Napier has been one of the nicer places we have stayed at. We can see Cape Kidnappers from the van window, for those of you interested in the history of New Zealand…

The Art deco buildings are really pretty, they had a big earthquake here in the 1930’s and decided to rebuild it in the Art Deco style, and they have all survived so far.

Yesterday we treated ourselves to a tour of the Winery at Church Road (along with some tastings of course!) which was like stepping into Tuscany or some other beautiful Mediteranean country, with the vinyards running up the hill behind. The wine cellar was the most perfect venue for a party – you should have your wedding here Jill its lovely!!

The weather is good all year round for growing grapes along this coast we have been told, and it shows when you can go swimming outdoors in the middle of Winter! After our skiing we have been taking it easy, as some of our muscles were a bit sore! That’s what happens when you don’t go to the gym for a couple of months! We have mostly been wandering around the town, stopping for coffee and a cake now and then, and nosying at the local fashions ( suspicious..). I had to buy new sunglasses as I sat on my old ones (whoops) and you can’t go without here, the sun is so bright due to the hole in the ozone layer.

The pubs have been really busy here too at night, which we have found is unusual. Most places other than in Auckland close at 8.30-9 pm and the ask you to leave! We had taken to reading in bed and having an early night!!

As we have missed off quite a big chunk of the coast we will probably go back up north a bit to Gisbourne, and then across to Hamilton, which was recommended by a guy from London who lives here, then we will be going down the west coast towards Wellington, then across to the South Island. I’m not sure wehn we will post next, as Gisbourne looks pretty small. We are going to treat ourselves to a new digicam this week, so keep your fingers crossed for some decent pictures!
Hope you are all well, speak soon
Gill and Mark
xox

Its been a busy week since I last got on the Internet! From Tauranga we decided to have a look at Rotorua, where the earths crust is naturally a lot thinner than other places, so there is a lot of geothermal activity, and inevitably that lovely eggy smell! ( Vicki you will know what I mean!) Yo uwere sposed to get used to it after a bit, but believe me it STINKS!!

We had a wander around all the smelly mud pools where the steam was coming through, and had a dip in the local hot pools outside. Your head gets freezing in the wind but the rest of your body is boiling away. The locals call it the Lobster Pools, as you come out looking like one!! We just stayed for one night here, a lot of the attractions were closed, or you had to pay a fortune to see the geysers, so we decided to carry on to Lake Taupo, further south.

This was a really gorgeous place, with a huge lake in an old volcano crater. You could also see some snowy mountains in the distance, on the other side of the lake. We were lucky and could park overnight by the lake, with some amazing views to wake upto! The little town was very cute, so we spent a couple of days having a rest here, as we were on our way to do some SKIING hooray!!

We just about made it up Mount Ruapehu ( Mount doom in the Lord of the rings films) in our trusty old van, where it gradually got colder and colder, until we hit the snow line. The area we hit first (Whakapapa) looked a bit more advanced than we were used to, so we headed around the mountain a bit to Turoa. The gear hire and lift passes were really cheap ( about 30 quid a day) and so we got some new bruises whizzing down the piste! Mark has improved loads, and is ‘linking his turns’ as they say! I managed to fall over only twice, and conquered my fear of the swingy chair lifts so it was a success all round!Really bad weather came in so we had to cut the skiing short, but we will definately be going back, as they have snow until October there.

We were pretty sore afterwards and have just arrived in Hawkes bay ( currently in Napier, the world’s Art Deco centre) which seems really pretty, and the house prices aren’t too bad either, so we will be exploring the region – namely the vinyards that are all over the place!! I have updated the pics here but have to go and check on my washing now, before someone pinches it!!

Hope you are all well, love

Gill and Mark

xox

I just remembered to say, please stop lurking, I know that we have had over 1200 hits over the last week or two, but only a few of you ever say hi! Please leave a comment so we know whos spying on us!

anyway, two new posts below…..

We managed to find the hot springs by accident, just roaming around the rocks and stepped on a bloody boiling hot bit of sand where hot water was bubbling through! Then all the other tourists looking around for hot water spotted us jumping up and down to stop our feet burning and came over to nick our spot!!

Mark was very brave and dug himself a pool and jumped in in his shorts -as it was actually freezing cold on the beach, I just warmed up my toes! It was quite a strange sensation having boiling water come up in the sand next to where you were sitting, and the smell of eggs was horrible!! I took some more beach pictures for you Auntie Beryl! Funnily enough the couple in the pool next to us were from Whitefield! We told them to wave at you, Nan, next time they drove past your house. He was saying that he drinks in the Horseshoe pub a lot! Strange coincidence eh?!

The beach was fantastic, really long stretches of sand, I bet in the summer it is heaving there. We have found everywhere to be really quiet, but I suppose it is out of season really. All the pubs close at about 8.00pm so you have to get in there
early! One night near here, as we were walking back from the pub , we stopped on a little jetty to look at the yachts and could see loads of fish jumping out of the water, then suddenly a baby seal appeared from nowhere to chase all the fish around. It was amazing to watch him zooming around, we both stood there for ages!

When we made it to Whangatane, we stopped for a look round, but like I said everything is so quiet that most of the shops and restaraunts are closed so we just had a quick lunch and drove on to Tauranga, where we are now. 

I really like it here, it is a bit bigger than some of the towns we have seen so far, and there is loads to do and see, and a 20 km strecth of beach! Yesterday we climbed Mount Maunganui ( an extinct Volcano) which was pretty tough going near the top. It took about 40 mins of hard slog to get to the top, but as usual the views made it worthwhile. We were both sweating like mad and had to strip down to the bare minimum to cool off.  On the way back down we saw a few lambs that had just been born wobbling around on the grass, very cute!  After the mammoth climb we treated ourselves to an afternoon in the outdoor heated swimming pools, with jacuzzis and jets etc, which I recommend if you ever make it to Tauranga!

 Today ( thurs) I think we will just be looking around town, to pick up some books/magazines to read when we are in the van, and maybe moving on towards Gisbourne/Napier later tonight. The Bay of Plenty (where we are at the moment) was somewhere we thought we might want to live, so hopefully we will like it here.  So far New Zealand has been amazing, so Im sure we will find somewhere we love..

Anyway hope you are all well, speak soon

love Gill and Mark

xoxo 

Still in Coromandel, have been taking it easy and staying in relative luxury at a lovely campsite - hot showers woo! It is quite a cute place really. When we first arrived we thought it looked like a film set, like a Western/Cowboy film would be shot here, with frontier type shops, but is seems this is an actual old gold mining town where you can go panning for gold in the streams nearby.

We saw an old gold mine yetserday, just like a deep tunnel into the rock. I think if we had been wearing proper shoes we would have gone in for a nosy! We also climbed up an extict volcano and got some amazing views of the whole peninsula and the islands offshore. ( We took some pictures, but are yet to find a computer where I can plug it in!)

Tomorrow we are off to look at the rest of the peninsula, and try out the hot springs at Hot Water Beach, where you can dig your own pool in the sand at low tide and enjoy a lovely salty bath!!

love Gill and Mark

xox

just a quickie – been on the road since Monday and this is the first time we have seen the internet, but we are still alive! Having loads of fun in the van but staying in a campsite tonight so we can have a shower and use a plug socket!! seems my straighteners dont work off the plug in the van boooo and I blew up my new hairdryer!!

Today the immobiliser on the van has started playing up and the van won’t start so Mark is gonna have fun fixing it tomorrow. We are in a place called Coromandel, on the Coromandel Peninsula east of Auckland. We went up North and came across some awful weather ( I thought the van might blow over last night!) We have seen some spectacular scenery, waterfalls, lakes, mountains etc. I have been snapping away on the digicam, so will post them when I can Auntie Beryl!

We have come down here where it is much warmer. Lovely town so far, we are on the Jack D’s and coke tonight in a local pub.

Re : all your comments – Our Portaloo is amazing – it actually comes out of the cupboard Vicki and leans on the van wall. It saves you putting all your clothes on in the night and running off down the road to the local loos.
Auntie Beryl, dont worry about me and the loonies, now we are in the van I dont have to get the bus!
Hope you had a top b-day Laura, sorry the card was late, I think the post is slow here. Glad you like the portaloo Jill and Ste

I best hurry up now, the internet costs a bomb here!! will post our pics in a couple of days
lots of love
Gill and Mark xox

…is taking a wee bit longer than anticipated.  I’ts not far off finished now, I have uploaded some pictures   here but will save the finished one’ til we’ve got all our stuff in.  Marks done a really good job, I think he has even impressed himself!

We’ve got all the mod cons, heater, shower, bedside lamps, cooker, fridge, even a hairdryer that plugs into the cigarette lighter (except I think I could dry my hair faster by breathing on it!), double bed, toilet sink ( ahem…washing up bowl) etc etc. We are both getting excited about setting off now. We have booked the next two nights here, so whatever happens on Monday, we’re off. Keep your fingers crossed.

Yesterday whilst looking for a leisure battery for the van we stopped for lunch in a beautiful place called Mission Bay (north coast of Auckland)- some of the pics are  here, but I will load the rest later. It was so pretty, and the sun was shining all day so it was great to be walking along the beach. 

The sand was made from crushed shells, and there were still some really big whole shells along the shoreline. Loads of seagulls squwaking at each other and fighting over leftover chips, which was quite funny to watch. I have to say it beats sitting in the office on a Friday afternoon!

 I am hoping for a night on the tiles tonight, if Mark isn’t too knackered. It can be a bit dodgy round here at night – there is a road called Karangahape Road ( or K road as the locals call it) where you can find ladies (and ladyboys) of the night, transvestites and other interesting people milling around! Some weirdo sat next to me on the bus the other day up there ( I was the only passenger and he picked the seat next to me!!) and started quoting biblical quotes to me! I had to get off the bus about 5 stops early, I was bloody terrified.

Hope you are all well, I believe the weather has improved so hoopefully you’ll get a few weeks of sun.

 take care

love Gill

p.s Hope you have a good time at Leeds festival Garry, stay away from the ketchup this time!!

p.p.s  Yes thanks Anna, I have just heard the news today Jill, congratulations to you and Andy on your engagement, just don’t get married until we come for a visit!! xoxo

We were up with the sparrow farts this morning ( New Zealand sayings are so lovely!) to get some bits for the van. Its coming on quite well now, we have lined it with insulation and some boards to keep it toasty in the night, and Mark has put a roof vent in.

Today we will be fitting the sofa bed and hopefully buying the hob and fridge ( if we have time). I will put up some pictures when we are a bit closer to finish.

 I think today I will go off and do some shopping, I got bored holding up wooden boards all day yesterday, and I’m still itchy from putting that insulation in!

 In response to some of your comments-

Ste and Jill -I will get Mark to pose on the loo for you if you like! Its tiny and I think it might be hard to aim for after a few beers! We are staying in a backpackers hostel at the moment. It is really quite nice, the owner is lovely and really helpful, and its 10 mins from Auckland centre.

Auntie Beryl, yes I have been feeling like the Hunch Back of Notre Dam, it is quite a low roof, we tried to get a high top but there aren’t many about here. I have decided to get a stool with wheels on to whizz around the van on!! I will definately need one when I am cooking.

Ann and Jean – I hope everything is ok there, and you aren’t having too many traumas in the office!

 Speak soon, Im off to the shops

love Gill

xox