first day in New Zealand

---

We arrived in Auckland yesterday afternoon and were pretty tired after the journey but decided to take it in turns to drive and power nap as we travelled north.

We started reasonably early today and travelled as far as Waipoura forest to see the Kauri trees. We both reacted in a very similar way when we saw the first really big tree (it sounds a bit funny to say that we were amazed by some trees but wow!)

From there we travelled east across the country to the Bay of Islands. It was really pretty but not as spectacular as we expected. We took out a kayak for 2 hours and went for a quick trip around some of the islands. It was pretty windy so the waves were harder work than we would have liked.

Finally we took a bit of a scenic drive down the coast as far as Whangarei where we are staying tonight.

Tomorrow we are hoping to go snorkling at Goats Island and then head south for the Pinnacles walk on the Corromandel Pennisula.

---