What a week we've had! Last Monday morning we touched down in Auckland and after a hearty breakfast and many coffees in a host of quirky cafes, we wandered around the city trying our hardest to keep our eyes open until we could check into our room.
Due to being very tired that day we didn't achieve much else apart from finally managing to get a hair cut, and I'm just ecstatic to have short hair again!!
We were lucky enough to be in Auckland for the New Zealand international film festival so on our second day in the city we bought tickets to see a really funny Spanish film, Living is Easy With Eyes Closed in Aucklands Civic Theatre.
Inside the Civic Theatre
After this we wandered the city, found an amazing park with great trees and finished the day with great food at a swanky little restaurant in the centre, link here...http://britomart.org/ortolana
Wednesday morning came around and we were so excited as we made our way to the airport, although this time we weren't catching a flight, we were picking up our home on wheels for the next ten days, our campervan!
Say hello to our beaut of a van
Having the van has been absolutely amazing. After four months of being dictated to by bus schedules and check in and check out times, it's great to be able to go where we want when we want, stop off at a pretty beach and brew up our own coffee while taking in amazing scenery! New Zealand is vast and green and in parts looks like an exaggerated version of the UK.
The first day we made our way along the coast up into the Coromandel peninsula, after a few stops along the way we set up for the first night in Te Puru and cooked a feast while kicking back with a bottle of red.....
The next day we made our way further into the Coromandel, visiting Coromandel town and a couple of lovely beaches before finally stopping for the night in Whitianga and yes you guessed it, a smidge more wine!
Friday morning was beautifully sunny so we went for a short walk to Cathedral Cove, where we even squeezed in a little bit of sun bathing, if this is winter, it's not difficult to see why so many Brits emigrate.
Cathedral Cove
After these first few days we made our way to Tauranga. Rachel's cousin Carys is at uni here and the rest of her family from Ashburton on the South Island flew up to meet us. It was so refreshing to spend some time with familiar faces, drinking coffee and having meals out, felt like a holiday from our holiday!
After saying goodbye to Rachel's family on Monday morning, we headed further up north to continue our campervan adventure..... More on that next week!
The weeks highlights:
Best view: Well now this is tough as we've seen some amazing views this week, so here's a short list:
Best food: We've been cooking up some awesome treats in the van and waking up every morning and making banana and date porridge with a cuppa is just bliss...
We were also treated to a couple of lovely dinners by Rachel's family, great meals and even better company!
Number of hours on a bus: None!! This week WE are in control of our timetable! Half a tank of diesel to use a quantity!!
Hope you have a great week all...
Big love, Lisa and Rach xx
hi Lisa and Rachel - hadn't checked your blog for a while so tonight I'll spend time with your travels - such fantastic views from NZ! really, Patagonia has some charms but the Chubut desert (and the country's not-so-great current reality) has me wanting to change scenery as soon as I can! Vancouver doesn't have the nice climate options New Zealand has, but I could easily make it my home again and hope you could visit me there some time who knows... now to continue enjoying your trip, cheers! Elena.
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