http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , North Island , Whangarei en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 13:30:05 +0000 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:30:05 +0000 I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family...thank you to Ben Joseph Patrick and Jennifer I love my goodies and the phone calls too.We also had a lovely morning tea......lots of hugs and talking with a few photos taken by an expert http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-785544.html It has been a long time since my last blog so I will fill you in on my adventures.On Tuesday we woke up in the morning to visit the infamous kiwi bird. The kiwi bird is an endemic New Zealand bird that is most closely related to the emu and ostrich. In the afternoon we went to a beach where they also had a trek up a mountain to the mermaid pools where when the tide goes out the pools fill with http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-779798.html Kaia We started our first day with a breakfast of tea and crumpets. Yum We headed out for a kayak tour in the Roukaka Estuary. There were a lot of interesting shells that we wouldn39t see at home. I collected a few to take back with us. We had a picnic and I tried salmon and cream cheese on crackers and we had fresh pears passion fruit and feijoa. It is fun to try new fruits that we don39t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-778984.html After our swim and coffee Leigh and I went to the open day at Kiwi North so we could see the new Medical Museum. The trains were running and music was playing with hot chips for the childrenHere are a few photos http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-778762.html A quick update because free internet is few and far between if you don39t have a laptop or smartphone around these parts. Although it39s already a few days ago let me tell you about how I got lost outside Whangarei pronounce Fangarei. Because I was still exhausted from my long trek to the Waipu Caves through the hills my caving adventure at the Waipu Caves and the long climb towards a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/Uretiti/blog-778654.html This afternoon Leigh and I were invited to my friend39s wedding in Onerahi. We had a fantastic time. The ceremony was outside and we were treated to lots of lovely speeches a Tongon cultural wedding tradition the haaka and live music. The food was delicious and Leigh and I tried out all the Tongon dishes Lots of seafood Here are few photos not very good so I39ve only included a few http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-775117.html Catherine and Michael invited us to go to the dargaville show with them. We had a lovely day and sorry only took a few photos. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-772523.html For our last two weeks of the trip we have based ourselves in Whangarei pronounced Fonggaray which is about 100 miles N of Auckland and is the principal town of the Northland Peninsula. For the first few days we just explored the area around Whangarei harbour which is about 14 miles long and is indented with dozens of coves and pristine beaches. The whole of the eastern side of Northland http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/Tutukaka/blog-771131.html Today was the Art Award at Reyburn House Art Gallery. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-770453.html Today we went for a wander through the Quarry Gardens to see how the plants were growing..... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-770019.html 30 december 4 janHoge verwachtingen hadden we niet van Whangarei uit te spreken als fangarei. Niemand die we ontmoette was er langer dan 1 dag geweest of had iets positiefs te melden over dit kleine stadje. De plaats leek weinig te bieden en vooral te dienen als rustplaats tussen de Bay of Islands en Auckland. Dat laatste klopte zeker. Veel backpackers kwamen 39s avonds aan en vertrokken de http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-766143.html We left Cape Reinga and drove Whangarei hoping to get tickets to the Tonga vs Canada game. We arrived and parked in the information centre car park and decided to stay there for the night because it was walking distance to the stadium. Tickets to the game had sold out so we decided to walk to the stadium hoping to scalp some tickets. We got lucky and managed to scalp some tickets. As we walked to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-765409.html On the the morning we were due to meet our friends Stanny and Carla we spent a few hours on Sandy Bay a lovely surf beach about forty minutes from Whangarei. The weather again was good so I thought I39d give the surf board another try...and again failed with honours Maybe I should give paddle boarding a go instead. Afterwards we headed to Whangarei and had the best fush n chups of the trip fr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-763891.html Today it was my birthday another year older another year wiser Everyone came for morning tea Nicola Jeff Jakob and Hanna didn39t stay but the card and present were very well appreciated. a lovely beeswax hand cream. I had a swimming bag with shower gel and cream from Jennifer Paul Ben and Claire. A lovely plate and dip bowl with an iceblock maker and some milkshake from Patrick a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-763544.html Today it was warm and muggy again with a bit of light rain. We decided to go the beach anyway for a swim. See the photos....... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/Tutukaka/blog-763290.html Boxing Day is very warm and wet Great day for playing games eating drinking tea and a short game of cricket on the lawn See the photos http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-763005.html This morning we had a cooked breakfast and then went to Ashlee and Patricks39 for morning tea. We met Ben and Claire and Mum and Dad and of course Santa came Here are some photos http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-762920.html We all went to Third Avenue to sing Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve. It was an outstanding success How we all managed to squeeze in I just don39t know. Mum and Dad Tineke Mike Amy with Rylee and Georgie Nicola Jeff with Jakob and Hanna Michael James Michael with Jason and Anita Catherine was not well Robyn and Leigh with Joseph Stacey Patrick Ashlee Jennifer and Paul. The p http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-762914.html on the 121212 Jennifer was 23 years old and we had a celebration in the evening with Oma Granddad Patrick and Ashlee with lovely lemon cake and lots of teaJennifer has loads of nice presents diamond earrings from Paul 2 beautiful charms one was an elephant for her bracelet from Patrick and Ashlee and all sorts of useful things for the kitchen. Ben Claire Joseph and Stacey sent thei http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-761250.html At my early morning walk I took some photos here and there. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Whangarei/blog-761242.html