Thursday 7th, to Sunday 10th May 2026 Thursday - Coromandel Town: We crossed the peninsula after visiting a couple more beautiful beaches on the east coast. The first was Cook's Beach, where Captain Cook landed in 1769. Cook's Beach We went on further to visit Whangapoua beach which was equally as beautiful. The bay here …
Hahei: The Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove, Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand.
Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th May 2026 Tuesday: A long drive today, north. Not so much the distance, but the nature of the roads, up and down, tight twists and the occasional hairpin thrown in. We also had a long wait where repairs were being done to the road following several landslides. We had planned …
Bulls, The National Army Museum, The Desert Road and Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand.
Tuesday 28th to 29th April 2026 Leaving the Wellington area, we are making our way north. As usual, we are stopping off at points of interest: Bulls: The pleasant small town of Bulls on State Highway 1 has a number of interesting buildings. However the townsfolk appear to be rather proud of the town's name. …
A Huge Seal Colony, Blenheim and Picton, South Island, New Zealand
Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd April 2026 Our journey north continues, heading broadly towards Picton and the ferry across to the North Island on Thursday afternoon. The Seal Colony: Still experiencing dreadful weather, around 30 minutes drive north of Kaikoura, we stopped to see the seals. The seal colony here is far more impressive than …
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The Journey East: Brunner Mine, Reefton, Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand.
Saturday 18th - Monday 20th April 2026 After doing a little shopping in Greymouth, we headed cross country on State Highway 7, hoping to get out of the rainy weather. The weather definitely improved along the way and we were able to stop and explore places of interest en-route. Brunner Mine: The free-to-access Brunner Mine …
Te Anau and Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand
Friday 10th to Sunday 12th April 2026 We booked a cruise in Milford Sound for the Sunday, so started to make our way north, along Milford Road. The Sound is at the end of a long road which is a dead-end, so we knew we would be returning along the same route, afterwards. Te Anau: …
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Lake Manapouri and Doubtful Sound, South Island, New Zealand.
Thursday 9th April 2026 We had booked a couple of nights stay at Possum Lodge, Manapouri, to allow us to take a full day to explore Doubtful Sound. This was booked through RealNZ, who we found to be very efficient. Doubtful Sound is a fjord on the south west coast of South Island, New Zealand …
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Cathedral Caves, Curio Bay and Slope Point, South Island, New Zealand
Monday 6th April 2026 Cathedral Caves, Curio Bay and Slope Point: After a night spent on a local authority run site, which was good and economical, we travelled on to our first stop of the day, Cathedral Caves. The caves are two, huge interlinked sea caves which are only accessible at low tide. We had …
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Takiroa, Elephant Rocks, Oamaru and The Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd April 2026 Over the past couple of days, we headed further south and east, making for the coast along highway 83 then down the coast on highway 1. We stopped to explore points of interest along the way, of course. Takiroa: Alongside highway 83, we came across Takiroa, which is …
Mount Cook, South Island, New Zealand
Tuesday 31st March 2026 Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Situated in the central Southern Alps, it has three peaks, the highest being 3,724 metres or 12,218ft above sea level. As we arrived yesterday at the southern end of Lake Pukaki, we could see Mount Cook in the distance beyond the northern …

