan to pick up the next day. As time was tight we had researched everything before (possibly the only time on the trip so far we have been prepared in advance) and decided to go with Spaceships. It cost us around $35 a day for the campervan and another $35 per day for full insurance, an annoying extra but something we thought we better get, especially with Leanne´s driving!

Our Spaceship was well kitted out, it had a small fridge, storage area for backpacks in the back, a storage area for a stove, pots, pans and food. The back turned into quite a spacious bed complete with DVD player. It had a second battery which charged from the first when the car was running which ran the DVD player, lights and fridge in the back. This meant we would never run dry the main battery, which is a good thing as we can both be forgetful.

So Astronauts Leanne and Rob picked up Fangio, their Spaceship and jetted off for 25 days of adventure in New Zealand...

Us and ´Fange´

As some of you may not be familiar with the geography of New Zealand we have decided to include helpful maps of our routes.

Our route in the Northland, the northern tip of the North Island

So we left Auckland (Icon A) and after around 30 minutes we had got lost already. We planned to head to Piha (B) on the west coast but couldn´t work out how to get there or where we were on the small free maps we had been given and collected. We needed to buy a road atlas, we also needed to stock up on supplies so stopping at the first supermarket we saw we bought an atlas and food supplies. With the help of the map we eventually found our way to Piha just in time for sunset.

We stayed in a campsite just off the black sandy beach. We planned to spend every other night in a campsite so we could use their shower facilities etc then spend the next night freedom camping. After a good but slightly chilly first nights sleep we headed back across to the east coast to Goat Island Marine Reserve (C) for a spot of snorkelling. Along the drive up the coast there were a number of beautiful viewpoints.

Beach lookout

We rented mask, snorkel, fins and as the water would be a cold 14 degrees, a wetsuit from a nearby shop. Even with the wetsuit it was freezing!! We planned to spend a few hours in the water exploring but we had enough of the cold after around 45 minutes. It was still worth the cold and we saw lots of fish and swam amongst the ribbons of sea kelp. After getting changed and warming up we sat and had lunch at a spot overlooking Goat Island which we had snorkelled around.

Goat Island in the background

The next day we had our 10th and 11th Scuba dives booked for Poor Knights Islands, described by many as one of the top 5 dive sites in the world! We would be leaving from Tutukaka (D) so we continued our drive up the coast. Again we couldn't resist stopping at a few viewpoints and beaches along the way.

Viewpoint

We stopped at a nearby beach to cook up a delightful 5 bean chilli and enjoyed it with a beer and the sunset.    The company who we were diving with agreed to let us park up and camp in their carpark overnight so after we had digested our meal we headed there and went to bed with a DVD.

Jamie at work!

The next day we woke early and travelled the long distance across the carpark to prepare for our dive. We got kitted out, Leanne opting for a rash vest and 2 wetsuits and for the first time we had scuba socks and hoods to keep us warm in the slightly warmer 15degree water. They all did their job and we weren't actually that cold in the water which we were worried about after our experience the day before. The crew even said it was the best conditions they had for diving all season. The dives really lived up to our expectations and were two of the best so far. The landscape was very different to our previous dives as the temperature of the water was so much cooler. Therefore the fish we saw were new to us and instead of coral there was a lot of kelp and huge boulders underwater. On our first dive we followed the steep, colourful moss covered wall of the island to a cave which we swam in.

The cave

Leanne with Lunch

After having our lunch and a hearty beef soup to warm us up we went back in the water for our second dive.  The second dive was perhaps better as we weren't used to having such thick bouyant suits on in our first dive so it took a while to adjust but we had got used to it by the second dive and so enjoyed it a little more. It was also fun to dive through some of the caves and arches formed a bit further out from the island.

Continuing with our action packed first few days in New Zealand we drove the 90km to Paihia (E) further up the North Island as soon as we got back to shore. We spent the night in a campsite in Paihia. When we got there it was already dark so we had to bbq by candlelight, an interesting experience. Considering we couldn't really see what we were doing the food turned out pretty good.

As we were driving around in the campervan we thought it would be a good idea to get a NZ sim card just incase we broke down or Leanne crashed! The international rates turned out to be fairly cheap so we called home for the first time since we left for a quick catch up.

The next day we had a boat trip around the Bay of Islands. We cruised through the sheltered waters and past many of the 144 islands. We also got our first sighting of some dolphins.

Look a dolphin!

We sailed out to the 'Hole in the Rock', the furthest point of the trip under cloudy, overcast and windy conditions.

Hole in the Rock

A windswept Leanne

 On the way back in we stopped off at an island which apparently had great views overlooking the islands. As the weather wasn't the best we weren't too fussed at first but luckily by the time we had walked up to the top of the hill the sun decided to show its face and gave us incredible views. The colours were so vibrant, the green of the grass and the varying shades of blue of the water and sky!

When we arrived back on land there was again no time to rest as we started our drive back south on our way to Rotorua. On our way down we stopped off at some toilets, exotic huh. But these weren't just any toilets they were designed by Hundertwasser, don't worry I had no idea who he was either but apparently he is a famous Austrian artist who gained New Zealand citizenship. The toilets were pretty cool though even if they weren't the highlight of our trip.

Our first 5 or so days in New Zealand were jam packed and set the tone for our whole 4 weeks there. In the next blog we continue our journey south through the North Island.