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

Yesterday (Monday) we had the best day out sailing (explorenz) in the bay of islands, after a recommendation from Jo & Rob to do a boat trip. We boarded the 80ft maxi yacht Lion New Zealand. (Built for the late Sir Peter Blake, winner of the Syndey to Hobart 1984 and placed second in the Whitbred Round the World Race in 1985/86 - for anyone who is interested). The trip was done by Explore NZ and we would say is a definite must do. The day was really hands-on and we had the opportunity to sail, as well as Hazel and I choosing to sit on the bow and then teetering on the very edge as the boat tacked at a very steep angle! There was a moment when we both agreed that we had crossed ... read more

Kilometervreters, nietig zijn ze, zij die gebogen over hun sturen zon en regen trotseren. De kilometervreters vreten nog niet zo veel kilometers de eerste week. 40, 60, 30 kilometer. Het is een kennismaking met het uiterste noorden van Nieuw Zeeland. Rivieren waar je zoals in Duitsland vlak naast rijdt. Bergen, derde en tweede categorie.Frankrijk, de Vogezen wellicht. Niet vergelijkbaar met Alpen of Pyreneen in ieder geval. Nietig zijn ze naast de voorbij razende fourwheeldrives en vrachtwagens, maar vooral heel nietig naast de duizenden jaar oude Kauri's, lords of de forests. Verbeten gezichten, rode hoofden, soms vloekend en tierend, maar altijd verder, op weg naar het eindpunt van die dag. Zo, nu hebben jullie een kleine impressie hoe onze dagen er in de eerste week uitzagen. Letterlijk:hoge pieken en diepe dalen. Veerle, die vloekend en tierend moest ... read more

The day looked brighter and we decided to make the most of it. KerKeri in the morning and Dolphin watching in the afternoon. Kerikeri is a small town north of Pahia where there are lots of shops and excellent coffee shops and a cinema! Clothes are not cheap in NZ and the lovely cut offs I tried on were £90 so I thought they would only get ruined by the laundries we use so gave it a miss. A quick takeaway toastie and off on the boat to visit cathedral rock and the islands and watch Dolphins. We stopped at a lovely beach to drop someone off and then spotted the dolphins. Weather not great and the dolphins were after fish not playing as before in the Galapagos. However the speed they travelled was amazing. As ... read more

After an emotional farewell to my flip-flops I'd had for years, I said goodbye to Caro and the Phoebe (the car) and caught the bus up to Paihia, stopping off for 45mins in Auckland, which was plenty long enough to see all there was to see there. Arrived late to the backpacks and crashed soon after, spent the next day exploring the beaches and walked round to a waterfall to fill the time. The next day was an early start to get the bus tour of 90 mile beach and cape rainga, strictly following Mary's instructions not to go north! It was a very fun day sandboarding and seeing where the Pacific meets the Tasman Sea was pretty spectacular, and we body boarded at the most picturesque beach imaginable.... read more

James was up fairly early to travel across town and pick up the hire car. This time we made sure it was a manual with a decent engine and we were excited for our road trip. We planned to drive about 230KM north of Auckland to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. We planned to stay there for 2 nights, spending some time exploring there and then heading further North, right to the Northmost tip of the Island to Cape Reinga, this is the point where the two oceans meet. The drive up to Paihia was pretty easy, taking us 4 hours in total but that included a lunch stop in a lovely small town called Whangarei en route. After the journeys in Australia we really tried not to push ourselves to far so we could ... read more