Blogs from Paihia, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 11

Saturday 20th November We caught our Magic Bus early in the morning and proceeded to haul to the coastal town of Paihia situated in the Bay of Islands area In the most Northern point of NZ. We had our breakfast stop at Otangarei on route and kind of just took the scenery in all the way to Paihai. It was around 2pm when we arrived at Paihai and immediately we fell in love with the place. The sun was shining bright and the beaches and coastal waters looked amazing. There are lots of small Islands dotted around the coast here with the town of Russell visible across the bay. It’s a gorgeous little town and some of the houses up on the steep sides of the hills are stunning. We arranged our trip for tomorrow which ... read more

Hello, for those of you still wondering we have only just stopped smelling of burnt matches! though some might say that's an improvement on phils usual smell!! From Rotorua we headed west to Waitomo. We stayed at a great place called Woodlyn Park, they have some rather interesting accomodation there including a converted boat, trains, hobbit holes and a Bristol bomber plane. Of course we had to stay in the plane in the cockpit section, and yes we did climb into the seats and play with the controls and steering wheel etc. The farm also hosts the Billy Black NZ culture show which entertained phil alot with a moon walking pig and live sheep sheering etc. Obveously the real reason for being there was to go caving in the glowworm caves which was excellent. We did ... read more

The delightful sound of seagulls running up and down the roof of the campervan woke us from our slumber on Thursday 2nd September in Russell. As we opened the doors to let in the light from the overcast skies, we saw that our camping area had become an aviary! Ducks, seagulls and some nondescript, small brown birds had gathered round the van, probably drawn in by the delicious aromas of the sizzling bacon Rachel was preparing for my breakfast sandwiches. After a very short ferry crossing from Russell (a peninsula) to Paihia, we were at the gateway to the Bay of Islands, a very popular destination for tourists in the north of New Zealand. The Bay of Islands are a scattering of 144 islands off the east coast, varying in size, some are deserted and some ... read more

This is the best place to end my tour of New Zealand. I'm here for a few days and will return to Auckland city before I fly home. Today I took the 'Swim With Dolfins' boat tour to see the 144 islands in the Bay. The scenery was lovely but we didn't see any dolfins so they gave us a voucher to return anytime. I might try again before I leave. Its 3-4 hours on a boat, a great way to see the Bay of Islands and maybe some dolfins. This was suppose to be the warmest part of New Zealand, closest to equator. The central restaurant says we are 35 degrees south. There are several low pressures going by so the weather is sun and rain and sun and hail, etc. No matter what the ... read more

Our first road trip in 'MING' was 4 hours north of Auckland to Paihia. From here we went on a boat trip to see the Bay of Islands, which were beautiful and we also got to see some Dolphins and a small shark (which had been caught by a fisherman). Our first night in the camper was a cosy one, and definately a cold one, but we survived and even managed to knock up a good curry in the car park. ... read more