Campervan bliss.....

What can I say, campervans are fab, since leaving Auckland we have travelled miles and miles and miles, my bum does not hurt, my legs do not hurt, I am not exhausted by 3pm and just wanting to lie down and go to sleep. Having said that, it can get a bit boring, travelling for miles, getting out having a look at the sites then getting back in and carrying on. Its been good this week, it has made me realise that I do in fact like the achievement of cycling to a place of interest, it makes it all more worth while, humm..... best not let Rich read this post he may get ideas of going further than we need to.

We are on our way back down to Auckland to see Beks and Emma, they were fantastic and let us stay with them for 3 days while we checked out Auckland they have also been bike minding for us as the tandem was no way going to fit in the camper. Thank you both.

We have just two days left in NZ, it seems all very strange that it was nearly two months ago that we set off from Oxford on that cold March evening, its weird to think that we have been here for two months and have only scratched the surface of this amazing place. I will be sad to say goodbye, and a little apprehensive about what is to come as NZ was known to me, OZ is a whole new experience for both of us.... bring it on

If you want to see more photos of the trip go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/denandrich/ this is aswell as Richards account http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdtandem please have a look and a giggle......

Road to nowhere inparticular...

Made light work of the 3 day ride up the Coremandel penninsula from Rotorua. It was along lovely, traffic light and for the most part flat roads. The weather feels like it's made the change to autumn. The days are that little bit cooler, the dew a bit more hesitant to clear in the mornings and the number of tourists on the road has plummeted.

We spent the nights mostly at quiet, backwater camp grounds, that seemed a world away from the commercialised, overpriced stuff that makes up the centre of the north island's tourist hub. All invigourating stuff for (the bank balance nursing) cycle tourists on a strict budget.

We caught the ferry into Auckland, arriving just after dusk, and what a great way to have your first sight of the city, with the highrises all lit up behind the shipping port.

Now we have four days in town, then we pick up the keys to a camper for a week so that we can get round to all those places in the far north of the country that we haven't have time to cycle to, before we fly over to complete the Australian leg of the journey.

Seemingly the only thing that isn't great, is that Den has taken an unprecidented lead in the mini game.... 76-73. Grrr,.....

Smelly rotten eggs....

This is the smell that is all consuming in Rotorua, the thermal tourist spot in NZ. We arrived here yesterday have cycled for 60 miles from Taupo, having stopped at a thermal area on the way, we arrived a bit late, it was dark and it took us a while to decide on the best place to pitch the tent. Not due to darkness so much a Richard wanting to find the warmest tent pitch, yes the camp site has warm spots. Which sounds great until your tent resembles a sauna at 3am then it is not so great!! We are planning to move it today after it has dried out from the torrential rain that yet again created pond on the roof of the tent, Terra Nova here comes an email....

So from the last post we have traveled so distance, from Wellington we caught the Train to National Park where we stayed in a department of conservation campsite, this was very basic and for the very first time we got to use the camp stove, water filter, and kitchen sink that we have been carting around, Yippee. from here we were able to see the three volcanoes that make up the Tongariro national park. Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, these are three immense volcanoes that dominate, Ruapehu was last active (visually) in 2007, so three years ago, luckily for us no ash, rocks or molten lava were seen, although we did see a rising cloud of mist coming from one of the sides of Ngauruhoe which alarmed us some what, until we got further to Taupo and Rotorua and then they become the norm.

We have two days here in Rotorua, Rich is going to spend one mountain biking, I on the other hand may just partake in a mudbath and thermal spring dip...

next stop the Coramandel.....