Time to discover the delights of the North Island, luckily the winter held off and we travelled in the hottest May on record in NZ - none too shabby!! Leaving the grapes behind, but with wine in hand we headed to Napier - the art deco capital of NZ, followed by a few days of tramping in Te Urewara National Park - where unfortunately the sandflies were starved of human flesh (us being the only ones in the entire park!) so naturally they took it out on us - argh.Enjoyed a bit o thermal action in stinky Rotorua before heading to Mt Manganui - awesome surf beach and even more awesome weather - mmmmm. Next stop the Coromandel Peninsula - a land of sun, sea n sand.... did a nice little 8 hour stroll up to the Pinnacles too - spectacular views, very Lost World-esque.
Onwards to north of the north - The Northlands - where the beaches were even more stunning and even more deserted. Attempted some independant caving too.....with only our mobile phones as torches - luckily the glow worms lit the way. Fun times over, time to sell good ole Venus back in Auckland.... which proved to be no easy task, multiple price cuts, advertising attempts, avoiding of scammers and two car fairs later we managed to get rid of her - phew.
Bye bye New Zealand. Next stop 'Stralia!
