Fiji

We got to the airport and thought that was it for New Zealand, but NZ customs hadn't finished with us yet, even though we were leaving. After going through the scanning machine, Colin's bag got pulled aside and we were asked for it to be examined. They were concerned about conspicuous looking white powder... also known as sugar. They didn't test the powder with their little finger like they do in the movies and just took our word for it that it was in fact sugar, so we're not quite sure what the point was of stopping us.
After a short flight we got to Fiji and were serenaded by Fijians singing at the airport dressed as you'd imagine in sarongs, floral island style shirts, flower necklaces and playing ukuleles.
When a driver from our hostel came to pick us up he immediately spotted Colin as a Brit, but after I told him I was South African he was confused as he said he'd seen the South African football team and they're all black, and he wanted to know why I'm white.
We arrived at our resort not knowing what to expect as we'd only booked it 2 days before without much research. We wanted to stay somewhere nice for our last few days of travelling, but are still on a backpackers budget. The place has been absolutely perfect, it feels luxurious and relaxed, but wasn't too expensive.
On our way to dinner we were walking along the front of the private beach of the resort and noticed there were frogs everywhere and you can't see them until they hop up when you get close and then you're worried about squishing them. I had one land right on my foot and I'm not sure who was more alarmed, me or the frog. Even our last night here we still weren't used to how many there were, there were hundreds on the short walk from our garden bure to the restaurant.
Other things that were so typical of an island like I picture it were the plenty Hibiscus flowers which the staff picked every day to wear in their hair and to use as decorations. Also the coconut trees, the coconuts kept falling and we had to watch for them not to hit our heads.
On our first night we tried the local fish called Mahimahi. They BBQ'd it for us and it was delicious. We've had it a few times since then and enjoyed it just as much.
Most of the time here in Fiji we've been relaxing, spending our days on the beach on sun loungers or by the pool, topping up our tans and reading.
On one of the mornings we decided to go snorkelling, but unfortunately it had rained a bit the night before which made the water very murky and not easy to see very much. We saw a few zebra fish and a little jellyfish, but not much more. The water was really nice and warm though and it was fun to swim in the ocean, so the trip wasn't a total waste.
Our last couple nights here we had a lot of lightening and thunder and the days were a bit rainy, but still warm enough to swim and we enjoyed our time despite the glum weather.
From here we head to the USA.

Auckland

We only had a week left in New Zealand which didn't really give us enough time to explore somewhere new before we needed to be in Auckland, so we stayed in Rotorua for a few more days, as we'd liked it so much and then made our way to Auckland.

We stopped off at a few more lakes... we're almost at the end of our NZ trip and still we're enjoying the scenery.

For our last night in our van we stayed around the outskirts of Auckland, and dropped it back the next morning. We were really pleased we got the bigger van, as a few times it got very cold in NZ and it was good to have a big enough space to sit, cook and eat in. With the spaceship we had in Australia this would not have been possible.

We didn't do too much in Auckland, even though the city seems pleasant enough, but we just relaxed here after spending all that time in the campervan. Although the campervan was great, it is also nice to be in a proper room and bed again. However we would definitely recommend everyone who wants to see Oz and  / or NZ to hire a campervan, it's such a nice way to see the countries. They are both really well set up for camping and you get to see more than you would travelling on the tour buses and it works out cheaper too, bonus.

We've really enjoyed our time in New Zealand. It's more amazing than we imagined and although we've done loads, there's still more to see, so maybe we will come back one day. NZ has definitely been one of our favourite countries we've visited. It's a lot better than Australia and reminds me of South Africa at times.

From Auckland we now fly to Fiji for about a week before heading to the US of A.

White water rafting on Kaitunga River

So despite the rain on the morning, we went white water rafting on the Kaitunga River. We got picked up at our caravan park and taken to the office where we got given gear and safety instructions before hitting the water. I volunteered us to sit at the front of the raft and Colin looked at me with trepidation, but before he could object the guide was giving us some extra instructions / warnings, which made me doubt my enthusiasm and got Colin more worried.
We got onto the river and it was all going well with the river still smooth and us kind of going along very calmly. Then we spotted the first rapid and the big drop we would have to make, only to hear this was a small one.
After this first rapid we were soaked, though the others on the boat were mostly dry and we'd swallowed a lot of water through our mouths and eyes. At this point Colin had an "I told you so" look on his face, which I ignored.
When we got through the other side of the rapid we were pushed into a big pool where we all got out of the raft and swam. The water was surprisingly not cold and having the swim actually warmed us up.
Then we got back in the raft and continued down the river all waiting for the big fall of 7 metres, which we were told is the biggest rapid in the world that non professionals are allowed to raft over on tours like this.
When we finally got to it we went through a few safety tips again and prepared ourselves for it. So we went for it and one moment we were paddling towards the edge and next our guide shouted for us to all get down in the raft and hold on for dear life. The next few seconds kind of go by really quickly although you're also aware of every second and you're not quite sure what's happening to you. Our whole raft went under the water and stayed there for quite a long time (our guide said afterwards that he hadn't ever been under for that long with a group before) and it was on the left edge for most of this time, but it didn't flip over and when we eventually came back up both Colin and I and only 1 other person were still clinging on and managed to stay in the raft. Everyone else fell out, including our guide. We hadn't even realised that our guide had fallen out, because he got back in so quickly, I guess to make sure everyone else was okay, and high-fived the 3 of us for not falling out. It was only when we saw the photos that we realised he fell out too... and he tried to trick us into thinking he hadn't!
The rest of the journey was very mild in comparison and we got a chance to enjoy our surroundings while only rowing every so often.
It was so much fun we wanted to do it again.

Rotorua

We arrived in Rotorua and the first thing we noticed was the smell in the air. It is a geo-thermal area and the sulpher from the volcanic activity in the area gives it a horrible boiled eggs smell. You really can't escape it and eventually you smell it on yourself and your clothes too. Apart from that, Rotorua is a really nice little town and we decided to spend 3 days here.
On our first whole day we did the Skyline Gondola, which was only alright as it doesn't go very high so the view from the top wasn't as spectacular as in Queenstown. We hadn't done the luge before, but after Kelly told us it was really fun, we wanted to do it. She was right and we got some good pictures of us too, so definitely worth going up there for that.
Later that day we walked through one of the geo-thermal parks and here the stink was extra bad, but very interesting to see the thermals with the smoke and steam coming out of them. As usual we took loads of photos. The weather was fantastic on this day, so we booked a white water rafting trip for the following day.
Unfortunately the weather didn't hold and the next day it was raining, but we went anyway and had a blast. I'll tell you all about it in the next blog post.

Ohakune and on the road

From Wellington we headed north with only a week and a half to explore the North Island. We had originally planned to go to Wanganui and then to Mt Teranaki, but it was really cloudy and too long a drive for something that we might not be able to see over the mist, so headed in a different direction instead. Along the way we saw three volcanic mountains, although we basically drove almost all the way round them and only got a decent picture when we got to Lake Taupo and we could see them in the distance.
We stopped for lunch at Lake Taupo and then went for a walk to Huka Falls. This waterfall was so incredibly powerful and it was amazing to see it gushing through the valley and eventually splashing into a big pool. The colour of the water is really pretty, it's like a light aquamarine and this is due to something in the rocks... I read about this somewhere, but can't remember the facts.
After lunch we carried on to a hydro electric power plant where we saw the river while the water was contained and took a picture of the rock pool looking all calm and empty and half an hour later when they had released the water. It wasn't as powerful as the one we'd seen earlier, but still really interesting and fun to watch as the river filled up and all the rapids started flowing.
We spent the night in Ohakune and this little town really didn't have much there, but we'd seen loads that day so were happy to relax in the evening.
We've been surprised by how little Crowded House we've heard in NZ, it might be partly because in the South Island our radio was out of signal a lot of the time, but still we've only heard them 3 times. We presumed there'd be a crowded house FM or something.
Loads of photos to enjoy with this post.

Picton to Wellington

We left Kaikoura the next morning having not totally recovered from the previous day's boat trip and feeling like we were still on the sea. On the way we stopped at a seal colony lookout point. There were absolutely loads of seals of all different sizes and the little ones were too cute playing in a sea pool.
We didn't have too far to go before we got to Picton, there's not much to the town but this is where we caught the ferry to Wellington the next day.
It took just over 3 hours to get to Wellington and I slept most of the journey so it felt like no time at all. When we got to Wellington we drove to the nearest Motor home, which was right on the edge of the city centre, but wasn't expecting what we found. It was basically a parking lot, with shower and toilet cubicles in the centre, a busy road on one side of you and the harbour on the other. We decided not to stay here and instead drove a few km out of the city to a greener caravan park with full facilities.
The next day we decided to go into Wellington city centre and explore. First we went on the cable car up to the botanical gardens and the observatory. After walking back down the hill, wandered around the shops and stopped for lunch by the waterfront. After lunch we went into the Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, before heading back through the city to our campervan.
Wellington seems like a nice city, but the day we had was enough to see what we wanted to see.
From here we start heading north.