Monday 2nd January – 16:12pm – Im currently sat in Hamilton Bus Station, looking back over an unreal 12 days holiday with Dad and Nicki…

The two days I spent in Hamilton were a much needed rest. I slept a lot, and ate some nice food. On the second day I walked to Hamilton Lake, and sat around and read for nearly 5 hours. It was a lovely day, and I caught up on my book a lot. As boring as it sounds, I was happy I finally explored Hamilton a little, and the lake and surrounding areas were great.

On the 22nd I woke up early, and headed to the airport to meet Dad and Nicki. I had been having so much fun travelling around, I was actually apprehensive about being ‘on holiday’ for the first time in ages. I need’t have worried, considering the sheer amount of beer and food I would consume over the coming weeks…

I met Dad and Nicki at 09:30am in the airport, and we caught up whilst trying to find the rental car. The drive from Auckland to the Mount would take a little over 3 hours, but it was good to catch up and I was excited about being back in the Mount. We checked into our lovely air b’n’b house near the beach, and drove into the centre to have a look around. Over the first two days I showed Dad and Nicki around the Mount, and we ate out at some lovely restaurants. On the 3rd day we walked up the Mount, ventured to Moturiki Island, and laid by the beach for an afternoon. The weather was lovely, and I was starting to get used to being on holiday – the food and drink side especially.

On Christmas Day our air b’n’b hosts made us Christmas dinner, and we sat down with them to eat at 2pm. They were a nice couple from South Africa, who are now semi-retired and living by the beach. It was a great day, and we topped it off by going to the beach again. On our last day in the Mount, we ventured up the coast to the Coromandel Peninsular, to visit Cathedral Cove and the neighbouring bays. We were once again blessed with great weather, and the beaches were lovely. After enjoying fish and chips, we drove back to the mount and got ready for the next stage of the adventure.

The following day we left the Mount, and drove inland towards Rotorua. I had never been before, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the place. Infamous for its constant eggy smell due to the sulphurous volcanic springs that encircle the area, it was a quaint lake side town with a lovely ‘eat street’ filled with restaurants and fun bars. We checked into our self contained apartment, and took a walk into town. Over the next few days we ate at some more great restaurants, and ventured to Taupo twice, for white water rafting and speedboating, and then to visit the Lake.

On Tuesday 27th we drove the hour to Taupo, and got tickets to sit on a speed boat tour of one of the rivers. It was an unbelievable experience, with the driver pulling off 360’s every chance he got. Following the exhilarating start to the day, we drove another hour down the coast of Lake Taupo and went white water rafting down an amazing river and falls through Tongoriro. We met the rest of our group at the rafting centre, kitted up in wet suits and jackets, and took a bus to the falls. Our guide was an american guy called Brian, who was a brilliant instructor and made sure we had loads of fun whilst also controlling most of what the raft did. He explained that if a group was fairly poor at paddling he could control the entire movement, but he gave us the freedom to do what we wanted because we were a well balanced group. It was a great experience and I was lucky enough to get some great GoPro footage, well before it ran out of battery anyway…

The next day we drove back to Taupo from Rotorua, and visited the town centre and the Lake. Once again we were blessed with awesome weather, so after some pints in the sun we went down to the lake to sun bathe and swim. The water was surprisingly warm and I had yet another great day laying around in the sun. With my tan sufficiently topped up, we drove back to Rotorua for some more great food.

We drove north to Auckland on Thursday 29th, and checked into the best air b’n’b yet. Nicki had managed to book a penthouse apartment, a stones throw from the Sky Tower where the New Years Eve fireworks presentation would be taking place. The apartment was also a short walk to the harbour, and came with a large veranda that we could sit on and relax.

On our first day in Auckland we explored the city, and ate some nice food near the harbour. We booked to visit Waiheke Island for the 30th, which is an island 40 minutes boat ride from the harbour. Famed for its beaches and vineyards, it certainly lived up to its expectations. The next morning we left early, walked to the harbour and joined the huge queue of people waiting to catch the speedy cat to Waiheke Island. On arrival we jumped on our bus tour, and set off towards the beaches. Another day in the sun beckoned, with yet more beers and lovely food. The island had some insane views, and it remains one of my favourite places I’ve visited since coming to New Zealand. We caught the catamaran back at 18:30pm, and had some more nice food in Auckland, visiting an indian restaurant that Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino had visited a couple of years earlier.

On the 31st we met up with Jack Sharples, who is the son of Dads best friend. I have known Jack forever, as their family used to live next to ours when I was very very young.  He is travelling the world with his girlfriend Frida. They are travelling New Zealand for a few months, and writing an online blog as they go. Neither dad nor I had seen Jack for nearly 7 years, so it was great to catch up. We had some more great food and lots of drinks, with the evening culminating with the 5 of us having some drinks on our penthouse veranda and taking some pictures to send back to the family. After they left to go back to the house they were house-sitting, we grabbed some quick easy food at Mexicali, then headed back to the apartment to get ready for the fireworks. By this time I had drunk quite a lot, and it was genuinely so hard to stay awake. The hours between 22:00 and 00:00 felt like an age, but the firework show more than made up for it. Sitting on the veranda we had front row seats for the show, which lasted nearly 10 minutes. It was a great way to enter into 2017, and I am very grateful I was able to spend it with family and in such a nice place.

The following day was Dad and Nicki’s last day on holiday, so we drove up the coast and spent some time at Mission Bay, before having a great final meal. Mission Bay was a very touristy beach, with plenty of traffic and noise. Feeling a little tired from the previous night, I laid on the beach for most of the day and read my book. That evening we ate at a bar/restaurant called Degree or something similar, and watched a replay of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final on the TV’s. It was a nice way to end the holiday, and we ended up sitting on the veranda having a drink before bed watching the harbour in the distance.

I woke at 06:00am to say goodbye to Dad and Nicki before they left for the airport, then grabbed a few more hours sleep before checking out the air b’n’b at 12:00pm midday. I spent a few hours in a sports bar drinking coffee and watching American Football, before jumping on yet another bus down to Hamilton. I’m currently sat in the bus station, getting ready for a hopefully relaxing few days in the countryside before I fly to Samoa for some volunteer work on a beach resort! Woooooo