Auckland to Bay of Islands

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Not the best start to my stay in New Zealand, as my backpack got stuck in Brisbane - not that I let it get me down too much. I enjoyed the chilled atmosphere of the city, and didn't do too much. The highlight for me was probably a trip to Devonport, where I climbed a couple of volcanic cones, and enjoyed a really good meal of snapper and chocolate whiskey cake ('Zigana').

I had decided that I would travel New Zealand by backpacker bus, mainly for the social advantages. Thus I had the usual problem of picking between the three main companies; Kiwi Experience, Magic and Stray. My preference was Magic, as they are reputed to suit more independent travelers. However, they were offering an extraordinary 2-for-1 deal, which would have been fantastic if I weren't traveling solo. Annoyed by such a useless piece of marketing, I eventually plumped for Stray, which was offering a perfectly decent 26% discount. For the moment I'll reserve judgment on this decision!

Before departing on the main part of my tour I headed north, mainly due to the excellent diving opportunities. Unfortunately my departure coincided with a mighty storm which pounded the little tourist town of Paihia with heavy rain for two days. So I sat in a spa all afternoon and drank beer. Then sat in a bar all evening and drank beer. Undoubtedly an excellent use of my time!

On Sunday, the rains thankfully cleared away, but there would be no chance of diving for a while (sadly this meant that I wouldn't be able to dive the Rainbow Warrior, which is supposed to be pretty special - and of course is a wreck with an interesting history). Instead I embarked on a dolphin swimming cruise. The ride itself cost $50 (20 pounds) with a stray discount, and was itself highly enjoyable due to the immense beauty of the islands. There were just six of us on the boat, and we were incredibly fortunate to find a pair of bottlenose dolphins in calm water, with no young dolphins in sight. This meant that we were allowed to swim (for a further $30), which was of course a great experience - I even managed to dive down and swim alongside them for a few seconds. Afterwards I was told that this was only the third success of the year, something the company kept very quiet before!

Sadly I didn't have time to hang around in Paihia for too long, so I headed south to Whangerei for what was for me the big draw of the region. In nearby Tutukaka, the water had cleared a little quicker so that diving the Poor Knights islands was on. These are hyped as being one of the world's top ten dive sites. I decided to go for the PADI advanced open water qualification - whilst this may have taken a little out of the diving, it will hopefully prove worthwhile. Unfortunately I didn't get to dive one of the magnificent arches for which the islands are famous, but on the flip side my teaching group got to dive the wreck of the 113m frigate HMNZS Waikato. This was definitely one of the coolest dives I've done. The cheap camera I bought for diving is film-based, so no photos yet.

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Photos

Sky Tower
This radio mast / tourist attraction towers above every other building in Auckland. In true New Zealand style, there are a variety of ways to risk your life at the top.

Maori Art
Auckland Museum. Sticking-out tongues seem to feature prominently in Maori art.

Whangerei Falls
Two minutes from my hostel.

Warped Sunset
I took this from the bus, on the way back to Auckland. I have no idea what happened, but I like the effect.

Bay of Islands
The start of the dolphin swimming cruise. The mists of mystery soon lifted, to bask the beautiful islands in glorious sunshine.