Blogs from Paihia, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 10

We've been at the Bay of Islands and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where in 1840 the founding document of New Zealand as a nation was signed. This was done with the majority of the Maori tribes along with the British government. As with so many native treaties signed around the world, the Maori people were also subjected to broken promises and their land stolen from them. On the Waitangi Treaty Grounds are both the British house and the Maori ceremonial house, where many meetings and celebrations took place. Both of these facilities are the originals, and have been very well preserved. I was especially impressed by the Maori building with all of the intricate carvings, and the stories each one of them told of their lives long ago. One evening we attended an acting/musical performance with ... read more

Bay of Islands / Northlands After settling in to Cooks Lookout Motel which overlooks the river just outside Paihia, we chatted to the owners Norm and Shelagh to book some activities for the next couple of days. Followed their advice for supper and were rewarded with some great steaks – if you ever come here, do go to Lips, Reef and Beef. Monday 10th January We went on a boat trip, taking a small shuttle boat from Paihia via Russell to one of the many little islands in the bay. We walked up the hill to a lookout. Lots of sheep and it looks just like Wales –apart from the blue sky and sunshine. We then had a one hour trip on an fast rib boat out to the ‘Hole in the Rock’ – great fun ... read more

Inden jeg forlod Auckland, naaede jeg at maerke, at byen var bygget paa 50 vulkaner. Ikke fordi der kom vulkanudbrud, men der var ikke til at finde rundt. Der var ikke som almindelige bjaerge: op eller ned. Der var op og ned. Hele tiden. I alle retninger. Lige siom jeg troede, at nu kunne jeg finde vej, stoppede jeg igen, og spurgte mig selv, om jeg mon var begyndt at gaa i den modsattte retning...Det blev ikke nemmere af at syd ligger i nord, og at jeg skulle huske at bilerne kom i den "forkerte" side. Torsdag morgen, hvor jeg gik til bussen, og gik med rygsaek, fik jeg rigtigt noget ud af bakkerne. Busturen nordpaa til Bay of Islands tog 4 timer. New Zealand er et ungt samfund. Der er mindre end 1000 aar siden ... read more

Possibly the best Christmas Eve ever we had an early start to catch the Dolphin Explorer where we were hoping we would get the chance to swim with wild dolphins!! We were a bit worried when we were told the boat had broken down but luckily this meant we had a free upgrade to the full day cruise round the islands!!! So we set off around the islands in the sunshine before a pod of 30 teenage bottle nose dolphins was spotted ahead! we all jumped into action grabbing snorkels and fins and jumped off the boat into a giant net attached to the boat! When we were finally given the signal we swam out as quickly as we could into the sea, heads down making dolphin like noises through our snorkels! Before we knew it ... read more

Christmas morning we were feeling a little worse for wear but it didn't stop Becky from heading to Church!! When we finally roused to the smell of a massive Christmas Breakfast Fry Up we shared Christmas greetings in the sunshine before going for a drive with our neighbours! Back at the hostel we got ready for Christmas dinner with our sparkling wine! (the instant noodles had been worth the price!!) and sat on the balcony, sunglasses and flipflops on! We weren't in the usual Christmas attire but the Orphans Christmas dinner was amazing and we enjoyed a BBQ feast with Ice-Cream for Dessert before another night in the bar followed by the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special! Obviously!!! ... read more