NEW ZEALAND
North Island only , including amongst others Papamoa beach, Russell, Whangamomona and Cape Reinga, 1 visit 6th February to 5th March, 28 days in total
We returned to New Zealand which we both love and found we loved it even more. We just (careful Keef, others have to work) had one month here this time as opposed to our 4 months last time and that was all spent in the top half of North Island going back to see the things we didn't have time to see last time. This meant much more time in Northlands, The Bay of Islands, Mata Mata & Hobbiton plus Whangamomona (the Republic's capital) - where the current president is a sheep and the previous one was a dog hee hee oh and lovely delightful days of R&R on NZ's superb beaches. Like 5 years ago this was the best summer they had ever had . A kiwi @ Orewa said you poms have history we have beaches. So true! Our Mercedes Sprinter 313 motorhome was good but not as good as the equivalent one in OZ. We picked it up in Auckland and returned it there. We definitely miss the land of the long white cloud. We drove 2559 miles in NZ. To see all the images have a look at the individual visits via the dropdown menu
Whilst camping in New Zealand we joined the following two organisations which saved us a lot of money, these site clubs were called Top 10 and Kiwi Holiday Parks campsites. Just a thought for fellow motor homers , it may help.
HIGHLIGHTS:-
35th Wedding Anniversary
Cape Reinga, Russell, Keri Keri & Whatuwhiwhi
Forgotten world highway
Art Deco Napier
Lake Taupo & Kinloch
The Coromandel Peninsular
Hot Water Beach
Hobbiton at Matamata
The wonderful Papamoa beach, Ocean drive
Lamb curry @ Kiwi Airport Motel And completing the NZ census
Orewa beach & revisiting Waves Motel
All the fab Campsites we stayed at during our 2559 miles of North Island exploration
The friendliness of all the Kiwi nation, Big Tick
LOWLIGHTS:-
None
Here is a HIGHLIGHT movie culled from the talkies movie we have here on the site following this movie. It was created in response to You Tube telling us that the very early movie from 2013 trip where there was a thumbnail overlay screen may be in error due to You Tube processing issues pre March 2020. On investigating we found no such issues but decided as we had up ended that movie to create a more up to date one, created and uploaded by KeefH Web Designs in November 2023 (KHWD), enjoy. The total movie is almost 4 minutes long and covers all the areas we visited in New Zealand's North Island, notably Cape Reinga, Hot Water beach, Tongariro area and Taupo, Whangerei & Harura Falls and Hobbiton at the Mata Mata farmstead.