Blogs from Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 9

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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia March 3rd 2014

26th February Bay of Islands, New Zealand Today sees our last port of call in New Zealand, having sailed overnight we arrived at anchor off Waitangi in the Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is in the northern region of North Island and is renowned for its silvery beaches and a coastline of bays and islands. This is a tender port and we landed at the small pier on Waitangi. Waitangi is famous for the historic pact between Britain and the Maori tribes, signed in 1840, the Maoris accepted British sovereignty and in return we agreed to protect Maori land. As mentioned in a previous blog the true implications of the treaty were questioned and this led to the infamous ‘Land Wars’. The treaty is still regarded as a true affirmation of Maori ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Russell February 16th 2014

Saturday 15th collected Maui campervan, quick trip to supermarket for supplies then on to Russell and the Bay Of Islands where we booked into a campsite for 2 nights. Had forgotten how amazing the scenery is, very volcanic and aqua blue seas. Passed some very large dairy herds but only a handful of sheep. Arrived at about 6.30 parked up for a quick meal and into bed - very weary! Sunday morning clear skies and sunshine (so sorry kids!) up early, packed lunch and then spent a fantastic day on the water sailing round the Islands. Our first random encounter was on the jetty, met a guy called Andrew who was a vet from Cornwall. He had just spent 6 Months in South Island working with the dairy herds and now having a couple of weeks ... read more
Our lunch stop
Our vessel
The Orca family

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia February 14th 2014

Our stay at Mussel Bed B&B was one of the high spots of this amazing holiday. It is a wonderful place to stay and Paul and Chris are the most generous of hosts. We had our breakfast, freshly cooked , sitting in their beautiful garden in the sunshine....what a way to start a day. Our only regret is that we only had one night here, we could easily have spent the whole of our time exploring The Coromandel Peninsula. Today we had a long journey to the Bay of Islands passing through Auckland where we encountered our first heavy traffic on their duel carriage " motorway." At one point we hit a traffic jam of slow moving traffic for about 20 minutes, it was like being at home on the M6 at junction 10 !!!!!!!!. We ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia February 12th 2014

Hi All, New blog for you to keep you updated with where and how I am :). After approximately 24 hours of travelling and losing a day, I arrived in New Zealand Friday night (9th Feb), made a new friend (Amor) in my hostel room, and decided to get to know each other better by going off for a relaxing drink. Found the Irish bar (called Father Ted) round the corner, and met a fun guy called Matt from Kidlington who love the pub, the music and dancing with every girl in the vicinity! The next day, Amor and I went to find breakfast and the mandatory (for her) Starbucks coffee before going back to the hostel and just chilling. To be honest I don't remember what else we did in the afternoon. In the evening, ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands January 10th 2014

Friday January 10th, 2014. 'Cream Trip', Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand We woke in our cruddy backpackers and had a cup of tea for breakfast in the same mugs that we used for our wine last night. Today we are going on a boat trip. D made some sandwiches and then went into the village for a couple of bottles of water. The Bay of Islands is exactly that - a bay full of islands (144 of them to be exact!). It therefore made perfect sense to explore the region by boat. We had booked on the 'Cream Trip'. In 1920 a launch service began to the scattered islands to pick up cream from the dairy farms. At the same time it also dropped off mail and supplies. A few tourists began to tag ... read more
25. Cream Cruise, Bay of Islands
33. Cream Cruise, Bay of Islands
49. M at the Top of the Hill, Island Stop, Cream Trip

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Kerikeri January 9th 2014

Thursday January 9th, 2014. Paihia, Kirikiri & Russell, Bay of Islands, Northland, New Zealand We breakfasted at the Youth Hostel and then loaded the stuff in the car as we are staying somewhere else in Paihia for the next two nights. We booked it and went in and paid for it yesterday afternoon. Paihia is nestled between rolling green hills and tranquil blue harbours with yellow sandy beaches in the Bay of Islands. We headed out of town and rejoined the Twin Coast Discovery Highway (TCDH) and headed north to Kerikeri. Kerikeri is known for its orchards, wineries, subtropical gardens, artisans an art and craft galleries. It was one of the first places to be settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and is the site of New Zealand's two oldest buildings. We headed straight ... read more
3. St James Church, Kirikiri
6. The Stone Store, Kirikiri
8.  Kerikeri Kemp Mission House

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 8th 2014

Wednesday January 8th, 2014. Opoutere to Paihai, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand Today was another travelling day - we were heading for the Bay of Islands, well north of Auckland. In fact it was the furthest we have travelled in one day the whole of the trip so far. We had had varying reports of how long it would take us. The YHA girl said 9 hours and the one of the other guests estimated 6 hours. For this reason D decided that we wouldln't take any detours. We would just drive straight there, maybe stopping for a bite to eat and a comfort break. So off we went. We didn't stop at all. We hit Auckland well outside of rush hour, and in the end it only took us 5 hours. We found ... read more
4.  Paihia, Bay of Islands
7. The Anglican Church, Paihia, Bay of Islands
1. Paihia, Bay of Islands

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands December 3rd 2013

We drove back on straighter roads past all the wineries and then spent the night in Picton. We had supper at the Scottish Pub. The lamb shank was very good and Ken had the chicken schnitzel that he likes. The next morning we had time to spare and the harbour is nicely setup with public washrooms, easy to find. And while I am talking about “Toilets”, I have to say that Canada should be embarrassed about the state of our public washrooms, even at McDonalds and most gas stations and many of the highway facilities. Both Australia and New Zealand should be commended for the high maintenance of their “Toilets”. And I must tell you about these special facilities in the concourse of the Picton harbour. You press a button to open the door and once ... read more
Architect designed house
Beautiful Scene 4
New House construction

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia November 2nd 2013

We started our Kiwi Experience adventure on 2nd November. We left Auckland to go to the beautiful seaside town of Paihia. On the way to Paihia, we stopped at a sheep farm called Sheep World where we were able to feed calves and lambs! We stayed at the Pipi Patch in Paihia which was a pretty cool little hostel. The dorms have an ensuite bathroom and shower as well as a kitchenette. It's also attached to a bar which I'm pretty sure is the only bar in Paihia! Whilst here, we did the walk up to the Harura Falls. Although the actual waterfall isn't spectacular, the walk itself is just lovely. You pass over a board walk where you are able to walk through a mangrove forest. It was at high tide when we walked through ... read more
The Boardwalk at High Tide
Where the Two Seas Meet

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Russell October 30th 2013

The Best Button Of All GPS's have made a remarkable difference to self guided touring.... both for the worse and for the better. Picking up my campervan this morning, and with little to no idea of where I was going to end up but knowing that I was wanting to head north, I plugged in the name of Orewa into the GPS. This little seaside town to the north of Auckland allowed me to negotiate traffic and motorways safely to the other side of the Auckland Bridge and then depart the motorway as soon as possible. Her's where GPS's are bad.... they take the adventure out of trying to drive, hold an unfolded map, and instinctively know which lane you need to be in. Here's where they're brilliant.... Once in Orewa and the nerves of driving ... read more
Seagulls At Sunset 3
Bay Of Islands 2
Rainbow Falls 7




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