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Van Without A Plan

Georgina and Josh 🚐 Join us as we convert our Toyota Hiace into a campervan and travel around NZ🇳🇿

23/01/2026

The best parts of winter 2025 ❄️🩵

11/01/2026

2025 wouldn’t have been the year that it was without the incredible pets that we met and got to look after along the way.
At the end of 2024 we put ourselves onto a website called Pawshake after having done some previous solo housesitting before we met and we are SO beyond lucky to have been able to look after these incredible animals.
Luigi, Saffy, Pippi, Otis, Coco, Luna, Frankie, Masala, Pepper, Coal and many more brought so much joy into our winter and we were lucky enough to look after a few of these guys multiple times throughout the year, even getting to see Luigi grow from a kitten into a cat.
Hopefully we can do more of this in the future because it’s something that we absolutely love doing ❤️

26/12/2025

Winter in a van was a new experience for us and not really one we’d like to repeat any time soon because of how cold it was, but one of the great things about winter was all of the incredibly vibrant sunrises and sunsets.
I think looking back we could have put a heater in the van a little bit sooner and probably could have invested in some cosier clothes and blankets to make the experience more bearable.
All things to learn from for next time ❄️🥰

23/12/2025

A couple more from the Mount ☀️ April 2025

21/12/2025

We were in for a treat as we got back to the holiday park to work, as Josh’s dad Dave and his partner Janet joined us for 3 nights, so we put them up in one of the beautiful poolside villas at the park (always got to take advantage of the staff discount as often as possible).
It was really nice to be able to show them where we were living and the beautiful surrounding areas (after the horrendous weather on the first day that is) and we even got to go and see a cricket match at the bay oval with them, which was a lovely day out and Dave got to give his book to a longtime friend while we were there.
We also got stunning weather to go and climb the mount (something that was becoming a nice little habit anytime somebody came to visit us) and then we took a tour around the hostel where Josh and I first met, before having a delicious lunch at one of the nearby restaurants on the strand.
It was such a lovely gift to be able to see them again right before we got back into working and it was a very emotional goodbye for all of us at the end.

18/12/2025

Alright it was a very long winter and I’ll be the first to admit I got SUPER behind on all of our travel posts.
We have actually done quite a bit of stuff since our summer road trip earlier in the year and I’m making it my mission to try and catch up to where we’re at now.
On our way back to the campground from the coromandel we stopped off at Karangahake Gorge, a series of beautiful trails that I’ve driven past a million times but never actually stopped and done.
It was raining pretty hard when we got there so we weren’t sure if walking the track was the best idea but as you can see by the photos, it really brightened up and we probably could have had a swim at one point if we’d brought our swimming stuff with us.
The 1km long tunnel through a huge hill was the toughest part for me, fighting a constant battle with my claustrophobia, but I’m very happy that I got through it.
I’m really glad we went and that I finally got to tick this one off my nz bucket list!

14/09/2025

A couple more from just after our version of “snorkelling” at Cathedral Cove with a pair of goggles and a dream, one of my favourite days I’ve spent with Josh and I think our smiles show it 🥰

07/09/2025

Our day at Cathedral Cove was one of my favourite days on the entire trip… and it started off pretty badly!
First of all we didn’t realise just how hilly it was going to be to get there, thankfully we opted to park in the newly built car park down the bottom of the hill and caught the return shuttle up to the top.
From there I thought it would just be a walk downhill to the beach.
For some reason this hill goes back up to basically the same height you started on before you get down to cathedral cove and to make matters worse it started raining about 3/4 of the way there.
At this point we were deflated but still determined to go to the beach, unsure if we would get sunshine at all.
Right about that time we got our rosters for work (we would be heading back in about a week and a half) and we were shocked to see that I had been rostered to start 3 days from then.
After a stressful phone call we sorted that out and the rain had briefly stopped so we walked the rest of the way down to the beach.
It was gorgeous and we sat down and ate our lunch, silently praying that the sun would come out so that we could go for a swim.
And our prayers were answered!
Enough sun came out that we got our goggles on and went in and we never could have prepared ourselves for what happened next.
We started swimming amongst the fish and we saw so many incredible types of fish on our swim.
The best part though was a family of these massive snapper followed us around the ENTIRE time for like an hour and we swam all the way around into the next bay and back, they just came along with us.
Even after hopping out of the water and checking out the rock pools in the other bay we jumped back in and they found us again and followed us back to cathedral cove.
It was such a special thing to experience and our originally average day turned into something magical.
Definitely would love to go back to this place with the proper equipment 🥰

29/08/2025

We had originally planned to drive up to northland but sadly we just didn’t have enough time on this trip so we went back to one of our favourite places in New Zealand and drove up to the coromandel peninsula.
We were staying in another Tasman Holiday Park and just over the hill from it was New Chums Beach so we decided to go back there, having had an absolute blast the first time we went together.
And it was just as wonderful! No drone to record on this time sadly but the weather was spectacular and the water was just as blue as ever.
We spent the whole day there again and spent hours sunbathing, swimming, reading books and eating our packed lunch.
I don’t doubt that we’ll end up going there again some time since it’s still one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen 🩵

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Papamoa Beach Road
Tauranga

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