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With our time in NZ coming to an end we headed further up north towards Auckland. We had given ourselves enough time to make sure that we were able to visit the bay of islands far in the north. We arrived into Auckland, NZ biggest city with a third of the population living there. The city was huge, very built up, woth lots of skyscrapers, shiny leather shoes and real big boats in the harbour. As we would be spending two stints in Auckland, either side of the Bay of Islands, we did not rush around. Instead shopping down the vast Victoria St and ending up in the harbour to watch the sunset. We were slightly outpriced of the bars in the harbour, but with the nice array of boats, good architecture (some well lit) and night time strollers/entertainers there was plenty to see.
The next day we went for a walk recommended in the Lonely Planet, that headed far into the backstreets in the north of the city, with some very fashionable shopping precincts and seedy nightclubs clashing the fashion conscious with the unconscious. We found a small strip of parkland sunk between two major roads that provided a
sheltered walk back towards town. We snaked our way through some more small alleys, hosting some amazing shops, but in the main, providing caffeine refreshment to wealthy retail therapists before going into Victoria Park that again showed the links to the British. We really enjoyed our stay in Auckland as it had plenty of things to see and do, and brought together the traditional small scaled NZ living with big business.
We started early at 7.30am and arrived in the Bay of Islands at midday. Unfortunately we were met by some fairly average weather, but despite this we were able to see the true beauty of the area. The area, Pahia, consists of a small strip, and just one road running along the coast. The bay boasts around 130 islands and therefore attracts tourists to boating trips and cruises of all varieties. Our hostel was small and comfortable and although the town itself was quiet and relaxed, the nightlife got the bay's heart beating a bit harder. When we arrived to booked to go on a sea-fishing trip amongst the islands which we were both looking forward to.
The next day we went for a good walk along
the beach, finding a couple of locals that had come across an octopus in the shallows. It was only small, and Suzanna was not quick enough on photo duty to capture it smiling, but it was interesting never-the-less. The coastline was teeming with life, crabs scuttled everywhere, and the rocks were lined with mussels and clams. Later we found a small pool bar that enabled us to hone our skills, Suzanna is now like a female Tony Drago.
The following day was booked in for fishing and we were pleased to see that the weather had remained fine from the day before. The short boat ride into the middle of the islands was fantastic; the area is literally littered with islands of all shapes and sizes. We were joined by a friend that we met all the way back in Westport and had seen on and off of coaches since then. Along with our captain we also had a couple of locals, one that looked slightly rare, but both were friendly and seasoned pros. After a brief lesson of what to do and not do, we cast off dropping our lines about 15-20m and looking for snapper. Obviously as
it was Suzanna's first time sea fishing she immediately got a bite and heaved in a good sized snapper. After this the activity slowed, with Mark seemingly just feeding the fish below as they casually nibbled it off his hook. However, then Suzanna got a huge bite, nearly pulling her arm off and taking off the hook, line and sinker. We were told it was likely that it was shark, the men aboard were a little dismayed that she hadn't pulled it in, however, we were both fairly pleased that it got away. We moved location ad Mark soon had better luck pulling in the biggest catch of the day - a 50-60cm Carwhite?? before quickly casting off and getting another with the next cast. It was all very exciting for us and our Kiwi bus friend, with the seasoned pros ending up with very little. We had a great day out and got to kepp our catch, but have both decided that we are not going to go pro. We took our fish home and pan fried two enormous fillets of Carwhite, around 30cm long which was very tasty indeed. After a brief spell in the jacuzzi we again
went to play pool.
The next day we just spent lounging around and visited a local market that had a lot of organic foods with a folk singer playing. Needless to say there were very few shoes on show but quite a few beards. We packed up our bags and headed back to the bus for our return trip to Auckland. The Bay was fantastic area and gave us a short period of quiet time relaxing on the beaches, going for short walks surrounded by wonderful scenery, before heading back to the hubbub of the city.
On our second visit of Auckland we found that like our second trip to Christchurch we thought we knew the area well and although changing hostel to one we thought might have a better kitchen area, we felt at ease. Again vising a few shops and generally going about via different routes to make sure we could see as much as possible, stumbling across interesting places like a small homage to the NZ Suffragettes who were able to get the vote for women before anywhere else in the world.
Our stay in NZ has been fantastic, we could not have asked
for anything more. Although prior to our visit we were aware that it was hugely beautiful and very picturesque we were still blown away. The locals are warm and friendly and there is a really nice connection between the white man and the indigenous Maori people. The towns and cities are small enough to enable us to see most things on offer, but large enough to give us plenty of options on what we wanted to do day to day. We have been lucky with our coaches and the people that we have met on them, meeting some great people and sharing some once in a lifetime experiences, rafting, skydiving, bungying etc that we feel very privileged to have experienced. In short New Zealand is sweet as bro.
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