Blogs from Mercury Bay, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Advertisement

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay January 10th 2011

10th January 2011 Another 7am start today! We did the rounds in Auckland picking everyone up from their hostels and made a stop off at the Kiwi Experience Office to book busses etc if needed. Once everyone was done we got back onto the bus to find that it wouldn’t start. 2 hours later we were still sat on the street waiting for a mechanic to come, eventually the fault was sorted and we were on our way – however the air-con couldn’t be fixed so the bus was extremely hot! So, from the Kiwi Office we headed up Mt Eden or also known as Maungawhau, where you have an awesome 360˚view of the whole city. Back on the highway towards Coromandle and we had a brief stop for lunch – it certainly was brief as ... read more
CIMG3010
CIMG3011
CIMG3016

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay April 13th 2010

Happy Birthday Sam! . . . So much so - we nearly slept in! 7.30am and we are on our way back to Rotorua. We stop off at the Karangahake Scenic Reserve. Our driver gives us directions to a walk which will take us along the river, over two swing bridges and through a 1km railway tunnel. Back on the bus to Paeroa - a place which makes its own lemon and paeroa spring water soft drink. Kerry takes it upon herself to try it - YUK - it tastes like lemsip! Back through Matamata (again) for lunch and a toilet stop Finally we arrive in Rotorua, first stop maori tour village, second stop the Te Puia thermal spa, third stop the luge and gondola and finally we are taken to the hostel. We are in ... read more
12.4.10-17.4.10 050
12.4.10-17.4.10 059
12.4.10-17.4.10 060

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay February 23rd 2009

We boarded the kiwi bus which took us to Maun Gawhau (Mt Eden) which gets 360 degree views of Auckland. After taking in the views we headed over the coromandel ranges to cathedral cove. Here we took a nice walk to a beautiful beach before arriving at mercury bay. We arrived late in the afternoon so we had a group meal of all you can eat spagetti bolognese and spent the night in the hostel bar playing pool and cards with people off the kiwi bus. It was a really good night. The next day we were planning on a beach day but due to the bad weather we ended up going to a free art gallery and spending the day playing pool,darts and watching films. The weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon so ... read more
cathedral cove
cathedral cove
mercury bay

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay April 30th 2008

Hi all Well the day after i last updated I went round Auckland for the day trying to get myself sorted and organised which I just about did. Nothing else really happened during the day. That evening I went out with the people in my dorm to an Ice Bar which was -8'C when we went in. We were told we weren't allowed to take photos but then they left us alone so of course we did. There was one Irish guy (who I couldn't work out if he was Irish or Scottish for ages until he told me he was born in Ireland but lives in Scotland), one German and one Brasillian who came out with me. Then after our 30 minute slot in the Ice Bar we headed to our hostel bar and Tom ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay April 6th 2008

We woke early and set off from Thames across the mountains to the East Coast. We hiked up a mountain at Tairua - the views were fanatastic!! Then we travelled north to Cathedral Cave, we didnt realise that it was a 45minute walk each way to the Cave!! We had to jog some of the way so as we didn't waste too much time. It was hard going, up hill and down dale, and those stairs!!! But we made it and the view was beautiful. We then travelled to the hot springs beach. This is amazing!! You hire a spade and dig a hole in the sand and the water is not just hot but boiling (bubbling and boiling) it is fascinating. We even burnt our knees and toes! We had lunch here and then hurried ... read more
Tairua
Tairua
Cathedral Cove

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay March 14th 2008

After Paihia we travelled to Auckland again where we stopped over for another quick night. At our last hostel we'd met three lovely English girls from the Wirrel who are travelling together: Rachel, Meike and Alex. We decided to all get in a dorm room together (and have done so ever since as we are all doing the same route). We are all getting on really well together and it's great travelling around as a group. Another bonus is that they have hair straighteners and a hair dryer with them. My afro is tame for the moment! That night we just had a quiet one with pizza and lots of chatting. The problem with trying to do the Kiwi Experience in such a short amount of time means that you often stay in one hostel/place for ... read more
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay March 8th 2008

12.01.08 We were all on the coach by 7.30am feeling awful but looking forward to heading to Mercury Bay. The bus journey consisted mainly of sleeping so before we knew it we were at Cathedral Cove. We had a 45min walk down to the beach but we were greeted by some amazing scenery. The beach was great and the cliff faces and caves were amazing. Such a beautiful place to spend a few ours chilling out. Alan and I swam to one cave where i have to admit we spent a few minutes floating outside the cave entrance wondering if it was safe to go in as it was pitch black and we didnt know what to expect. Im glad we bit the bullet because we found a small sandy beach inside the cave but we ... read more
NZ, Fiji, Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Utila. 065
NZ, Fiji, Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Utila. 068
Sitting on a huge log in the middle of the stream.

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay February 4th 2008

Mercury Bay We left Auckland early and stopped at Mt Eden an extint volcano for some last views of the city area before heading to a place called Cathederal Cove where i went sea kayaking and Lyndsay went and sunbathed on a very beautiful beach. After this we headed for Mercury Bay to our lovely family run hostel where the whole bus had a big spag bowl dinner before we headed for the pub! Rotarua It was a nasty rainy morning when we left mercury bay but unlike england it cleared a few hours later and was beautifully sunny again by the time we reached our first stop, a walk up a george and through some old railway tunnels where they used to take gold to be crushed and shaped. After the nice little walk and ... read more
Top of Mount Eden
Me and my Kayak Cathederal Cove
Cathederal Cove

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay January 18th 2008

On Saturday January 12th we left Auckland on our way to Mercury Bay, also known in the Maori language as Whitianga (fit-ee-anga). This was a long day, but one of the best so far... We stopped for breakfast in Auckland and went on to Mt Eden where we had the opportunity to take photos from the top. Mt. Eden is an inactive cone volcano. It gave us some really good views of the city! After that we got back on the bus for a ride to Thames where we stopped to get lunch supplies and anything else we would want for the afternoon. Once everyone had gotten something to eat, we got back on the bus and went to Cathedral Cove which was absolutely phenominal. We took a few photos and then hiked down to the ... read more
Auckland City
Skytower in view
Another shot

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Mercury Bay August 31st 2007

Okay so this is when everyone has told me my Kiwi Experience will really begin, when I start heading south. We met our driver Jared and basically unless I stop extra nights in places, he’ll be my drive through all of New Zealand. So Becky Stu and I boarded the bus with a few others from our hostel and there were already some on the bus and we headed to Mercury Bay (Whitianga). First stop before leaving Auckland Maungawhau (Mt Eden), an amazing spot for views over Auckland. Then we stopped for a walk to a place called Cathedral Cove and back and then onto Hot Water Beach. This place was awesome, basically you dig a whole in the beach and it fills from underneath with hot water because of the thermal outlets. So Becky and ... read more
Views from the walk to Cathedral Cover
Cathedral Cove
Cathedral Cove




Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 7; qc: 106; dbt: 0.081s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb