Blogs from Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Hi All, just a blog test run as I hope to create another blog for our 2 or 3 months in Australia starting in 3 weeks starting in Perth, and travelling sort of diagonally, then horizontally across the middle!... read more

Well it's a very long time since I blogged about our travels, mainly because Australia was a major let down so had nothing good to say and also because since being in NZ we've been quite busy going all over on the Kiwi Experience. For anyone that doesn't know the kiwi experience is basically a tour bus that takes you on certain routes around new zealand stopping off at all the major places where you can get off and stay for longer or continue on with the minimum nights of the group you started with. It's apparently nicknamed the f**k bus by a lot of people, mainly because its full of 18-25 year olds all out for one thing, needles to say me and Pete were a little concerned on hearing this AFTER we had booked ... read more

A 6am start to an incredibly stressful morning! After being told we had secured places on the bus it turned out that actually only one of us had been confirmed and the other was still on the wait list! Luckily 9 no-shows meant everyone got on the bus up to the Bay of Islands. I think we were still in 'Fiji time' because all the activity and accommodation booking sheets were stressing me out! Upon reaching the Bay of Islands we managed to chill out a bit and hopped aboard an afternoon boat cruise out to the bay. We saw a pod of 20 bottle nose dolphins - they are much bigger than any dolphins I've seen before. The boat also took us out to the famous 'hole in the rock' but due to choppy waves ... read more

Left the Bay of Islands on Thursday and headed to Whangerai which is a NZ city, quite busy after the quiet life of Northland. Headed out to Tutukaka as I didn't want to stay in town other than for shopping and an ATM. Tutukaka was a small inlet which was pretty full of expensive yachts And dive schools. Ventured on to Matapouroi which was quite a decent sized bay with enough surf for bodyboarding but near the river people were using paddle boards. The weather has been quite hot and last night it was a bit humid the result of some nice little mozzie was about twenty bites on my face and around my eyes so look as if someone has punched me at the moment, lovely. Drove to Orewa Friday heading further south, nice beach ... read more

Arrived here a couple of stays a ago, found a lovely campsite just outside Pahia which is situated near the river, a lovely situation. The first day I visited the Waitangi treaty grounds where the treaty was signed between the Maoris and The Europeans hopefully to the benefit of both communities. A celebration is held here every year on the 6th February and the Maoris come in their waka's (traditional canoes) which are quite something to see. made from massive kauri trees and hollowed out to make the canoe. Apparently before the trees are felled they strip the bark from one side so that it begins to decay and makes it easier to hollow out. The canoes are huge and can carry the rowers, food and family. The treaty house has been made in to a ... read more

Yesterday (Monday) we had the best day out sailing (explorenz) in the bay of islands, after a recommendation from Jo & Rob to do a boat trip. We boarded the 80ft maxi yacht Lion New Zealand. (Built for the late Sir Peter Blake, winner of the Syndey to Hobart 1984 and placed second in the Whitbred Round the World Race in 1985/86 - for anyone who is interested). The trip was done by Explore NZ and we would say is a definite must do. The day was really hands-on and we had the opportunity to sail, as well as Hazel and I choosing to sit on the bow and then teetering on the very edge as the boat tacked at a very steep angle! There was a moment when we both agreed that we had crossed ... read more

Today we are in the furthest north point on the eastern side of the North Island and it rained. We have been caught in the tail end of a cyclone. The sea is quite choppy and the only way to shore is by tender. As we are going to be at sea for the next two days we decided to get off and visit Waitangi and across the single lane version of the Sydney bridge to Paihia. Poor Don has a cold and is not a happy bunny. The waves going across were quite high. The towns were a big disappointment; dirty and shabby. If the weather had been brighter we may have taken a sailing trip around some of the 140+ islands. They even count a big rock an island. So instead we took the ... read more

Kilometervreters, nietig zijn ze, zij die gebogen over hun sturen zon en regen trotseren. De kilometervreters vreten nog niet zo veel kilometers de eerste week. 40, 60, 30 kilometer. Het is een kennismaking met het uiterste noorden van Nieuw Zeeland. Rivieren waar je zoals in Duitsland vlak naast rijdt. Bergen, derde en tweede categorie.Frankrijk, de Vogezen wellicht. Niet vergelijkbaar met Alpen of Pyreneen in ieder geval. Nietig zijn ze naast de voorbij razende fourwheeldrives en vrachtwagens, maar vooral heel nietig naast de duizenden jaar oude Kauri's, lords of de forests. Verbeten gezichten, rode hoofden, soms vloekend en tierend, maar altijd verder, op weg naar het eindpunt van die dag. Zo, nu hebben jullie een kleine impressie hoe onze dagen er in de eerste week uitzagen. Letterlijk:hoge pieken en diepe dalen. Veerle, die vloekend en tierend moest ... read more