Poon of the Rings

North to the Coromandel where we found beautiful bays and chilly-looking surf spots with great names like 'Sailor's Grave'. Late in the day we took a walk down to Cathedral bay along the path, the hedgerows lined with foxgloves and birds singing at the top of their little lungs, a beautiful spring evening.

Cathedral bay

                                                                                                     Gotta take a wine traveler!

Constantly reminded of home as the foliage and scenery (aside from all the epic mountains, volcanoes and giant tree ferns) are much like south-west England, only crumpled up a bit, making it more hilly and mountainous.

As we stepped down on to the sand of Cathedral bay, which gets its name from the spectacular arch rock formations, we were blown away by the beauty of the place. We had the whole bay to ourselves in the evening sunshine.

So there we were running about like we owned the bay and very unexpectedly to me (and also to James I think, as he only decided 30 seconds prior) James pops the question!
'it just seemed the perfect moment' he said!
I kept him waiting a bit for an answer.. it wasn't until he looked worried that I realised he wasn't joking. So yep we are getting married!

Two excited Poons!

Both on a high, we went to Hot Water Beach to dig ourselves a spa pool on the low tide beach and drink some boysenberry cider to celebrate. A perfect evening, feet in hot volcanic warmed water, cold cider in hand and fireworks in the star studded sky! It was the 5th November.

Due to James spontaneous decision-making my first engagement ring looked like this: Not your usual rock on a stick!

Rope

Back to Auckland with our exciting news. We decided to keep it our little secret to our selves for a while... we'd been used to keeping secrets as we'd been planning to go home soon to surprise our families and enjoy a home Christmas before we head across the Atlantic to Central and South America. Now we had an even bigger secret.

Tea bag string

Grass

From Auckland we we took a few days to see the Northland. Moira was kind enough to lend us her car, this really is a country you need the independence of your own transport to get around and see all the hidden beauty spots. Up to 90 mile beach. At Ahipara we stayed at a wicked backpackers, Endless Summer Lodge, more like a giant shared house, nice facilities and great atmosphere and of course right on the beach. to top off the perfection we had a room with a sea view, serious luxury. We went climbing monstrous sand dues and sand-boarded down, injesting more sand than desired. The coast line was of course classic NZ, stunningly beautiful.

That's one long beach!

That climb nearly killed him

One mighty strong cool-box

South to the bay of islands, famous tourist spot and righfuly so as it's very pretty with all the home comforts, crazy benches and even a local produce market to stock up on farm produce and crafts.

Back to Auckland to collect Moira from work and straight across east to Tauranga to spend the weekend at Moira's parents. They have an amazing home on top of a hill with spectacular view and grounds, we felt like kings waking up in the comfiest bed ever with an undisturbed view of mount Rananewi.
Next day, off to the races darling! No wins for james and I but we both had a great day trying.... maybe our strategy of choosing the horse that looks pretty or has a funky name needs a bit of refining if we want to win big next time.

We really couldn't spent the weekend looking at Mount Rananui without climbing it. The oil tanker that had devastated the wild life in the area was visable on the horizon lodged into the reef. No one know why as apparently 'everyone knows there's a reef there'. Such a shame. The clean up teams were still hard at work on the beach, unfortunately most of the damage is being done out at sea, where apparently nothing can be done. Sad that today with all the scientific knowledge and equipment we have at our finger-tips that we still can't prevent things like this happening and trashing the nature we have left on our planet.

Despite the oil damage the views and scenery look fabulous and in good condition, the kiwi's are an incredibly environmentally-conscious bunch.

bit windy up by here!

 we just couldnt resist a few jumping shots at the top :

the frog dance

the finish line

The landing/girls surfing on gras while jsames pulls out his catasloge pose!

So all packed and excited for our 30-hour journey back to the UK via Australia and Dubai - James ever keen to find the cheapest flights. Adios from kiwiland and it's back to the chilly grey skies of home for a short interval in our travels... and to surprise the hell out of our families!

home fit for a king!

Halloween and Tongariro

Halloween hit the house with an awesome fancy-dress party, I suffered some memory loss - I guess the brain cells just can't regenerate as quick as they used to ;0

Chucky & Carrie

We finished our time in Christchurch with a extravagant slap-up meal with Steve and Siobhan. We ordered EVERYTHING! Even the roast carvery board!

Next leg of the trip - back in a different camper...

...up to Auckland via Kaikoura along the coastline again littered with penguins, seals and rolling surf. First stop on the north island was Wellington to catch a better glimpse of the capital now the rugby mania has ended, then up to the Tongariro national park to do the most famous of the Great Walks. Hiking across a volcanic landscape we climbed up the ridge of Mount Tongariro and across to the crater's edge of Mount Ngaruhoe - absolutely spectacular.

360degree view of the southern crater, at the right end you can just make out James

we made it up the first mountain.......one to go!

In my little green trainers I was somewhat unprepared for the snow in the crater so James very manly carried me across the snow and slush so I didn't get freezing wet feet. "What a guy!" said a passer hiker. We were hella lucky with the weather as it rained before and after continuously. So the gale-force wind we got was quite a welcome change from the rain. We were both so exhasted after the climb that we stayed horizontal for the afternoon and evening, as fighting the wind had zapped all our strength.

emerald lakes

Epic Kiwiland

Touch down into green hobbit land, expecting freezing temperatures we were pleasantly surprised when we stepped out of the airport to glorious sunshine and a reasonably warm 18 degrees. From the airport to Auckland city we took the most expensive bus ride in the whole of our trip (giving us a taste of 1st world prices again) £8 each for a 40-minute ride. Despite the price the service was great and the bus driver flooded us with useful information; 2 things we certainly were not used to.

That day we met with my friend Moira, who gave us a tour of the area, seeing Tuis, green parrots and awesome views within hours of touchdown. She topped it all off with the most delicious dinner of wine and cheese... wow what a welcome to NZ - thankyou Moira!

In a bit of a rush to get to Wellington as we had precious rugby tickets, the next day we took the Overlander train enjoying epic scenery in our glass-ended train carriage. Neither of us could quite get used to how EVERYTHING is explained and so well organised, leaving no space for confusion or error. And again, so so polite!

A small oversight not to book any accommodation on our part, on a weekend in Wellington where the All-Blacks were playing... the first night we were lucky enough to find a hostel as our plan to sleep in the train station was foiled by the freezing wind and 4 degrees temperature as night fell. After the most amazing hot shower we hit the town, enjoying rum and cider in the rugby-manic atmosphere.

The next night we weren't so lucky, all accommodation - even the pricy places - were booked, so we hired a little car as our bed. We took a short tour down the coastline - cities aren't really cities as I know them here, as in 5 minutes you're out in the wilderness with epic views. The coastline is littered with paua shells and thick leathery seaweed, a welcome change from the plastic bottles and polystyrene we found on many asian beaches.

France vs. Tonga. All blued up in glitter we headed to the "cake-tin" stadium to see my first ever live rugby match! The atmosphere was electric, France's poor performance didn't dampen our spirits, the passionate Tongans fully deserved their victory - I even glimpsed a few tears on a proud Tongan's cheeks. The atmosphere continued in the bar with Scotland vs. England, and we whiled away the night drinking whisky with 2 argentinian farmers Daniel & Hugo. The rum definitely helped my broken Spanish to flow better!

A civisiled short ferry across the Tasman Sea and a bus down the coastline, we arrived into shaky Christchurch. Seeing the destruction first-hand - the whole of the city centre barriered off, and giant cracks and holes everywhere, really hit home to us the destruction of the quakes. We stayed with the lovely Siobhan and Steve, who welcomed us into their home with open arms. We enjoyed some home-cooked food, boozy rugby games and BBQs - and our first roast in a long time... wow amazing Siobhan, truly delicious! Cider-fuelled pub visits and walks in the park... lovely Christchurch. It was hard to leave such a welcoming home-from-home.

Try!

Ireland vs France

It was made slightly easier by the arrival of our campervan! Which was very civilised - not just a bed on wheels but equipped with a sink, gas hobs, fridge and radiator! Off we went north to Kaikoura, famous for it's whale-watching but at £75 per person for 3 hours and no guarantees of seeing one, whale-watching was a bit out of our budget. Instead we beach-combed and watched the rugby with a few pints of cider and a plate of fresh scallops!

One of the few places in the world where mountain peaks meet ocean shores

Driving up the coast you could easily miss the sea-lions posing as rocks in their awesome camouflage. We even saw a few penguins stumbling around the shoreline.

Next stop Marlborough Sounds - hike central. We walked and walked among lush old fern forests decorated with moss and lichen and littered with waterways around every corner and opening with an epic view. We climbed up and down mountains in glorious Kiwi sunshine.

Highland Ninja

We stayed in a farm campsite where they gave you free muffins on arrival and across the fields had a waterfall where at night the banks twinkled with hundreds of glow-worms.

What's going on 'ere then?

Lush... green

We headed on to French Pass, on the tip of a peninsula with the most epic scenery I've ever seen.

What a drive

As the full-moon rose over the sea we enjoyed some wine and freshly caught blue cod with a french couple who had been fishing that day. Further north to Farewell Spit, the northly Kiwi-shaped tip of the south island, we found the most northerly pub showing NZ vs Australia in the rugby. I warmed myself through to the bone around their open fire before we moved to camp right on the waters edge.

Snug as a bug in a rug!

The weather turned and it rained. Just like British rain, the kind that doesn't stop. So we took the opportunity to get some driving done and went all the way down the west coast through torrential hail before arriving at Fox Glacier. The sun came out (apparently it rains 200 days a year here so we were pretty lucky) for us to enjoy spectacular views of the glacier.

Eating 8-year-old glacial ice               

East through the Southern Alps to Wanaka, where we found the most beautiful camp-spot ever - right on the edge of the lake with not a person/building in sight, encircled by the majestic white-tipped mountains.

Down to stunning Queenstown, staying with my friend Charlie for a few days who it was great to catch up with after 4 years. On everyone's recommendation we tried the Ferg burger and can confirm they are indeed the best burgers in the world (or would be if they used Parsonage Farm meat that's for sure!). We caught the rugby final of France vs NZ with a group of 16 kiwis who were taking it very seriously, so we tried to keep calm about the superb French performance! Looking at the whole tournament though, New Zealand deserved to win, but it was good to see the Frenchies blow the wind up their skirts!

Our final 2 days in the camper took us to Lake Tekapo where we were blown around by howling winds and torrential rain in our camper, although this didn't impact the amazing views of the dazzling turquoise lake, made blue by some rock-flour and a glacier.

Back to our home away from home, lovely Christchurch. We stayed with Siobhan and Steve and their housemates Mon, Karen, Ray and Katie who all welcomed us once again. I baked caked and james got to know the laptop once again. We made up for lost drinking time and had some big nights out and in. Lovely people and a lovely place, special to us is Christchurch city.

Not many amusing broken English signs in NZ, as you'd expect, but this far-too-obvious fire escape sign caught our eye...