The long journey to the Southern Hemisphere and hello New Zealand!

After a slightly stressful sequence of flights from Chaing Mai to Auckland (where only through strapping myself to my check in luggage and telling the airport staff in Bangkok that I will be getting on this plane even if I have to get in the hold so let me have the seat I booked) it was nice to arrive to lovely blue skies and pleasant temperatures in Auckland. After picking up the, er interesting hire car it was a straightforward journey to meet up with old friend and work colleague Maurice who lives on a small dad just outside of Auckland. Some fantastic Kiwi hospitality ensued with a great BBQ with all the family and a tour of the farm taking in a great visit to their peach orchard with some amazingly tasty peaches!

Jaryn was not arriving into NZ for a few days so the next couple days were spent exploring some of the northern parts of the North Island. Some fabulous beaches (some of them on the west coast are black due to the volcanic ash/rock that formed them) and are all vast and unspoilt (hard not to compare them with the shabby beaches we saw in Cambodia). Anna, one of Jaryn's old workmates and our travel companion for the next week came along for the journey too and we delighted in some local wine and the incredible stars. The sky is so clear in this part of the world...

Jaryn arrived the next day after a little adventure of his own and we pressed on southwards but not before getting some supplies from apparently New Zealand's largest and lowest cost superstore the Pak'N'Save! To be honest it didn't seem much bigger than the ASDA in Shipley and certainly significantly more expensive. Be warned NZ is an expensive place to visit! Stocked up and ready to go the journey begins...!