Next destination was Whangarei; the northernmost NZ city. On our way we headed to the Waipu caves – home to lots of glow worms. As it was dark our photos were rather featureless, but as with a student nightclub, the walls and ceilings had lots of green neon lights.

Whangarei was the first place in which we veered away from campsites to set up camp in a nature reserve car park. Our German car neighbours were quite amused when our takeaway pizza arrived in (an old trick from our Victoria Park days). This was soon to become our fav car park of the trip so far, as it led us on some great forest walks to Whangarei falls and past many kauri trees.

The following day we took the coastal route up towards the Bay of Islands, stopping at a few deserted beaches. At the end of the beach at Bland Bay we met some friendly Maori families who were fishing and diving for sea urchins. They offered us our first taste of the spiny sea creature and we were pleasantly surprised with the results!

Next up we continued our journey up to the most Northern point of NZ, to visit Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. Maori consider this to be the point where souls depart to make their way to their spiritual homeland. It was pretty amazing to watch the two bodies of water meeting at right angles to each other and creating clusters of waves nowhere near the coastline. Afterwards we headed down a 20km gravel road to our camp for the night at Spirits Bay.

We woke up to a surprisingly beautiful sunny morning (no checking the forecast when you have no signal), so after a quick breakfast of boiled eggs on toast we headed to the beach. Josh had bought his first fishing rod the day before (from a friendly Swede called Stefan) so he was keen to try it out. Up we climbed onto the mass of rock that was jutting out of the beach, however Josh was too scared of the waves to catch anything this time! In the afternoon we headed to the Te Paki sand dunes and boogie boarded down them.

After another night staying at the most beautiful campsite, we started our journey back down through rural Northland taking the West coast route. This way took us along some very windy forest roads and then through Waipoua Forest – home to the largest concentration of kauri trees which used to cover most of the North island. We took a welcome stop from driving to see Tane Mahuta (the Maori forest god) – apparently the largest tree in the Southern Hemisphere – which is 13.8m wide.

Next stop is the Coromandel via a few car repairs/sushi snacks!

On Thursday we headed out on our maiden voyage; leaving Auckland for the west coast. Muriwai beach was our destination and is a vast expanse of black sand. Being on the west coast it is also windy and wavy making it ideal for surfing. For now we’ve only watched on as the 50mph winds make conditions a little challenging. Once the wind died down yesterday was beautiful so we headed out on our first tramp (hike)… First stop was Alex meeting her spirit animal at the gannet colony. We then headed down the Te Henga track along the rugged cliff tops to see Lion Rock at Bethells Beach. Next stop Whanganui!

We bought a van! After a couple of jet lagged days visiting the outskirts of Auckland we are the proud owners of White Shark the 4wd van. Having viewed a grand total of 2 vans we decided this was the one for us and after a rapturous inspection from the ultimate kiwi Brett we took the plunge. Brett also introduced us to the term “minter” presumably meaning in mint condition – something White Shark may not be (externally).

We’ve got one more day in Auckland to sort out the van equipment and purchase a chilly bin before we head to the black sand beaches on the west coast!

After arriving in KL, feeling a little jet lagged, we headed out in to ‘Little India’ where we found dosa, vada and idli – great success! Much sleep followed before a monster breakfast and the first non food related excursion – to the Batu Caves (a Tamil Hindu monument). The 200 colourfully painted steps were spectacular as were the high roofed caves. Having dodged the gangs of monkeys patrolling the steps, we headed back to the hotel for a rooftop swim whilst watching a thunderstorm roll in.

I know this is minorly more interesting than yesterday but here we are the airport. Next stop Kuala Lumpur!

Hey Guys, we’re busy packing at the minute so this is just a tester to let you know you’re in the right place! We’ll post photos and videos along the way… keep an eye out for that.