Explore Curiosity Drive mission logs, by series.
New Zealand diaries: North Island
Arrival
After eleven months of planning from the start of my visa application, we finally arrived…
Northern shakedown
A spring shakedown mission in our new-to-us, pre-loved vanship Curiosity in the region of Northland,…
To insanity and beyond
Going for a sea swim in an area that has signs to watch out for…
Bays, beaches and baches
Forget frost, snow and down jackets: the pre-Christmas period in New Zealand is (usually) characterised…
Christmas in the tail of the fish
Curiosity was due her first Certificate of Fitness under our stewardship just before Christmas. On…
A New Year in the eye of the fish
If you read our log about Christmas in the tail of the fish, you’ll be…
Kaipara Harbour and Wairoa River
For some reason we’ve overlooked Kaipara Harbour on previous visits. Interestingly, both Tasman (1642) and…
Doubtless Bay and more beaches
One of the advantages of motorhome travel is that fellow travellers like to talk on…
The vanship goes south
In case you didn’t catch the title reference, The ring goes south is the third…
Crossing the Remutakas
We found ourselves with a few weeks up our sleeves while waiting for a ferry…
There and back again Part 1
Having returned to Wellington for investigation of a water leak, we still had a couple…
There and back again Part 2
We left you in Part 1 at Pīpīriki, having returned from a Whanganui River excursion.…
A house on Waiheke Island
We swapped our vanship for a car! Curiosity would be home to B’s parents for…
Christmas by the coast
After Waiheke, there was Covid, and it was not good. But it was an opportunity…
A day on Tiritiri Matangi
Do you like birds? If so and you’re visiting Auckland you would be hard-pressed to…
Beaches-a-plenty
Transiting through Auckland and Southern Coromandel, we made our way into the western Bay of…
Into the forest
B last entered the Whirinaki Forest in the early 1980s, on a high school field…
Eastern Bay of Plenty
Heading east along the Bay of Plenty coast we noticed fewer people, fewer camper vans,…
East Cape on SH35
It’s rough out east: the roads, the country, the living conditions. But it’s also rich…
Te Urewera
Straddling the Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay, the forests of Te Urewera are more…
The hook of Māui
Leaving East Cape we entered the Hawke’s Bay region, which in post-colonial Māori storytelling has…
Sulphur and culture
You know you’ve arrived in Rotorua when your nose detects the signature scent of rotting…
Battle of the mountains
It had been 17 years since we last hiked the unique landscapes of the Tongariro…
A volcanic heart
Those of you following these logs will by now know the story in which demigod…
Wet and wild
This past fortnight saw some bigger drives, as we had to be in Wellington for…
Pathway to Taranaki
The Forgotten World Highway links Taumarunui in Ruapehu District to Stratford in Taranaki, built upon…
Around the mountain
Having plunged deep into Taranaki via the Forgotten World Highway, the central position of the…
The Mighty Waikato
Having passed through the Waikato several times (see logs tagged “waikato”), parts of the region…
Coromandel revisited
The Coromandel Peninsula was one of the first areas we chose to explore after setting…
City of Sails and Volcanoes
We found ourselves back in the Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland area as our 18-month NZ…
West of Auckland
Auckland wasn’t ready to let us go just yet. However, out west you could be…
Departing spirits
The Far North beckoned as the last area of NZ we had yet to explore…
Ka kite anō au i a koutou
Our final month in NZ involved spending time with family, selling our vanship, and doing…
New Zealand diaries: South Island
Top of the South
Having waited a month for availability on a ferry south across Cook Strait, we could…
Earth, water and flame
Heading southwest from Nelson, SH6 grazes the southern end of the Kahurangi National Park leading…
Into the West
We began our exploration of the West Coast inland, with a visit to The Old…
One day on the Heaphy Track
Multi-day walks aren’t for everybody, for various reasons, but there may be fewer reasons to…
Knocking on the Moria Gate
We’re not done with Lord of the Rings references yet, young Hobbit! The Moria Gate…
Seals, secrets and pancakes
Just below the Buller District service town of Westport, Cape Foulwind juts out defiantly into…
Mining heritage and riverside routes
Having stopped in Greymouth briefly to deal with our rodent problem, we had decided to…
Passing through east
We had misplaced our non-toxic water hose in Murchison, and were unable to source another…
Passing through west
Our previous log outlined a plan to explore two of the three main passes across…
Waterways of northern Westland
We left Canterbury (for now) at Arthur’s Pass, descending once again into the West Coast…
Glacier Country
No prizes for guessing Glacier Country is so-named because it contains glaciers. Although not as…
South Westland
In this log we’re running out of West Coast—at least of the parts of it…
Deep into Otago
Having left the West Coast via Haast Pass, we entered Otago’s Makarora Valley hoping for…
Easter in Central Otago
In Europe Easter coincides with the beginning of spring. New lambs, tulips, Easter eggs and…
Geology and rock paintings
A run of unfavourable weather didn’t stop us from revisiting partially forgotten lessons in geology,…
Chasing the colours of autumn
We’d arranged to meet up with B’s parents and tour together for 11 days. We’d…
Public road ends
When the road ends does it mark the beginning, a continuation, or the end of…
At the stern of Te Waka-a-Māui
According to contemporary Māori legend, the demigod Māui pulled North Island out of the sea…
The third island
Most people who know anything about New Zealand will have heard of North Island and…
Christchurch and Banks Peninsula
We came to Christchurch for a motorhome show, but stayed a while to explore the…
A taste of alpine winter
Having just returned from what they call winter on Australia’s Gold Coast, it seemed appropriate…
Migrating north for winter
Despite the fantastic weather we had in Aoraki/ Mount Cook National Park, it was cold…
A whale tale
Years ago we had the privilege of watching humpback whales bubble-net feeding in Alaska’s Glacier…
Eastern sights and sounds
From Kaikōura we continued north into the district of Marlborough. Famous for wine making, mussels…
Western sights and sounds
Fresh from our exploration of the eastern Marlborough Sounds, we couldn’t ignore the western side…
Tasman Bay
There’s more to Tasman Bay/ Te Tai-o-Aorere than meets the eye—if you’re not in a…
Abel Tasman Coastal Track
Abel Tasman National Park is the star attraction in Tasman Bay/ Te Tai-o-Aorere. Its main…
Northern Golden Bay
Reached via Tākaka Hill, Golden Bay/ Mohua stretches from north of the “C” shape at…
Southern Golden Bay
Time-limited Golden Bay/ Mohua “must do” itineraries will typically feature the sands of Farewell Spit…
Winter’s end
We left Golden Bay the same way we arrived: crossing the physical and temporal barrier…
Black gold to black water
All that is gold does not glitter. We took the opportunity to educate ourselves about…
High country sojourn
Back on the road after an unpleasant pause due to illness, we resumed our route…
Penguins in the wild
Having tried to see penguins at several colony sites already—usually at the wrong time of…
Northern Dunedin
Taking a major route gets you from A to B in minimum time, but choosing…
Edinburgh of the South
As a student in the late 80s/ early 90s B spent six years in Dunedin—a…
Where the lions are
Otago Peninsula formed early on during the eruption of the Dunedin volcano and thus has…
Chasing waterfalls
There’s a song by TLC with the lyrics “Don’t go chasin’ waterfalls; Please stick to…
The Milford Road
The Milford Road is a 119km stretch of State Highway 94 linking Te Anau to…
Bottom end mop-ups
With our time on South Island running out, we reviewed our planning guide to identify…
Otago in bloom
We returned to Central Otago for a third time, swapping the rich shades of autumn…
Lupin north through Canterbury
We circled back to Christchurch via southern Canterbury, timing our travel to catch the early…
Farewell Te Wai Pounamu
Everything that has a beginning has an ending—and so it was with our road trip…
Going nomadic
Leaving the UK
Where do you start when planning to leave the United Kingdom (UK) for a life…
Hunting the eierlegende Wollmilchsau
Buying a van involves many considerations (see our Choosing a camper van series for previous…
Estate planning
As we enter 2023 if there’s one lesson from recent years to recall, it’s that…
Of men, mice and other pests
This log is a departure from the pretty landscape and bird pictures you may be…
Travelling in New Zealand
Think you can just jump on planes, trains and automobiles to travel at will throughout…
Blankets and bed socks
The season of “winter” can last for almost six months in some parts of New…
Water and sustainability
Water has long played an important role in New Zealand history. You only have to…
Eierlegende Wollmilchsau revisited
Shortly after purchasing Curiosity as our home and for our travels around NZ, we shared…
Energy and sustainability
Having considered our use of water in the van, what about our use of energy?…
Waste and sustainability
As we arrived in New Zealand, the national carrier introduced us to the Tiaki Promise…
From holiday parks to lay-bys
You’ve secured a bach (Kiwi holiday home) on wheels and taken it safely to the…
Choosing a camper van
A vanship named Luna
In Foundation we described the role of a vehicle in facilitating CREW away missions. Here…
Choosing a camper van to #drive
The two overarching considerations for consumers around choice of camper van base vehicle—aside from cost—are…
Choosing a camper van to #eat
Consider how you will keep, prepare and cook food. This need not preclude utilising local…
Choosing a camper van to #sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep is important for well-being and an expectation most of us…
Choosing a camper van to #live
Living in a camper van involves making use of onboard facilities to do many of…
Choosing a camper van to #play
A camper van trip may be memorable for the journey, the destination or the entertainment…
Curiosity Drive 