New Zealand - North Island - Bay of Islands

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Our tour group departed Auckland at 8am on Monday 6 August and headed north into the Bay of Islands. We arrived in Paihia at midday and checked into Base Backpackers before having lunch at the cafe next door. At 1pm we went on a 90 minute jet boat tour of the 144 islands and even took the boat through the 'Hole in the Rock'. The boat was so fast that we were bouncing along the water and the combination of wind and sea spray was brutal on the face. At 7pm we went to the hostel bar for a BBQ dinner and a couple of beers while watching Jackass 2 on the big screen before going to bed at 10pm. We woke up at 6.30am on Tuesday and set off on our day trip to Cape Reinga. Our first stop was at the Puketi Kauri Forest where we saw trees that were up to 2000 years old. We then cruised up past Kaitaia before heading out onto Ninety Mile Beach, driving along the sand at 90km/h. After an hour or so of driving on the sand, we exited the beach at Te Paki stream which is notorious for eating cars in the quick sand. As the heavens opened, we stopped at an 80 metre high sand dune and grabbed our boogie boards in preparation for sandboarding. After a quick briefing, we hiked to the top of the dune (very tiring) and then boarded down. Although it was fun, it was too cold, too wet and too tiring to have another go so we returned to the bus. We continued to the most northern point of New Zealand at Cape Reinga to check out the views from the lighthouse where the two oceans meet. After lunch, we headed south via the east coast and stopped at Mangonui where some people got fish and chips. We arrived back at Paihia at 6pm and chilled out for a couple of hours before going out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. At 10pm, we went to the hostel bar where the quiz night was in the final stages. The group that we tagged onto ended up winning a $50 bar tab so we had quite a few drinks before eventually going to bed. I got out of bed at 10am on Wednesday and we took the ferry to Russell. After breakfast at a waterfront cafe, we walked through the tiny town and up to Flagstaff Hill. It was a lovely day and the views were great. After walking back down to the waterfront via the road, we went to the local museum. Then we sat in the cafe while we waited for our return ferry to Paihia. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the internet or watching TV. That evening, we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and then returned to the hostel and watched TV while falling asleep on the couch. On Thursday, we checked out by 10am and then went for a 10km walk along the waterfront, past the golf course towards the waterfall and Mount Bledisloe. After feeding some horses, we returned and stopped for lunch and a beer at a bar on the waterfront. At 4pm, we boarded our bus and set off back to Auckland. We arrived in Auckland at 8pm and Nick picked us up and took us to Philly's mum's house for dinner. We had a lovely home cooked meal of roast lamb, roast potatoes and lots of delicious vegetables while desert was pavlova with fresh berries and sorbet. At 11pm, we went to Nick and Philly's and set up our beds again in their living room before going to sleep. On Friday, I spent a lot of time on the internet and doing laundry before going to Burger Fuel for lunch. In the afternoon, we watched Lock Stock and Munich on DVD before going out for the evening at 7pm. We all went for dinner at a nice cosy restaurant called SPQR on Ponsonby Road before hitting a few local bars. We eventually got home at 5am and had 3 hours sleep before catching our tour bus heading south.

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