1 Bay, 144 Islands

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Three days spent in the beautiful bay of Islands in the nothern tip of New Zealand. The bay consists of 144 islands spread out over a fairly compact area of sea. The scenery is really nice and it is reletively unspoilt with virtually no development on most of the islands, with the exception of a few lucky people's homes.

We stayed at a really small town right on the bay called Paihia, the place is tiny with the exception of about 20 backpacker hostels that keep the place busy. We stayed in place called the Pipi patch named after a type of local shellfish. The hostel was good with a big mix of different nationalities with a lively bar and nightly BBQ.

We did a day trip around the islands which was great, seeing dolphins , loads of islands and excellent scenery throughout. The dolphins were ace swimming under the bow of the boat and jumping out of the water. We stopped for an hour on one of the islands and climbed the hill to the lookout point for stunning views of the surrounding area.

One day was also spent on a day trip to Cape Reinga the northernmost tip of NZ.

On the way up we stopped to check out huge big fat Kauri trees in a forrest, these things are huge and can live to be 4000 years old. They also harvest the 45 000 year old remains of these trees from peat bogs in the area, and the trees are perfectly preserved.

The cape is where the Abel Tasmin sea and the Pacific Ocean meet and it's pretty spectacular, there's a lighthouse and huge cliffs that plunge straight into the sea. The land is sacred to the Maori People as it is where there spirts go when they die (apparantly!).

After the cape, we went sliding down huge sand dunes on a bodyboard which is quality!! everybody should be made to do it.

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Photos

Bay of Islands
More views from the Hill

Bay of Islands
The views form the hill

Cove
Cove on one of the islands

Flipper
Friendly Dolphin swimming right under the bow of the boat.

Flipper and Friends
A pod of Bottle Nosed Dolphins in the Bay

Huge Tree
Big fat tree!

The Cape
The most northernly point in NZ, the swell to the top left of the picture is where the two seas meet!!

The Cape
The beach views from cape Reinga!!

Lighthouse
Again, the swell for the oceans meeting

Sandboarding
Down the 85 m dunes on bodyboards....

Comments

[Dad]

What lovely photos! You really are a lucky pair aren't you? looks a spectacular spot. Where to next? love Dad