New Zealand, North Island

There was only time for a whistle-stop tour of the North Island but we'd have loved to stay longer. The weather here was fabulous and great for beach lounging.

Our first stop was Napier, a town on the west coast set in the wine producing region of Hawke's Bay. We stayed on a lovely 42 foot launch in the harbour, which had the added bonus of being able to fish without even leaving the house!

Napier itself is a beautiful town which was rebuilt in an Art Deco style after being flattened by an earthquake. We like Napier a lot, with its long beach and great selection of shops and, most importantly, ice cream parlours. Ellie, Amanda and Alan sampled a few of the local wineries and we anjoyed some great fish and chips by the sea.

The next stop was Taupo, a small town on the edge of the enormous Lake Taupo, a volcanic caldera, in the centre of North Island. The lake is the largest in Australasia and drains into Huka Falls as a huge torrent of crystal blue water.

The area is renowned for its geothermal parks and we visited Orakei Korako cave & thermal park. Much less touristy than the popular Rotorua but arguably more impressive, so we are told. Beautiful colours, geysers and mud pools made this a great experience and well worth doing.

We made a brief stop on the way north at Waitomo to visit the glow worm caves. We chose to go with Spellbound, an operator that takes small groups to two exclusive caves away from the bus loads of tourists. The first cave was a walk and boat ride, the second just a walk and the whole trip took around 3 hours. The cave structures themselves were well worth seeing and absolutely beautiful but the tens of thousand of glow worms were just beyond belief. Like a web of fairy lights! Their sticky strands dangle down from the roof of the cave to catch unsuspecting insects. It really does have to be seen to be believed. This was one of the top experiences that we have done throughout our travels and we would highly recommend it if you ever get the opportunity.

We finished up our time in New Zealand at the Bay of Islands in Okiato near Russell. We spent most of our time relaxing and enjoying the good weather. One of the first thing we did was get ourselves booked onto a fishing charter with Spot X. We both caught snapper and Ashley managed a couple of big Kahawai, but it didn't end with just catching them. We got them filleted and took them to The Swordfish Club who battered and fried them, then served them up with chips and salad. It was probably the best fish and chip dinner we've ever had.

The house that we were staying in had a table tennis table, and every evening the four of us had a tournament which was great fun. The house also offered access to kayaks and a rowing boat, so one evening Ellie, Ashley and Alan rowed out into the bay, with Amanda in a kayak, to have spot of fishing. We caught lots of baby snapper but nothing of note. Great fun though!

One of the real highlights for us was the cruise we took aboard a 60 foot catamaran with Zig Zag Charters on our final day. We cruised around to a few different islands, enjoying spectacular views with spots to moor up to walk and swim (not that we stayed in the water long, it was freezing!). But we were completely blown away by the bottlenose dolphins that came right up to the boat and swam underneath us, and we even got to finally see the elusive little blue penguins just bobbing along on the water. The crew even provided a delicious lunch, plus morning and qfternoon tea. What more could we ask for!?!

We were very sad to leave New Zealand. We had such a wonderful time, and it was so good to see Ellie's Mum and Step-Dad. It really allowed us to feel like we had caught up with life at home and spending time with familiar faces allowed us to feel recharged and ready for our next adventure... Hong Kong!