As I said in part one of this blog photos are a window into the past and a chance to look back on what you have done, where you have been and who you have met. With the south island covered in the part one it’s time to try and squeeze the north island into part two.

Yet again it seemed that we went chasing sunrises as well as sunsets all around the country with some fabulous colours captured in all sorts of different places.

Of course it wasn’t all sun we had our fair share of rain whilst we were out and about including the absolute soaking when we attended the opening of the new NZMCA Park in Te Araroa.

While it was raining and cold over the winter period we spent some time at home, then when there was a break in the weather we visited some of the areas to stay around Auckland to keep my blog going. The post about Z Pier in Auckland proved the most popular post of the year about a place to stay.

But during winter we did also manage to get away catching up with fellow Dethleffs owners for a few days at Mahinepua in Northland.

We also managed to complete a series of blogs for Landmarks NZ about some of the lessor known heritage sites in Northland this proved a real voyage of discovery about our own country. It also showed us sometimes it pays to explore away from the main road.

Of course it’s not just Northland that has remote places with us visiting the Forgotten World Highway whilst on the Taranaki safari and a couple of remote camps on the East Coast as well as a night on a mountain and a night in the middle of the island.

Talking about the middle of the island this was one of my favourite shots of the year with the sun setting over 5 Mile Bay in Taupo with the person framed by our windscreen.

It was through that windscreen that we have seen many different roads around New Zealand but we always know that we are home when we arrive back in Auckland to discover traffic at a standstill.

It was through that same windscreen once we had escaped the traffic that we managed to guide ourselves to some places that just have to be placed on your must visit list.

Once you make it to some of these places how can you miss out on the chance to go fishing no matter how you do it.

It was while out fishing that we encountered a pod of around 12 Orca in close in at Whangaruru Harbour in Northland, What a sight that was and I loaded a couple of videos on the blog I wrote about our visit there.

Sometimes of course the fish just simply aren’t biting and you have to resort to buying your fish from the local chippie or even better get your friendly motorhomer next door to make the worlds best pizza (Thanks Adrian)

Of course speaking about neighbours I have to mention the fantastic people we have met this year out and about in their motorhomes. Some people the meeting was only fleeting for others like the group we did the safari with, they had to put up with us for 20 odd days.

Almost whenever we can we like to get on the bikes so we can get out and explore. The cycle trails in the north like those in the south offer all sorts of levels of riding with some great views from time to time that really make it worth while. Especially the shot of the mountain through the bridge.

Back home it was time to have the motorhome serviced which was quite an experience as there was also a recall to be done and it seemed to take forever for the parts to arrive. Then I returned to my old business and with the help of my oldest son gave it a really good wash to get rid of the winter green that was beginning to grow on it.

Motorhoming is an experience that I can only begin to describe in words and photos for some people the mere thought of getting away will be like the danger sign above and they will never experience the joys of going beyond that point where the steep drop off to an amazing life awaits.

It’s been an amazing 2018 I clearly remember walking down the road when we visited Te Anau in March telling Sarah that the blog should go past 10,000 views that day and we have now had more than 76,000 so for those of you that have followed my blog during the year many thanks for reading what I have written. I love the journey we have taken so far and we have quite a lot planned for 2019 so the adventures will continue.

To view the places we have visited click here to see them on Google maps. You can click the links to read the blog about that area.

To view the ratings for other places and camps we have stayed click here 

Just one final note for the year and that’s to remember to follow the rules around freedom camping. They are there for a reason and to protect the rite of all of us to enjoy what New Zealand has to offer. This notice was given to me in error after a mistake by the security guard but I have included it as a reminder to all to follow the rules. Wishing you a motorhoming 2019!

If you liked this post how about buying me a cup of coffee to keep future posts coming ☕