Day 5

Day 5 – Bay of Islands to Coromandel Peninsula
Today we drove all the way from Paihia to Coromandel. Leaving Paihia at 9am and arriving at Coromandel at 6ish. Along the way...
• Really cool toilets designed by a famous Austrian artist in the town of Kawakawa. Toilets worth taking a photo of!
• One tree Hill in Auckland while playing the U2 song of the same name. We were almost blown away while checking out the monument!
• Scenic route around the Firth of Thames along the South Pacific Highway. This last part of the day was absolutely spectacular. The drive along the coast line and I mean literally along the coast line with the mountain views and the choppy sea along side, windy narrow roads and log trucks coming the other way – beautiful and thrilling.
• Arrived in Coromandel in time to cook ourselves a yummy dinner in the camp kitchen and put on a load of washing. Kids are happy sitting watching the TV in the lounge.
We are loving the freedom of travelling in the campervan – particularly being able to stop and snack along the way whenever we feel like it and making a cup of tea.

Day 4
This morning we checked out the Kerikeri farmers market. So many yummy things and so little time to eat it all! We also visited the Makana chocolate factory in Kerikeri. Yum.
After the markets we took a bushwalk to a waterfall through a beautiful forest. We snacked out of the van after the walk before heading back to Paihia for another go at a Bay of Islands tour. Because yesterday was not a success they gave us a voucher to come back at any time. The weather was looking good today so we thought we would have another go. We are sure glad that we did! It was a completely different experience to yesterday. The dolphins were leaping and showing off their fish catches. We were able to take the boat right through The Hole in the Rock. Awesome.
After the tour we stopped off at Russell – an old whaling town – for a wander before returning to Paihia for more fush and chups for dinner.

NEW ZEALAND NORTH ISLAND DAY 1-3

On the road again...

Arrived in Auckland on Thursday afternoon and picked up our campervan. We were all very excited to see what is to be our home for the next 14 days. It is very cool. Compact and tidy.

We travelled North to Orewa where we had fush and chups for dinner and bought some supplies for the camper.

Day 2 - we travelled further north via the Kauri Museum and the very very old Kauri tree (2000 years old!) in the Waipoua Forest. Obviously the tree is HUGE and very impressive and still growing strong.

A bit further north along the west coast where we saw a spectacular sand headland and then we started heading east - right across to the other side of the country. So weird that we were looking off the west coast at lunch time and then looking over the east coast at dinner time!

Our next site is at Paihia (pronounced pie-here - the place names are really twisting our tongues!).

Day 3 - up early and out to sea in the beautiful Bay of Islands. Unfortunately the weather and sea conditions were very rough today so the captain would not take us all the way out to Hole in the Rock. We still got to see lots of the islands and stopped off at Urupukatupku Island and took a walk up to a look out for a spectacular view.

This afternoon we visted the Hururu falls.

Delicious dinner at Only Seafood - feeling very full.

Last day in Roma

After our late night waiting for the Pope last night we thought we would try a more direct approach and went to visit the Vatican City.
Another very popular place. After lining up for about one hour we finally got into the Vatican museum which includes the Sistine Chapel.
As well as the Sistine Chapel, the museum is HUGE and contains many different ancient artifacts (egyptian, Roman etc) but by this stage we are all starting to glaze over at the sight of all these things (except for Cameron who cannot seem to get enough of the audio guides!).
Of course the Sistine Chapel is amazing and we spent quite a while admiring that before heading out to admire the front of St Peter's Basilica and square.

And now here we are in an Internet place making probably the final blog :(

Thanks for following and commenting!
See you all soon - can't wait to catch up on all the news at home!
xxxooo

When in Rome...

Today we did a self guided tour of Rome using the Metro trains and on foot. This are the things that we visited...
Spanish Steps; Piazza Navona where we met a priest from Texas who told us about a parade happening this evening where the Pope himself would be present (more on this later); Pantheon - awesome; Time Elevator - a 4D show about the history of Rome which we really needed; Trevi Fountain revisit; Pyramid; circus maximus; St Mary in Cosmedin - where we all put our hands in the Mouth of the Truth and came out unscathed!; wandered by the river and over to the Island Tiberina on the river; Marcellus Theatre - really old and looks a lot like the colloseum; Capitol Hill; gelati at the oldest Italian icecream factory; and finallly back to the room for a rest!
After a rest, a beer and waiting for a small rain storm to pass we went back to a local restaurant for dinner where I had the most awesome vegie antipasta I have ever eaten. YUM!
Everyone was satisfied and so we went to the street nearby where the priest from this morning had told us about the parade. Eventually we found out that the parade was not going to happen because of the rain (!) but that the pope was probably going to come past at some stage...so we waited...it is so weird what people will do and we are not even catholics!! Anyway we waited and we did see the man and it was nice - he looked really happy and joyful which was lovely. It was brief and it was late but when in Rome...

Rome - Trevi Fountain - Roman Forum - Palantine

We moved out a little more slowly this morning as the celebrations for Republic Day were going on and there were crowds and streets blocked off and marching and shouting and jets flying - it was all happening.
First we walked to the Trevi Fountain - a very popular place. We finally found a spot where we could throw our coins in the fountain ensuring our return to Rome one day.
After lunch we walked to the Roman Forum and the Palantine (palace) and explored that area for a couple of hours. It is really overwhelming how huge and grand these places must have been. It can be difficult to comprehend at times.
Afterwards we needed gelato and a rest before getting supplies for an antipasta style dinner in our room.

The last leg begins

Today we took the last drive in the car to Roma! Three cheers to Chris for doing the majority of the driving - especially in Italy where the roads are crazy and busy - he has done a marvelous job of getting us around safely.
After dropping off the hire car we had to make our way via bus to the centre of Rome and then on foot to our accomodation. We are staying in a groovy little B&B which is close to many of the famous monuments (all within a 2km walk).
Seriously - if you ever need help to book accomodation ask Chris to help you with the research. The places we have stayed have all been fabulous, interesting and within budget!
So after a little rest (and an espresso from the machine in our room!) we walked to the Colloseum and took a tour and a wander around. It is HUGE and amazing.
Tomorrow is a holiday/celebration day in Italy - something to do with republic day (?) so we are not sure what to expect but we are thinking our last leg of the trip in Rome is going to be great, while at the same time we are getting very excited about coming home.