Blogs from Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 21

Day 7 Tuesday Breakfast on Peter and Jenny’s balcony in the sunshine. Morning in Russell, went to the oldest church in New Zealand and the museum, then drove over to the start of a footpath that took us to Whangamumu harbour. This actually turned out to be a 5 mile hike up a mountain and down the other side but boy was it worth it! We ended up in a small bay where there were about 10 dolphins swimming up and down right near the shore. We sat there for ages and watched them - magical! Memorable moment today in Russell. Went into a charity internet cafe run by volunteers to post our blog. The man in charge must have been in his 70’s, had great difficulty transferring our photos from the smart card to a ... read more

Day 4 Saturday Woke at 5.30 - not like me but I guess a bit of jet lag has kicked in. Lovely day, the sun is shining on Auckland so it was time to explore. Walked up to the Sky Tower entrance, 328m, (1,076 feet). Not sure I was brave enough, too high, too thin, too many windows and a floor made of glass!!!! But I did go up and after a few trembly minutes ... wow what a view! 360o view of Auckland in all its glory, well worth the wobbly knees and sweaty palms. Stayed up there for ages and watched several jumpers who fell passed the window at regular intervals. Quiet afternoon in a park, early night methinks! Thought for the day: Why is Auckland full of decorated Christmas trees at the beginning ... read more

We finally made it (sort of). We landed Wednesday Morning at the Bay of Islands, New Zealand (Tuesday for you Americans, as we are a day ahead). Hard to believe that 28 days have gone by since we got on the ship. But I look out and there it - the “Land of the Long White Cloud” as the native Maori’s named it. 8 am and 59 degrees out. We are not used to this. Two days ago it was 85 and we were lying on the beach. It is the middle of spring here. There summer does not really start until December. Hard to believe we are so close to our daughter but will not see her for 48 hours. We have the day here in the towns of Pahia and Russell and will be ... 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