Spence & Debs
Hello!SD
We've both taken six months off work from Nov 2005 to see a bit of the world, mainly Oz and NZ. This is a log of our trip....
Travel Blog Posts
April 10th 2006
Arrived and stayed for 2 nights at the Mercure Nadi. Booked in for 7 nights to Sonaisali. A real luxury as we haven't stayed longer than 3 nights anywhere since Sydney! Arrived and we got upgraded to a beach view buri - really nice! Deborah rode a horse for the first time!! Went sea kayaking. Just generally relaxed, read books and enjoyed being in the same place! Then stayed for four nights at the Mamanuca island resort of Treasure Island. ... read more
April 6th 2006
Checked into our hostel,Verandahs, for 2 nights before Fiji. Had great views of the city, inc the tower, and set in the trendy area of Ponsonby. Had a nice tapas lunch overlooking the marina, and wandered around Auckland city and the shopping district. Went into Sky Tower but visability was poor so decided to blow the cash on a massage in their weekend market. Also, took in a movie Keeping Mum. Very funny Brit flick. Had a fantastic time in NZ - wld def recommend it to anyone and we will both be back for more!! ... read more
April 5th 2006
For 1 night. Nice hostel with bubble spa but not a lot else happening! Good stop off on way to Auckland from far a field.... read more
April 2nd 2006
Drove from Paihia (2 hours) to Ahipara where we stayed at Endless Summer Lodge. Named after a definitive surf movie filmed in 1966 called The Endless Summer. A really great hostel - better than most hotels we've stayed in for a fraction of the price. After a day of walking along the endless beaches and relaxing, took a tour to Cape Reinga - where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. The day included a speedy 4-wheel drive along 90 mile beach and sand surfing down enormous sand dunes!! Great fun!! Also stopped off at url=http://www.ancientkauri.co.nz/Ancient Kauri Kingdom and Gum Diggers Park.... read more
March 30th 2006
After a five hour drive arrived at Paihia - almost like a seaside town - very relaxed with lots of bars and restaurants. Staying at a place called Peppertree Lodge. Booked a days cruise with SailNZ. Caught some fish on the way out to the islands, also dived for mussells - had a great surf & turf barbeque lunch. Amazing scenery. Great snorkelling. Did some jumping from the mast. Saw a massive pod of dolphins - around 30, all showing off around the boat. All in all a great day out. Following that had a great drunken night out with Vanessa and Chris who we met on the trip. ... read more
Coromandel
Published: March 29th 2006Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town
March 29th 2006
Stayed at The Anchor Lodge, woke to a completely blue sky so decided to do the Coromandel Coastal Walk. The walkway is from Fletcher Bay to Stony Bay located at the very top of the peninsula. Apparently the track is 7 kms in length and takes 3-4 hours one way. Walked it in glorious sunshine - fantastic scenery - took around 5 hours to complete. Had a soak in the hot tub then went for a few beers in the Star & Garter pub. ... read more
Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach
Published: March 29th 2006Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whangarei
March 27th 2006
En route to The Coromandel stopped over at the Beach Villa Backpackers in Tairua. The following morning went to Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. ... read more
March 26th 2006
Had 2 nights in Rotorua, famous for hot springs and Maouri culture. Spen went to the Polynesian Spa for the day to sample the hot springs and relax. See the below link to see what Debs did for the next week: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Debs100/ ... read more
March 25th 2006
Although we stayed in Lake Taupo decided to go back South an hour and climb Mount Ruapehu, which is NZ's largest active volcano! Another early start (!) and we headed up the moutain via 2 sets of ski lifts to get half way up. From there, we climbed to 1,500 feet above sea level to the very top of the volcano, looking down on a blanket of cloud we climbed through a quarter of the way up. The altitude made our ears pop and also made us short of breath, but it was fabulous looking down the mountain and across the area. On the way down, we took a different route, and walk/skidded/sledged down one of the glaciers. It was pretty impossible to walk on the icey snow even with walking boots on so we got ... read more
March 24th 2006
Went to the Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon. You could hear the falls before you could even see them - amazing to see as all the water is squeezed through a crevasse around 5 metres wide. ... read more
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