The A Team Arrive!

Well its the blog you've all been waiting for - finally this page is featuring some special guests - Al and Anna all the way from London town!

We haven't seen friends and family since April so were a little over excited in anticipation of their arrival - and were not disappointed when their smiley faces walked into arrivals.

Matt and Al enjoying a Speight's together back 
at our flat

We had just one day together before Al and Anna headed down to the South Island for a few days so we decided the best way to overcome jetlag was to drag them both around town on a long walk. Showing friends our 'new life' was brill - we love it here and so it was great to finally share all our favourite places, as well as a long overdue game of frisbee for Matt and Al in the Domain, whilst I caught up on some serious gossip time with Anna!

On their arrival back from down South at the end of the week, the A team re-packed and we all jumped into our rented 4 berth wheels for a tiki tour all the way up to the Northern tip of NZ - Cape Reinga. 

We had decided that the best approach would be to get a big chunk of the drive up North out of the way on our first day. As the weather was absolutely diabolical (non stop driving rain) we were pleased to be warm and dry in our camper - although our planned stop offs (including at the biggest Kauri tree in the WORLD) were a bit damp. 

Tane Mahuta - 'Lord of the Forest' = massive
(this photo doesn't do it justice)
It's 13.7m around and the trunk has a 
volume of 517 cubic metres!

Damp tree admiring

Beers were cracked open on our final arrival at Ahipara (a laid back beach town at the bottom of 90 Mile Beach)... and before we knew it we were joining a big crowd of Maori teens/twenty somethings for a big party, in the rain. We knew were too old for the fun that was being had when Matt piped up that we hadn't made up the beds yet, and should we pop back to our van to sort it out!?! 

A few headaches the next morning but thankfully the sun was out so we had a bit of a splash in the sea and cold showers before heading further up the coast.

Breakfast in the sunshine

Not a bad spot for a campsite

The boys could not resist trying out sand surfing at some of the biggest sand dunes we've ever seen (including the Sahara) before we finally reached Cape Reigna. 

No chair lift for this extreme sport

Matt zooming down the hill

The Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet at Cape Reinga- the closest we've been to home in while, but couldn't have felt further away! 

Looking out over two seas

Where to next?

We spent our second night at a Department of Conservation site near the Cape followed by a fantastic hike the next morning along the coast. 

Looking down to the campsite

After some very tasty cheese and tomato sarnies for an early lunch we jumped in the van to continue our tour. Unfortunately Al, Anna and Matt were suffering from mozzie bites so all took an antihistamine before we set off. It soon turned out they were definitely the drowsy kind (we did buy them in Laos, from a teenager, who counted them into a plastic bag for us). Al and Anna were completely conked whilst I kept Matt awake at the wheel... It soon became apparent that we really needed a break, so happened across a delicious fish and chip shop at Doubtless Bay for a second lunch! Suitably refreshed we carried onto Kerikeri for a quick swim in the inlet before a fantastic night commenced at a beautiful campsite. 

So peaceful (until we arrived)

Al took on the bbq and won, we popped a couple of bottles of sparkling wine (plus a few other beverages), played some very challenging drinking games (for me at any rate) and went to bed in our contact lenses (well Matt did at least!)

Al cooking everything to perfection - yum

A happy foursome

Another wet day for our last day full day touring but we fitted in visiting the oldest stone building in NZ, a fantastic walk to an epic waterfall, a walk around Russell and a view of the beautiful Bay of Islands (shrouded in thick cloud). We made up for the weather by having yet another bbq and watching a Christmas DVD (sorry it was such a terrible choice guys) in our cosy camper.

A little bit of NZ history

Look away now mums - pretty sure
Matt didn't choose the safest spot for a paddle

That only left a rushed drive back to Auckland for me to get work for 1pm, an afternoon in Auckland for the other three, a night out on Thursday night and final swims (in our pool and at the nearby inland bay - the weather came good in the end!) and goodbyes.

The Harbour Bridge and CBD in the background

A Nick von Mertens special

Grins

Turns out the Sky Tower is a big casino (who knew?)
Al and Anna made $6 on a pokie machine - too exciting!

What a fantastic couple of weeks! We had the best time and very sad to see Al and Anna leave. Roll on our next trip over Christmas (Carrie will be back in action) and soon after the arrival of Pete and Clare/Mum and Dad!