Auckland to Bay of Islands

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia
August 28th 2007

Published: October 9th 2007

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Jen77

Views of the Bay of Islands

Hey guys well I’ve arrived at my hostel in Auckland and it’s pretty sweet. Female only floor and you get free Aveda shampoo and conditioner, fluffy white towels, nice cosy duvets, but most importantly no snoring men. Well I’m only in Auckland for one night before I set off on my Kiwi Experience, so I didn’t get up to much, just chilled in the hostel before my 7.10am pick up.

Tuesday 28th August
My Kiwi Experience begins. The big green bus was there at 7.10am to pick me up. First stop Paihia (Bay of Islands) We arrive around lunchtime and the majority of the bus decided to do a 1 hour speedboat tour around the bay, but to be honest after Oz I decided I’d seen enough boats and opted to go dolphin swimming in a couple of days. So I decided to see a bit of the culture/history and headed up to the Waitangi Treaty House and Grounds. This is were the Maori chiefs in 1835 signed the declaration of Independence of New Zealand & in 1840 the treaty was signed which gave British Sovereignty over the whole country. After a few hours it was back to the hostel

Carvings at Treaty Ground

for Barbeque, beers and Karaoke. Myself, Stu and Becky, some guys from the bus got up and sang, oh dear!

Wednesday 29th August
Early Start again today and this time it was a big yellow bus that picked us up. Our Green Kiwi bus wasn’t equipped for today’s events. First stop Puketi Kauri Forest, this is were some of the oldest kauri Trees are, up to 2000 years old. Kauri tress are best known for boat making and these trees are huge!

Next stop the biggest sand dunes I have ever seen for a bit of sandboarding. Basically you fly down the dune on your stomach on a boogie board. Great fun, but real hard work getting to the top to come down. Think how hard it is sometimes to walk on sand, well add to it the fact that you are also walking up a very steep slope!

Next stop Cape Reinga, a spot which the Mauri’s believe to be very spiritual, they believe this is where the Mauri spirits pass into the next world. The views here where quite spectacular and interesting to watch as two oceans meet here.

Last stop of the day

Carvings at Treaty Ground

90 Mile Beach (only about 60 miles long though!!) This is why we needed the big yellow bus, it’s a huge 4 wheel drive. We first stop to collect some shellfish, which we eat on the beach, delicious. You had to stand on the sand and move your feet, a bit like doing the twist, until you feel the shells under your feet, then you just pick them. Then we just drove straight down the beach, stopping to see a poor abanded seal. The driver assured us that someone would be out to rescue it soon. We also saw wild horses too. Then it was fish and chips for dinner at Mangonui and a fairly early night, today was a long day and guess what another early start tomorrow.

Thursday 30th August
I’m heading back to Auckland today, but firstly it’s a boat trip out in the Bay to swim with dolphins. A little disappointed though, we saw lots of dolphins, but we couldn’t swim with them because they had young with them. So it was back to the big green bus and back to Auckland, where I just chilled and watched a movie with a couple of guys