tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35520862009-02-20T23:51:44.200ZI recently decided to visit New Zealand. This is what followed. Next update will take place when I step out of Belfast.. stay tuned!Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-70533343162258657332006-11-20T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T03:06:31.462Z

On the plane to Auckland, I had promised to catch up with Sue in Mount Maunganui. So on Monday I set out from Hahei heading south toward Tauranga and the Mount. It was a pleasant enough drive, with not many on the roads, and plenty of time to take in the views along the way (there seem to be quiet roads with great views everywhere so far!). I stopped off in Waihi Beach to send an e-mail to Sue to

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-10855186624603435352006-11-19T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T03:04:33.718Z

The next morning I was climbing blearily out of the van when Christoph appeared to let me know that he had decided to go north instead, and that the lift would not be necessary. He then left, and I prepared a nice breakfast of kiwifruit and peanut butter on toast.Ines was doing some housekeeping (in exchange for board) at the hostel part of the camp, and came over to say bye. She gave me a blue

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-48320160560458018072006-11-18T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T03:02:46.175Z

Today Mike was to go his own way, and take on a tour with Stray. We set out from the north beach camp and drove into Auckland. Thankfully it was relatively easy to find the city center, it's a bit mad driving in Auckland as the place is so big you have to use a motorway just to get from one part to another.I parked the car near the ACB hostel, and went in with Mike while he booked his tour and I

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-55409400543062581262006-11-17T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T03:02:03.920Z

After a night at Matakohe, we were just a couple of hours out of Auckland. We got to Auckland just after lunchtime, and after a bit of stressing around the roads in northern Auckland, managed to locate the Takapuna Top 10 camp ground. This was quite a nice camping ground, but not quite as perfect as the Matakohe. Still, for a city camp ground it was good.After a nap to recover, I met up with Mike

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-13517144223768152182006-11-16T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T03:01:32.055Z

The next day the rainy weather from the previous couple of days had caught up with us, and we drove out of the park ground in the rain. The drive was even more winding and hilly than before, with some really amazing forest stretches. I can imagine this country would be a really great place to drive through, either in a souped up American hotrod or on a motorbike (hear that Skry ;) ?).We drove for

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-37439413142110192022006-11-15T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T03:00:20.597Z

We woke early on the next morning. Thankfully the double bed was easily big enough to accommodate us sleeping head to toe without any issues. We had quite a distance to cover, so we set out promptly and started the journey south.As we had driven up the east coast, we drove back down the west, through Kaitaia, Ahipara and Manukau to name a few places. In Ahipara, we expected to find quite a

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-62850530660456419602006-11-14T02:58:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:59:38.378Z

After a couple of relaxing days in Paihia, we set off for Cape Reinga. On the way we passed through the delightfully named Puketona, at which point the highway went north through Kerikeri (known for it's year round fruit production), and stopped off in Mangonui for lunch. The road we were following was the Twin Coast highway, a route that takes on several highways but represents a great way to

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-60469228825459296822006-11-12T02:54:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:58:23.506Z

With much help from DJ, we bought some wood and used John's tools to put together a nice solid frame for the bed in the van.We took a trip to the Wharehouse for curtains, duvet, pillow, sheets, cutlery, cooler box, storage boxes, and a supply of dried noodles. I also picked up a travel gas stove. John had a light foam double mattress, which he kindly gave with two sets of sheets, and the

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-6200820520569831102006-11-10T02:47:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:53:26.726Z

I had pretty much given up looking for a camper van in the Whangarei area, having checked online the previous day and found nothing much. However John had asked a friend of his at the hostel if he'd seen anything in the area. As is happens he'd seen some vans for sale not far away at a dealership.DJ was good enough to drive us over to the dealer's on Kairora road. We saw a couple of camper vans

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-61878327774575656052006-11-08T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:47:09.088Z

DJ drove us over to a place near Whangarei called Kamo to see the camper van. It was not in great shape, but thinking that I would put in a lower offer than the requested NZ $9,500, I took it for a test drive. It was a laugh trying to drive it as without power steering it was like a tank, and had a tendancy to pull to the left.Still, I took it to a test center to have a "Pre-purchase inspection".

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-33736124587105375062006-11-07T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:46:16.034Z

On the hunt for a camper van, I checked the listings on Trademe.co.nz for the local area. There weren't many to choose from, but I did find one which seemed pricey but very good. I took down the details and called the owner, arranging to see it the next day.When I ran the particulars past John, he offered a few tips on what to look for, and even asked a guy working for him, DJ, to drive me over

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-65210454931285656702006-11-06T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:45:39.762Z

We didn't want to spend long hanging around in the city, so we jumped on the bus from Auckland to Whangarei. It was an easy journey, about 2 hours with a coffee stop along the way. This was the first chance for Mike to see a little of the NZ countryside, as the bus was going north.Whangarei is a small, unremarkable town. We stayed at the YHA hostel on a hill overlooking the area, run by an

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-6077882687697608052006-11-04T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:44:25.896Z

During the TV the previous night, I had noticed an advert for a big sale on at Harvey Norman. I had need of a laptop to do some work while in NZ, so we jumped on a bus to the suburbs and checked out the deals. I ended up buying a nice Compaq Presario V2000. It's not much of a game machine, but it's small, light and suits my purposes well. Also it looks great ;)That evening we used our free

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-19403166269720240082006-11-03T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:43:04.875Z

Back in NZ! Tired from the flight, we were too early to check in to the ACB hostel, so sat at the marina instead. We checked in at 11am and were given a room on the 10th floor, with a decent view over Queen Street. That evening we ate at a Belgian restaurant on Vulcan Lane, quite a cool little road with some funky bars and live music.Mike was a bit shell shocked at being in New Zealand, but it

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-16177908989711478742006-10-13T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:40:13.158Z

Vancouver and the island photos!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-50107963799142141462006-10-05T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:37:37.753Z

Awesome Rockies photos!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-59408026137119475902006-10-03T10:00:00.001Z2006-12-19T02:35:51.112Z

Calgary photos! (Not many, forgot camera a couple of times ;)

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-82382461872247371772006-09-28T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:34:00.373Z

More Toronto photos!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-22936670151814360452006-09-26T02:29:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:31:18.348Z

Madawaska photos!Choice!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-22112534024656998052006-09-21T02:26:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:28:59.423Z

Fort Coulonge photos!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-42325489238694812842006-09-17T02:23:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:25:43.780Z

Ottawa and Omega Park photos!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-42577879083863807112006-09-12T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:22:55.774Z

Mont Tremblant photos here!

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-44780413157862311172006-09-08T10:00:00.000Z2006-12-19T02:20:52.781Z

Montreal photos here!I'll come back and put more info up at a later stage ;)

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-1159836934351198672006-09-04T12:41:00.000Z2006-11-28T04:45:47.116Z

We couldn't come all this way and not go see the Falls. So today Mike and I went with the Moose day trip to Niagara.We went on the Maid of the Mist tour, which was pretty cool as it goes close enough to the falls to give you a soaking, and then because the weather was so good we were able to spend an hour or so hanging on with all the other tourists looking at the Falls from above.The day trip

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3552086.post-1157475177625980082006-09-03T16:41:00.000Z2006-11-28T08:09:02.761Z

Having read that Toronto is famous for it's theatre, we decided to check out the broadway show "Spamalot".Being a musical I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I got to say it was brilliant. It was the saturday evening, and it had been raining all day. We put on the best clothes we had (not saying much, but hey we're backpackers) and fought the fierce wind and rain downtown to the Canon Theatre (used to

Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14601334566928889896noreply@blogger.com0