New Zealand

New Zealand welcomed us not only with the same language we speak, after 4 months of half understanding Spanish and Portuguese, but also, as it turns out, the weather. It's winter in this southerly country so we were well used to the dull grey drizzle that greeted us as we left the airport in Auckland. In fact, to anyone from the U.K New Zealand will feel and look oddly familiar and also strangely different. I can see why so many Brits move to the far end of the earth to live here. It's a strange mix of Hampshire's green rolling hills and Scotland's highlands in places with a few palm trees, massive ferns, weird animals, jungle and wild seas thrown in for good measure.
We picked up our small camper which was painted with trout on the side(?) and made our way to the North of the North Island. Although the winter months are in full swing the weather in the North Island was mild and sunny. We made the most of it by visiting beaches and just milling about. New Zealand was turning out to be one of the easiest places to travel around by car. The road rules almost the same. The road s are free from traffic and the people very friendly. It appears to have it all. The only problem we are having with this beautiful country is it's bloody expensive...for us anyway. Fuel and food is draining our bank accounts and our daily budgets have been thrown out the window. Apart from that and the two storms that battered the North Island to it's knees, New Zealand is near perfect for those who want the no-hassle easy travelling.

We've travelled right up to the northerly-most tip and explored both the North and South islands. We've had close up encounters with fearless seals, who smell very strongly of foxes wee; been pulled out of mud on a logging track by a giant logging truck (we ended up on this track, totally unsuitable for our trout van by accident - we took a wrong turn and didn't notice); watched the All Blacks beating Australia in rugby in the local pub; been lost in a giant 3D maze in puzzle world; seen glow worms in a flooded cave, where incidently the cast of Corrie have visited; admired and walked in miles and miles of amazing scenery; had a snowball fight in the snow; Dan is now the proud owner of a branded circle to mark his travels (photos to follow); eaten limpets cooked on a hot stone (Dan saw Ray Mears do it), even cracked the stone it got so hot; route planned to take in all the swimming pool where we can go in and have a shower, as don't have to stop on campsites in NZ; have experienced tropical heat after 2 1/2 months of being very, very cold, by driving round with teh heating up full in t-shirts; and driven nearly 5000km so far...

We fly to Papau New Guinea to try our hand at speaking Pigeon on Sunday, where our experiences will be poles apart from NZ and South America...