Blogs from Paihia, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia March 5th 2012

Hi Everyone, It has now been about a week in NZ so we have lots of stories to tell. We landed in Auckland and had one night before we set off on the kiwi experience. We headed off to the Bay of Islands at 7:30am with a longish drive ahead of us. We had decided on the bus that we would do the eco adventure boat tour, which allowed us to drive out into the bay and swim with dolphins. We didn't have much time when we arrived so set off straight away on the boat. We weere warned that as these animals were wild that we may not be ableto see or swim with them, however, we got to see them and a big group at that. It took a while but eventually we found ... read more

Trip from Matamata to The Bay of Islands

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 17th 2012

H20 Chica

drove from Matamata through Auckland (crazy busy highway) up the coast to the Bay of Islands......trip about 6 hrs with some stops........... have a wee room at the funky little Alfa Hotel.......great supper at a beach cafe.......our server's name is Connor and he is from Ireland......physiotherapist from Dublin traveling on a 6 month leave......turns out he has an uncle that lives in London Ontario and teaches at Regina Mundi......teeny tiny world in the scheme of things...........on the agenda today is to take a boat tour of the islands.......stand by for pictures!... read more

Grant and Rae's NZ Trip

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 6th 2012

Te Whare........

Grant0549

The curse of the disappearing blog again..................probs with interner connection last night. Stiil...........Had a great day yesterday (Friday). Weather was great and we walked out to Waitangi where we visited The Treaty House,set in the grounds of the estate. The Treaty relates to peaceful co-existence between the Brit settlers and the Maori tribes and was signed in 1840 - very impressive site. See photos,hopefully. Afterwards we walked back to the ferry and went over to the island of Russell and walked to Flagstaff Hill - fabulous views!! Then we went to the Long Beach (where one of slept - name begins with R and one of us went in for a swim in the Pacific - name begins with G). Before catching the ferry back to Paihia we had an icecream - the best £2.50 I've ... read more

Chullin' in New Zulland

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 6th 2012

The hole in the rock

Heathy

After several months with no travel, it was great to get away again - this time to the scenic North Island of New Zealand. The purpose of our trip was a new year's eve beach wedding at Paraparaumu Beach, which was a great evening even though the weather forced a change of plans. We landed in Wellington on a miserable day and drove the scenic route around the bay through the small harbour city. We didn't see much worth stopping for in Wellington, so went straight up to the sleepy seaside town of Paraparaumu and checked into our nearby accommodation at Raumati Beach. The wedding was at Nga Manu Nature Reserve in the nearby town of Waikanae. The nature reserve is on a very picturesque 13 hectares and was full of diverse flora and fauna. We ... read more

Grant and Rae's NZ Trip

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 5th 2012

Whangarei Falls....

Grant0549

Left Auckland in the rain today......eventually - the sat-nag wasn't working very well! Weather improved as we went north and we stopped for lunch at Whangarei Falls - very impressive,especially as it was warm and sunny! Travelled up to Pahia and booked into the Pacific Resort,to be wlcomed by a young Sottish receptionist. Managed an hour or so by the pool before Rae did the laundry!! Ate in the Swordfish Club with a great view over the Bay of Islands.... read more

Pas de pluie !

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 2nd 2012

Pahia - Bay of Island

Sebbro

Il ne pleut pas ! Il fait beau ! Je suis dans un très bel endroit. Il y a beaucoup de gens ici mais ça se comprend. Le Pcikled Parrot c'est hot ! (C'est l'endroit ou je dors). Aujourd'hui j'ai fais une longue marche dans la forêt derrière le village. Pas mal tranquille. Mieux que les trucs de touriste poche sur le bord de la plage. Demain je vais visiter Waitaingi et je vais probablement prendre le traversier pour aller souper à Russel. Cet endroit à déjà eu la réputation d'être le Hellhole de la planète.. C'était un repaire de bandit, pirate, évadé de prison, de bordel, etc..... read more

a few videos from New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia December 3rd 2011

SRMUSA

Here are some videos that I put together during our first few weeks in New Zealand. -sean... read more

New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia December 1st 2011

Michael and Sophie

1.12.11 Arrived early morning into Aukland at 4 o'clock and jumped straight on the kiwi experience bus. We travelled up to the Bay of Islands driving through scenic countryside with hundreds of cows. The driver guide was your typical kiwi with all the bad jokes. Sweet as bro, get amongst it and cool narnas finished every sentence. We checked into our first hostel in Paihia my first taste of shared dorms. What a first time experience it was, we were stuck with 4 Germans who must have lived there as all their stuff was thrown all over. It was a bit intimidating and wasn't awkward at all! It was a bit of a shock to be in bunk beds but im sure ill get used to it as its all part of backpacking. We went for ... read more

Tip of New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia November 5th 2011

Gill NY2HK

I started stray yesterday & haven't stopped since. We drove north from Auckland & went to a nature reserve at Goat island for a ride on a glass bottom boat to see some fish, mostly snapper. Afterwards we went to stroke a Kiwi, the only one that you can touch in New Zealand, which was amazing. We are staying in the Bay of islands, which is really beautiful & the landscape is so green. Today we took a trip up Ninety mile beach & went sandboarding down the dunes across a stream so I got a bit wet but it was great fun. Then we went to the northern tip of New Zealand & saw the Tasmin sea meet the Pacific Ocean before heading down to see the Kauri trees that have been buried, preserved & ... read more

Kia ora

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia October 3rd 2011

Jen at the fanzone

DazandJen

First time in the Southern Hemisphere for me - Jen had been to NZ before. First impressions were that it was exactly like England, cold and grey clouds. Ha-ha. The weirdest part about flying to NZ was that we set off at 11.30pm for Los Angeles on Sunday night, for a 13 hr flight, and arrived in Auckland NZ at 9.05am Tuesday morning. Due to the time difference etc we completely missed Monday. The flight wasn’t too bad this time, a little turbulence but I even managed to sleep for about 2 hrs, Jen slept or about 8 hrs! Once we arrived in Auckland airport, we got the blue bus to Auckland city centre, only costing $16 each for a 30min trip. The currency was better in NZ, it was half to the pound e.g.£1 was ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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