a bicycle made for two

Having just come back from 2 weeks in the North Island of NZ, we realised it was about time that we stuck some photos up from our trip.

We flew into Auckland, via Brisbane where we made a last minute surprise visit to see Phil and Vas. It was perfect timing as it turns out they're heading back to the UK for Phil's work and Vas is also 3 months pregnant.

Picked up a camper van, similar in size to Nelly but rather better equipped, and headed up to see Nick and Sarah in Russell in the Bay of Islands. A beautiful location, with an amazing house - our room came with an 'en suite' outdoor shower!

We had a lovely time pottering about the Bay of Islands, going for some nice wet walks, and enjoying time with the Boultons. Had a delicious meal at the Gables as an early birthday celebration for me, and managed to go SUP-ing and windsurfing right from the bottom of their garden. We also enjoyed a rough and ready thermal springs spa run by a local Maori guy.

We headed up north from the Bay of Islands to make use of the camper, and the weather cleared a little. The first place we stayed at to camp was Matai Bay on the Karikari peninsular. We pulled into the Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite which comprised virtually empty lush green paddocks, and realised there were some perfect little waves, so jumped right in for a pre-sunset surf.

The Northland (northern tip of NZ) also has the famous Ninety Mile Beach (more like 55m but who cares). We didn't drive along it, but it did certainly look like a very long beach.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch of scraps (Mum you'd have been pleased with the selection of cheeses and hams) in Pukenui.

Our next DOC campsite was even more out of the way, in Tapotupotu Bay. There were quite a few vans there, but the site was tucked away in a bay which you had to descend down a windy steep road to get to, with incredible views of the juicy green surrounding landscape and pretty bay.

Seeing as we'd made it all the way up north, it seemed rude not to reach Cape Reinga. Plenty of tourists however, so we didn't stick around long. It's a sacred Maori spot - where souls depart.

After a brief stop in the Bay of Islands again on the way back south, for a towel, birthday present and easter chocolate exchange with Nick and Sarah, we continued onto our next DOC site in Uretiti. This time around we managed a beautiful morning surf. Neat little waves, with no one else out on the water. Bliss!

Due to our little morning surf adventure, we set off later than planned so decided to bypass Rotorua and headed straight for Taupo instead. We camped in a normal site in town, headed out for a lovely meal at the local Mexican (as you do), before spending a relaxed day kitting ourselves up for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and exploring the local area. We walked around the Huka Falls and 'Craters of the Moon', where I took far too many photos of some sulphuric gases coming out of the ground.

After a very early start, and some drama dropping off the van, we finally boarded a bus for the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, where we discovered that we had been lucky enough to pick the only day in the last few weeks where you could see the summit of Mt Ruapehu. It looked beautiful, with snow capped tips even at the end of summer.

We set off with about 50 others on the 5hr walk across the National Park. Right at the point where we could have decided to venture off the track to summit Mt Tongariro, the clouds rolled in, so we pressed on. Fortunately the clouds cleared shortly after however, and revealed some incredible lakes.

Our next destination was Waitomo, where we had organised some cave activity. We arrived just after dark, so decided to partake in a spot of 'free camping'. We drove past Waitomo out towards Morokopa, and parked up in a layby. On waking we had stunning views across a misty valley, before setting off to see the coast of black sand dunes, fossil hunting and the Morokopa Falls.

We don't have any photos from our morning in the Waitomo caves, but we joined a company who took us on a 4hr adventure abseiling down waterfalls inside a cave, all suited up in a thick wetsuit with white gumboots. We saw glow worms, saw incredible stalagmites and stalagtites close up, and I had to overcome some rather overwhelming moments of claustrophobia - it was certainly a relief so be out in fresh air and see some day light, however it was really fun and I'm sure it's good to do things that scare you!

The last couple of days before we flew home we stopped off in Raglan. The weather was pretty wet, so it would appear that we didn't take any photos, but off all the places - despite being one of the world's best surf spots - we didn't have a great surf as it was quite messy. Still, a lovely cute town with some nice hippy shops and cafes, and you could see the potential in the famous surf break at Manu Bay on our final day there - apparently the longest left hand break in the world. We'll have to go back there again.

Having dropped off the van, we then ventured into Auckland for our final night. We had a great meal at the Conservatory on North Wharf, some G&Ts in a couple of nice bars, then headed back to the hotel near the airport.

On arriving back in Perth I received a job offer from EY, so had a rather dramatic first week back. After much deliberation, I finally handed in my notice and only a week later was given my marching orders. I now have a 5 week break to look forwards to, before starting the next phase! It was a shame we couldn't rush back to NZ to explore the South Island this time, but apparently Phil has some work to do, so we'll have to save that for another time.

We welcomed the Poates on the weekend before Christmas and spent the weekend in Perth with a windsurf session on the river and a bbq on our new (free, found on the side of a road) bbq.

On Christmas eve we met up with Nick, Bethan and their daughter Elin for a cruise round the swan river. We were told it was comedy swimwear fancy dress, we had a half hearted go at it but were the only ones.

Christmas day started at our place with bubbles and breakfast on the beach outside our house with the Lowes, Boultons and Poates. It would appear most of Perth were on the beach that morning too.

Round to the Lowes for lunch and Nick cooked a massive salmon in the bbq and we ate and drank until late into the evening.

On boxing day we went down to Rockingham, about 30 minutes South of our place and all chose different modes of transport to get across to Penguin Island. Becks and I windsurfed on our SUP boards, Tim swam and the others caught the ferry. Swimming was fastest followed by the ferry and then windsurfing. It didn't help that it was upwind and a little too strong not to be wearing a harness. Anyway we won the race home since it was dead down wind!

The following day we all went to Lancelin, about 1.5 hours North of Perth and had a couple of days windsurfing. The wind was a little up and down at times and unfortunately Tim managed to put a hole in the sail he borrowed when stuck in front of a big wave with no wind!

Back to Perth and then straight down to Margaret River with the Poates and to be joined by Dave and his (nearly) genuinely Australian girlfriend Jana (her mum is from Somerset). We stopped off at a few beaches on the way for swims and photos and eventually found an ice cream after looking for some time. We arrived at Prevelly, at the mouth of Margaret River and found the wind and waves were up. As me and Tim stepped out of the car and ex world champ windsurfer walked past. I'd told Tim about this previously but I'm not sure he believed me until that point. Dave was already on the water and Tim and I were a little apprehensive especially as people were coming off the water saying it was the toughest they'd ever seen it. We egged each other on and eventually both made it out, onto a few waves and safely back in with no damage.

We spent the next few days at the campsite in Prevelly and touring the area checking out local beaches, surfing, canoeing, windsurfing and drinking wine.

Next it was back to Perth for a good bye meal at the Lowe's for Tim and Cate and then Becks and I drove 450km North to Coronation Beach near Geraldton for a couple of days windsurfing. It should also be mentioned that Becks had the addition of a new windsurf board. Anyway two days of brilliant windsurfing in high winds and big waves and there should be some videos coming soon.

After all of that we headed back to Perth for a well earned rest before work on Monday! I think we covered 1,700km in total!