Adelaide Airport
October 29, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Auckland airport
October 29, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
Safe and sound in Auckland! It's late - straight to the hotel for a few hours sleep before we start!
Auckland Airport Hotel
October 30, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Starting out from the Auckland Airport Hotel (not flash!) we grabbed a hire car and drove south, stopping at Hamilton for lunch and a look round.
Destination : Tauranga
Seascape Villa B&B, Tauranga
October 30, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Staying overnight with a delightful couple in their beautiful B&B home, we were very impressed with Tauranga. The weather has been kind to us also, blus skies and no rain.
Tauranga
October 31, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
A few hours looking around Taraunga were really well spent. It's a very beautiful part of the world.
Hobbiton, Matamata
October 31, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We spent half a day at the BRILLIANT Hobbiton, where the Hobbitty parts of the Lord of The Rings was filmed! LOTR and Hobbit fans will not be disappointed!
Rotorua
October 31, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
We drove on to Rotorua. Rotorua announces itself as you drive over the hills above it with a rather interesting sulferous odour. Absolutely fascinating place. We took a tour of a local village, whoRead more
Skyline Rotorua
October 31, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
For tea in Rotorua we ventured by Cable Car up to Skyline Rotorua.
Absolutely AMAZING views, and the food was great too!
The adventurous can toboggan or mountain bike down the mountain! We took theRead more
Lake Taupo
November 1, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
We set out this morning to meet up with an old pal in Napier, stopping at Lake Taupo for a look around.
Napier
November 1, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
What a great town! Napier is really pretty, with a strong focus on Art-deco design. Lots of vintage cards driving around, and the Bay is just georgous. Would like to spend some more time hereRead more
Wellington
November 2, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We drove from Napier on to Wellington, through some amazing country and some mountains where the winds were so strong a camper-van blew over!
Then a flight on to Christchurch.
Christchurch
November 2, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We over-nighted in Christchurch in the delightfully named but somewhat disappointing Gingerbread Lodge B&B.
A long-time sister city to Adelaide, and sharing the same architect (Colonel Light) it wasRead more
Geraldine (Car Museum)
November 3, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 14 °C
Grabbing another rental car, we drove onward to Lake Tekapo, a great scenic drive which took us through Geraldine, a charming little town where we noticed signs to a local Car Museum. That looked likeRead more
Lake Tekepo
November 3, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Driving steadily north brought us to Lake Tekepo - and WAS IT COLD! Totally worth it though, as the local scenery was just stunning!
Moeraki Boulders
November 4, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
On our way to Dunedin we stopped off at a tourist spot that boasts some HUGE marbles!
Dunedin
November 4, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
Definitely one of our favourite places so far, we stayed with some delightful fold at the Leithview B&B, who had an amazing menagery of animals and home cottage industries - really delightful hosts!Read more
Larnach Castle
November 5, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
We did quite a bit of sight-seeing around Dunedin, including the brilliant and beautiful Larnach Castle!
Royal Albatross Center
November 5, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
Loads of other birds, but the Albatross were in hiding the day we went :(
Lake Te Anu
November 6, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Lovely little town, wish we'd stayed longer!
Milford Sound
November 7, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
We did the obligatory cruise through the Milford Sound, and it was all we expected. Must see!
The coach trip from Te Anu was really interesting too, amazing scenery and a really informative tourRead more
Queenstown
November 9, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Dave: I'd been to Queenstown before, in the snowy Ski Season. Much nicer with good weather, really pretty place. The drive in was extremely scenic also.
LOADS to do in and around Queenstown.
Arrowtown
November 9, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We had an afternoon in Arrowtown, and old Mining Town about 20km from Queenstown. Some really quaint little shops and cafes!
Skyline Queenstown
November 9, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C
After really enjoying Skyline Rotorua, we had to try the one in Queenstown!
The view from the top of the mountain was even more spectacular, but the food wasn't as good.
West Coast New Zealand
November 10, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Leaving Queenstown, we drove along the stunning West Coast, stopping to admire the scenery as often as we could.
Franz Josef
November 10, 2014 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We had high expectations of the Glaciers at Franz Josef, intending to take a helicopter ride. Alas, for the first time in the trip the weather was against us.. It was raining when we pulled into FranzRead more
Dani and Dave on the hoofWe take our leave of Australia - New Zealand Bound!