Blogs from Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 66

I only had one full day in to look around Auckland and perfect blue sky ensured I made the most of it. My first stop was the skytower, which at 328m high is the highest building in the southern hemisphere, since I got there quite early (I can’t seem to get the knack of sleeping past eight even when I go to bed at seven) I was the only one on the entire upper viewing deck which was amazing since the views and visibility were exceptional. Feeling far too sensible after strolling round several museums, I went off to do another bungee jump, my forth in New Zealand. This one was off the Auckland Harbor Bridge; at only 40 meters it’s quite small but the incredible jump location added to being able to skim the water ... read more

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Opua Marina for almost two weeks, but we have. I guess time flies when you are having fun or something like that. It looks like we will be setting our sails early in the AM of the 30th of May for Fiji. The weather doesn’t appear as perfect as before, but its better than it’s been. Should be fun. Like I said, I’ve been in Opua, which is in the Bay of Islands, for almost two weeks. The real shame is that as beautiful as this place is, I really haven’t seen it. Nor has Paul managed to dive the Poor Knights. Supposedly one of the top 10 dive locations in the world. So what have we done for 2 weeks? Well I’ll tell you. But don’t expect this ... read more

We flew out of Sydney on Easter Sunday, headed for the green green grass of home! After 2 weeks of relaxing, eating, drinking, hanging out, the next 2 weeks were to be a bit more full throttle :-) We arrived in Auckland to a typically cloudy day. Nothing like the perfect blue sky we had just left. But that's why it's called "Aoteroa", Land Of The Long White Cloud, ah? We were met by Paul and Maryanne at the airport, who very kindly lent us their car. We quickly visited Sarah, Nick, Tonia, Dave, Georgie and Theo, before heading back to Paul & Maz's for Hells Pizza & Stella's with a few mates. Next day Mum and Dad picked us up and drove us to Wellington. Stayed with Nana, applied for my Visa extension, saw Mel ... read more

We headed up to the north of Auckland towards the Bay of Islands, not quite sure what we were going to do there apart from a cruise of some sort. Despite high hopes of waking up early to check out what we could do, we arrived in the centre at 9.30am to find we had 2 options. A commercialised cruise would take us up to the top of the islands to see - and pehaps take us through - a hole in the rock (yes, just a hole in the rock). The 2nd option was a day sailing through the islands with free snorkeling, kayaking and lunch! Free lunch?? Count us in! It was by far the better option- much more exciting than what we had thought! There were only about 10 of us on the ... read more

It was with a heavy heart that I departed for my last bit of travel in New Zealand with a three-day sojourn up to Northland, staying in Paihia but going right up to the very top, where the Tasman sea meets the Pacific Ocean at Cape Reinga. This area of New Zealand is called the winterless north and is supposed to be sub-tropical. Well, I suppose the rain was pretty sub tropical!! The area surrounding Paihia is very beautiful in a British kinda way and reminded me a little of Devon/Cornwall. Russell, a nearby town used to be the capital way back when it was a major whaling port in the 19th century. However, its reputation as the "Hell hole of the Pacific" (due to the proliferation of brothels and drinking establishments) caused the capital to ... read more