Blogs from Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 15

Today was a day of new food experiences... fish and chips for lunch at 'the shippy' on a tall ship, but no cod or haddock in sight. We had 'bluenose' and 'kapuka' - though we're still not quite sure what they are - both white fish but with a more meaty consistency than cod - very good though. Served with kumara chips (sweet potato). Then later (despite the fact it was raining!!) I had hokey pokey ice cream (thanks Helen for the recommendation) - honeycomb flavour - which was delicious. We went to the Waitangi Museum this morning, where we learned about the Waitangi treaty between the British and the Maori in 1834. Great museum and we also got to see a Maori cultural performance where Paul actually got to have a go at the Haka. ... read more

Kia Ora!!! We are finally here - Both feeling a bit weary, but very smooth flight all in all - definately need a break from eating - we were offered pizza at 6am this morning, just an hour before breakfast was served, which was somewhat bizarre! Landed at Auckland this morning, and 3.5 hr drive got us to our little cottage in Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands on North Island where we're staying for three nights. Weather is a bit grey and drizzly at the moment, but the views are still spectacular. I am sitting looking over the river vally, with a lemon tree just outside the window. However weather is very mild, about 22 degrees C, so we are sitting with the wndows open despite the drizzle. Not sure on plans for tomorrow - ... read more

1.12.11 Arrived early morning into Aukland at 4 o'clock and jumped straight on the kiwi experience bus. We travelled up to the Bay of Islands driving through scenic countryside with hundreds of cows. The driver guide was your typical kiwi with all the bad jokes. Sweet as bro, get amongst it and cool narnas finished every sentence. We checked into our first hostel in Paihia my first taste of shared dorms. What a first time experience it was, we were stuck with 4 Germans who must have lived there as all their stuff was thrown all over. It was a bit intimidating and wasn't awkward at all! It was a bit of a shock to be in bunk beds but im sure ill get used to it as its all part of backpacking. We went for ... read more

The Tumbleweed is blowing through the empty camps of the home nations teams and a second rate France team is on their way to getting stuffed in the Final game. The referee for the Wales/France game is hiring Salmon Rushdie’s bodyguard team and the Kiwi’s are all smiles now. Anyway Roy, Orbison will soon be singing “its over” and we can all go home, or in our case head north to Oz. Earlier, on the road up from Wellington on our way to Auckland we stopped at Whangeria where the minor road that follows the river is constantly being washed out due to the rain leeching away the sandy soil taking the road with it. There is a permanent team who work at keeping the route clear, with part of the road being a gravel track ... read more

Day 10 & 11 - Tauranga Travelled from Auckland to the little coastal town of Tauranga, stopping briefly at Matamata (a town where the Hobbiton sections of the LOTR films were made which we found pretty exciting even though we were only there for a couple of hours! We finally had some sunshine, so broke out the shorts and sandals, but did not predict the cool sea breeze... We took the local bus to Mount Mauragui - a sharply rising extinct volcano that juts out into the sea. Decided on the path round the base rather than the steep climb up to the top, and were rewarded by seeing seals on the rocks which was pretty cool! Apparantly there were whales around as well but unfortunately we didn't spot any. Day12 Travelled inland to Rotorua, and ... read more