To really experience New Zealand we decided a campervan was to be our mode of transport. With us being as organised as ever, we didn't pre book and none were available for the first week. This turned out to be a blessing as we ventured up north past Auckland all the way to the top of New Zealand. We got to visit ninety mile beach, which is in fact a used roadway, so driving along the beach on a public bus was an experience. We reached Cape Reinga where the views were stunning and where the Pacific Ocean mets the Tasman Sea. 

We returned to Auckland after our mini adventure to pick up our new home for the next five weeks. The beauty of the campervan is the freedom to go where we want and when we want. New Zealand really embraces this culture and has freedom camping locations in every region. Freedom camping essentially means you can park up for free and spend the night as long as your campervan has a toilet. So freedom camping it was for us ! 

The designated sites can range from a shopping centre carpark to the side of cliff to the foot of a mountain! Our first night was spent in the beautiful cliff side carpark of Cathedral Cove in the Coromandel region. We woke up to stunning views. Another night was spent in a forest area with nothing around for miles and miles, just us in our little motor home! It was as scary as it sounds. The foot of Mount Taranaki was one to remember for the morning view, and the various lakes we stayed at listening to the water as we fell asleep. 

One of our favourites was the carpark of an Irish pub, The Donegal House, a few kilometres outside Kaikoura. We nipped in for a quick drink and a warm welcome. The pub soon emptied out and there was only myself, Sue and Murray the owner left. With the doors locked we blared the Pogues over the DVD player, attempting some Irish dancing moves and enjoyed a few (!) beverages until the early morning. And with our home just outside the door, it was a short walk home! 

We took a break from our little van for the Wellington Sevens Rugby weekend. We are fortunate to have a friend there who put us up for a few nights while we enjoyed the craic with our new group of Irish friends. Three days of laughing, meeting plenty of Irish and the odd Kiwi, watching very little rugby, enjoying the atmosphere was a trip definitely worth making. 

Back in our campervan for the remaining ten days we did a loop of the South Island. On our second last day we got lucky and managed to make the Cricket World Cup game between Ireland and the West Indies. The Irish fans were out in force, with plenty of green around the stadium. The banter with the West Indies fans was great with Ireland chasing down over 300 runs. Coming out victors of the game just added to the atmosphere. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to celebrate as we had a 10 hour drive to Auckland, and a flight to catch, just making it by the skin of our teeth! 

Everyone knows someone or knows of someone who has emigrated to the land of New Zealand, but before the young people of Ireland left for more opportunities, us Irish had already played a role in the development of New Zealand. This is very evident in the many street names which ring a very familiar bell. In many towns there are Dublin street, Kilkenny street, Galway street and even a Meath street much to Sues delight. 
New Zealand is a very beautiful country with outstanding landscapes and surroundings, to be honest it reminded us of Ireland a lot. Many days driving through countryside we could have easily been driving through many counties in Ireland, on a sunny day!! We clearly weren't the only Irish to think this as George Vesey Stewart from Tyrone felt the same. In 1873 George found himself in a small town by the name of KatiKati. He liked it so much he sailed back home, gathered as many people as possible and brought them all back to KatiKati. In June 1875 27 families along with George's family set sail for New Zealand, taking three months to get there. When they finally got there they had to start from scratch, building homes, planting their crops etc. The move was so successful another ship load of Irish arrived three years later. It's fair to say that these people certainly had an influence in this town!  

Nowadays there are plenty of young Irish building lives in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. Life treats them well here, so well in fact unfortunately many will not return home. For those who will stay they find comfort in the Irishness that has followed them. They are plenty of Gaelic football and hurling teams, with ladies football especially thriving. We were lucky enough to attend a session in Wellington where over 30 girls were training. Apart from the sport which gives an automatic family, there are shops that supply the Barry's tea, Tayto, Club Orange and Cadburys chocolate for those days that home seems that much further away. We got to spent plenty of time with many Irish that have emigrated (friends and new friends) and see first hand the new opportunities that brought them to New Zealand. It's a great outdoorsy lifestyle, the weather is a little better, career opportunities are endless, it'd be great if we could just move it next door to us!