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Published: February 14th 2006
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We arrived in Paihai (prenonced pie-here) in the Bay of Islands which is in the Northern area of the North island. The drive was very scenic, but after 3 and a half hours in the car we all started to feel a bit like sardines. The car is acually quite big and a bit posh so we did all feel slightly like we were cheating and it didn't really look like a proper Backpacker car.
The first day we just walked around Paihai for a while. It had gorgeous beaches and lots of islands scattered around in front of it. We then went over to a town called Russell by car ferry which was, well interesting. The town was very pretty with colonial style buildings. It also boasted the oldest church in New Zealand as it was the first British settlement.
The next day, Dite wanted to go to the supermarket and took the car. However, she kinda didn't spot the big pillar next to where the car was parked and promtly drove the front of the car into it. Jo and I heard the noise and went out to discover the rather large dent in the front of
So far.............
Well, at least we know which way to head to get home it! Oops! (Don't worry honey, we forgive you, accidents happen).
We drove up to the most northern place in NZ called Cape Reinga. It was again a great (but very long) drive and worth the views at the end. We did get a little tight on petrol though which did worry Trev a bit! Apparently travelling with four girls can be slightly annoying as we don't think about things like that! He should think himself lucky, most guys would jump at the chance im sure! We got back and went for a huge eat-all-want chinese which was so good and we definantely all made the most of it. However, it wasn't so fun that night when the effects of the chinese on Trev was felt (or should I say smelt!) by the rest of us in the room!!
The next morning we got up extremely early to go out on a boat to hopefully find dolphins and swim with them. We found a pod of bottlenose dolphins after about half an hour. There was at least 50 of them within the bay area. There were so beautiful and all swam around the boat and cruised at the front.
Cape Reinga
the most northernly point of NZ, you can also actually see where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. They were huge, much larger than we imagined. They just played with us, rolling over and doing jumps. They reacted to the excitement that we were all feeling and to all the sounds we made which made them play more. There were a lot a babies there too, so sweet and we saw them being taught to jump with their mothers. Unfortunately, we couldn't swim with these ones as there is obviously a lot a rules and regulations. One is that you cannot swim with babies. This is because they can get hypothermia if they don't feed every 3 minutes. If we get in the water they get interested with us, miss feeds and if they miss more than three, the mortality rate goes sky high. After spending about half an hour with them, we moved on to try and find another pod. We did find a group of common dolphins out in the open water but they are a lot smaller and are scared of our size so we couldn't swim with these ones either. It was a real shame but a great excuse to go back again and still completely worthit just seeing them so close.
That
In a Tree................
Jo and Trev coming down stairs carved out the trunk of a tree dug out of a swamp afternoon, we hired some kayaks and went out in Paihai bay. We went to the beaches on some islands and chilled out on a deserted beach for a while. Trev then wanted his money's worth so presuaded us to kayak round an island. Jo and I were in a double one which was quite difficult to control and get a rhythm so Trev (in a single one) sped off in front then nearly lapped us on his second time round (showing off again!).
We left the next day, leaving Laura behind, back to Auckland to pick Mike up. At this point the car was looking a lot more like the rough backpacker car we're suppose to be using. It was filthy from the drive to Cape Reinga, it's got a big dent in the front, missing a hub cap and the inside looks like a rubbish trip! After more mathimatical solving to fit the bags in the car, we headed off down to Rotorua and Taupo, que Trev..............................
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jackie
non-member comment
nz
wow! u did a skydive , how fantastic. dont know if i could do that , so well done u 2! can imagine that your way of braving it was to talk constantly kim, wouldnt of expected anything other than that!so nz is goood then? and when do you start earning some money and pick some fruit? keep up the good work. by the way v tickets on sale march 1st also chilli peppers feb 17th........of course i will be hoping to do both! byeeeee. xxx