Even a crash on the first stage, which cost him 54min, could not dampen his spirits.
"We competed in Morocco last month and this year we've also been in Portugal, Sweden and a few rallies in the UK. At the end of last year we competed in the Safari Rally but this one is different," Bell said.
"It is absolutely fantastic. The stages are just brilliant."
It is Bell's first trip to New Zealand and he has been won over, even if he has seen more of the countryside than ideal.
The top seed made a disastrous start, drifting off the road on the first stage and eventually down a bank.
"I just didn't appreciated how slippery the roads were.
"When you're first on the road it is like driving on ball bearings.
I went very slowly off the road, so I put it into reverse but the back wheels dropped over the edge and we slipped down the bank."
Bell and his co-driver, Tim Challen, had to jack the 1975 Ford Escort back on to its wheels and drive through a paddock to get back on to the road.
But since that "off", Bell has been steadily climbing up the rankings.
He was sixth-fastest through Monday's stages, rising from 31st to 21st overall, and made up some more time yesterday and is now in 15th place.
"We can never catch up [the time we lost]. And not only that, but Jeff [Judd] and Shane [Murland] are top drivers. Amateur old drivers like myself are totally different."
Murland started the day with a lead of almost 3min but extended it to 7min with his rival, Jeff Judd, having his own trouble keeping his car on the road.
Judd rolled his Escort and lost 4min.
That allowed Englishman Simon Tysoe to slip into third place.
With three days left in the week-long rally, Murland has a very handy advantage.
