Jali's Journey: East Coast road trip and towards the South

Our East Coast Route 35 road trip did not disappoint. The road took us on many adventures as we followed it clockwise round the coast from Opotiki to Gisborne. The east coast felt very much 'untouched' by tourism and is desolate in places - like going back in time as we were told. But this made the trip feel like a proper adventure and for the first time we were properly 'freedom camping', staying at roadside stops but still with amazing views of the sea. We met a lovely Kiwi family with their children Tom, Anna and Beno. They were so lovely to Sam and Ben and took them under their wing, playing games, Lego and taking Sam 'surfing' on his inflatable surf board. We were to bump into them a few times on our journey much to the delight of the kids (and we got minutes to ourselves and to chat to the parents Mark and Aisha, as they took the boys off to play!).

One of the highlight of the trip was making the journey to see the East Cape Lighthouse - the most Easterly lighthouse in the world, apparently. This involved travelling on some rugged roads to reach a remote camping spot which looked and felt like the Outer Hebrides. We tackled the lighthouse the next morning which was no mean feat: 800 steps up the steep hill to reach the lighthouse and the spectacular view to sea. Sam made it all the way to the top on his own. Ali carried Ben up and down!

Visiting a macadamia cafe was also a treat, where we enjoyed all kinds of macadamia related delicacies surrounded by macadamia trees and a beautiful view to the bay below. Macadamia & Honey ice cream, macadamia shortbread and coffee/tea were enjoyed by all. Ali was in 'her special place' and came away with all kinds of nut-related purchases. You know you're in a good place when the tea pot comes with an extra jug of hot water for topping up the pot.

We hit Gisborne city at the end of the trip from which we planned the start of our escape of the North Island. It was to be a long, long journey down to Wellington which we split over two days. We made it down as far as Lake Tutira and enjoyed an overnight stay at an idyllic DOC site, a real hidden gem. The next day, we continued south, travelling on a Friday with our ETA for hitting Wellington being rush-hour. Typical timing for us! We also had no where booked to stay with some attempted 'AirBnB' bookings falling through. So as we were hooning our way down Highway 1, Ali made the brilliant decision to phone Novotel Wellington and book us in for 3-nights for a bit of luxury TLC and a well-deserved rest from Dougie. We must have been a sorrowful and shameful sight as we pulled up outside the hotel in the van with four grubby travellers piling out. Fortunately we could store the van in the hotel's loading bay and the hotel was located right in the city centre which placed us well for our 3 days in Wellington (no public transport needed!). The boys were thrilled and impressed by the hotel and couldn't get over how many people there were to say 'Hello' to in the city.

We really enjoyed Wellington (ok, so the hotel did help) and despite the wind (it was windy) we made the most of our time there. The cable car trip to the botanical gardens, Cuba Street for quirky shops and craft beers, Te Papa museum for culture and the Sunday food market for treats. Jonny also enjoyed a 'night out' to the impressive 1920s Embassy theatre to see Star Wars - Rogue One (a Christmas present from Sam). With it's quirky bars, grimy hangouts, plus some windy and wet weather, parts of Wellington felt very much 'at home' - this could have been Manchester's Northern Quarter.

We had an afternoon crossing over to the South Island on Bluebridge ferries. We left Dougie parked on the ship's deck crammed full of other campervans, huge trucks and cattle wagons (sheep). The crossing was about 4 hours and all was fine until...Sam was seasick whilst watching 'The BFG' in the cinema room. Sick went everywhere! Not our proudest moment and poor little Sam. The crossing was a little 'choppy' in the middle but once we reached the shelter of the Marlborough Sounds, we could enjoy the beautiful views coming into the bay of Picton (at least when we weren't chasing after Ben up and down the decks).

We enjoyed our first two nights in Picton staying in Dougie outside the home of Ali's family friends Helen and John, whose kindness, hospitality and knowledge was warmly received.

ps. We have had no less than two more punctures in the van since the last one. We had to have two new tyres put on in Gisborne - a costly job. Other than that the van is running well but we have bought AA membership all the same.