The departure of the Mother Superior

March 1 marked St David's Day (with the Welsh Dragon proudly flying over Auckland Harbour Bridge as we crossed it) and also our departure from Auckland - this time not in the sad little Nissan Sunny but a Britz campervan. The campervan wasn't exactly sad but it was a bit basic and well worn - still, it would be our home for our last week together in North Island and we were all looking forward to it. We'd gone for a six-berth model to give us a bit of extra space and thank goodness we did, because even with the three of us travelling light there wasn't much room to move.

After a quick stop at the supermarket to fill the 'bijou' fridge and pack our belongings into the titchy overhead cupboards we took our positions for the drive up north. There were two seats in the front and then four seatbelts right at the back of the van. Mammy started off in the back - the best seat to see the wonderful scenery but the worst for comfort since everytime we went over a bump (and believe me, there are lots of bumps in the road in New Zealand, many of them dead possums ... I wonder if I will ever see a live possum here?), it sent a shockwave right up through the back of the van and into the person sitting in the back. Not comfy at all.

"Cabin crew - seats for take-off"

After all the racing around over the previous fortnight, we were all ready for a bit of a slow down so we'd decided to drive into Northland and spend some time around the Bay of Islands. Our first destination was Paihia (say 'Pie Here') and the Beachside Holiday Park - a bit of artistic licence used here since there was a beach, but one so small you wouldn't be able to spread a towel out to lie on - but the site did have a very cute and friendly family of ducks - who would follow you back from the shower block in the morning in the hope of being invited in for a bit of breakfast.

Mammy, can I bring some friends over for food?

While we were in the Bay of Islands, Gareth wanted to dive the Rainbow Warrior. This is the Greenpeace ship that was bombed by the French secret service in 1985 in Auckland Harbour. The Rainbow Warrior was preparing to set sail for Moruroa in the Pacific to protest against French nuclear testing when French agents blew it up, killing one man, Fernando Pereira. After the ship was refloated it was moved to the Cavalli Islands in the Bay of Islands to serve as a dive wreck and marine sanctuary.

While Gareth was off doing his dive Mammy and I decided to walk into Paihia town for a look around - so we asked at reception about the path that led away from the holiday park. 'Yep' they said ' the path will take about 45 minutes and it's easy, well-marked all the way into town - you can walk all the way around on the beach if you want to. Off we set...

It was quite a steep start, but nothing after the Tongariro Crossing, and we had beautiful views out over the bay. It all looked good, but twenty minutes later as we were trying to wade through rock pools and approaching a river that would stop us going any further we decided we must have missed the track - so we retraced our steps and went back around to the beach for a look around. Behind a shed on a path that really looked like it was taking you onto private land was an overgrown path - no wonder we'd missed it. New Zealanders really do have a very different idea of what the words 'well-marked' and 'easy' mean.

Still no sign of the track

Paihia was a busy little place, with plenty of shops and places to get a flat white. After lunch at a restaurant set right over the waterfront we settled down for a bit of sunbathing on the beach before meeting up with Gareth after his dive. He had dived twice - first at the Rainbow Warrior and then at a nearby reef. Being a bit 'trigger happy' with the underwater camera he'd used up all his film by the end of the first dive and had none left to snap the massive stingray and eagle ray he (says he) saw on the second dive. I think this will be a bit like the Maori Wrasse we saw in the Whitsundays - it gets bigger and bigger every time the story is told and no one can prove him wrong...

Next morning we packed up the camper again and set off to Matauri Bay, about an hour and half north of Paihia. This was where Gareth's dive boat had launched from the day before and the owner of the dive shop promised me this was a top spot for a bit of snorkelling.

We had a perfect spot - right on the white sand beach - and spent most of the next two days in the water. The bay around the corner was supposedly good for snorkelling but the current was so strong that even the fish were being whipped around by it - so we stuck to swimming - and in the absence of any surfable waves, Gareth tried to teach us to bodysurf. He failed.

Gareth teaches Sarah how to drown gracefully

'You said the water was warm!'

Up on the hill above Matauri Bay there is a memorial to the Rainbow Warrior, with the propellor from the boat and a stone map that shows you exactly where the ship now rests.

Matauri Bay was beautiful but our time in North Island together was running out and with only two nights left we had to think about making our way back to Auckland. We were still hoping for a bit of snorkelling as it had been so disappointing in Matauri Bay so we drove back down the coast to Goat Island. This is actually one of the Hauraki Gulf Islands and a marine sanctuary. It's so close to the mainland that you can swim over to it fairly easily.

We spent the day at the beach, which was very busy with busloads of children on school field trips or having kayaking lessons. We'd heard about the snapper at Goat Island - some more than sixty years old! Being a marine sanctuary, no one is allowed to fish there so I guess a lot of the fishes just die of old age (must be a bit chewy). There are so many there - when you stood on the rocks and looked over into the water you could see fishes of all colours swimming underneath you - silver, orange and bright blue. (I did have a leaflet with the proper names of these fishes but I seem to have misplaced it so colour descriptions will have to do, I don't know any marine biologists so I think I should get away with it). We got in for a snorkel but it was pretty choppy so we were being bashed against the rocks and the visibility was awful - it was more fun just to watch from above - and relax on the black sand beach of course!

There was nothing much else to amuse us around Goat Island - one of the fish and chips shops was closed and the other one was expecting a party of 60 children so it was only serving burgers and nothing fried (!) -so we headed to Waiwera for our last night before our flights out. By now we'd completely run out of food (but not vinegar!) so we stopped in a small town called Orewa before we settled into Waiwera Holiday Park. There was something we hadn't yet introduced Mammy to - meat pies. In Australia, the only thing I would say that comes close to being a national dish (apart from a BBQ) is the great Aussie pie. These pies are delicious - and they're not bad in NZ either - so we had a supper of pie and chips (with vinegar) - yum.

Next day when we woke up it was raining and grey - a sure sign that it was time to move on - so we drove back via Orewa - for another one of those lovely pies and three flat whites - then back to Auckland to get ready for the flight.

After three weeks in NZ Mammy's one bag had turned into two (with a little help from both of us, who'd managed to load her up with anything we didn't want to keep carrying around with us). After Mammy was checked-in we all went for one last flat white together - yes, they came to tin fity exactly! We waved her back through the doors towards home after a fab three weeks together ... then it was a few hours sleep for us before our flight to Christchurch, in the South island.