Blogs from Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 12

At Mount Maunganui This is just the place for a holiday – oh – I forgot - I have been on hols for 3 months. What I mean is we ( Suzanne and I) are staying in a unit in a resort Sun Pacific Palms – which has all the amenities - pool, hot tub, bbqs , gym, mini golf etc etc and it is right across the road to the beach. Next to us is a lovely café/bar and in the main part of the town lots of lovely shops and restaurants coffee shops . All you could ask for. At the end of this long spit is the Mount and it looks very impressive, at one side is the beach and Bay of Plenty- must be the Pacific Ocean and the other side is ... read more

Chris's Section A lot has happened since we last blogged. Xmas on the beach was cool. Very different to what we're used to and I couldn't really get my head around it. Many thanks to the Suttons for making us so welcome. Just after Xmas Lou, Paul, Nisi and I set of for a road-trip to explore the far north of New Zealand. We had some great laughs – most of which were alcohol fueled! Lou seems to be better at remembering the names of the places we visited. I struggle as they all sound similar to me (e.g. hihi, mihi, hohou, paihou type names). It was an action packed trip. First we went to surf some sand dunes. Imagine a sand dune about 90 metres high. Then imagine laying on a body board and riding ... read more

Chris's Section We're loving New Zealand so far. Our first stop was Auckland. Although we only spent a day here (we'll be returning before we fly to the US) we like what we saw. We headed to Rotorua to stay with Lou's family. It was so nice to have a few home comforts – thanks guys for being so welcoming. The main challenge here was to buy a car for under $2000 (£1000), which we'd been told would be difficult. I think we were lucky as we found a good car for $1600 and so far it's been a little star! Rotorua is a really nice place. It's famous for its thermal mud pools and ever-present sulphurous odour. The place stinks of rotten eggs. You kinda get used to it after a while. Rotorua is also ... read more

Just returned to NZ after living in FNQ (Australia) for 6 months. Did heaps while there - hot air ballooning, parasailing, ATV'ing and horse riding through the mountains, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef (had previously dived it). Visited Green Island and Low Isles and also the Tablelands. Cuddled baby kangaroos and survived a heathen of a boss. I've sold up everything/moved overseas/returned and set up home again twice now and it hurts a bit, yet I would do it all again if I could! But now back in greener pastures and must be settled for my daughter who embarks on the high school journey next year. Will the itchy feet ever go away? I suspect not, though it's hard to live with. However I'm concentrating on a new career direction now, that offers me frequent ... read more

Hi again, To pick up from where I left off. Travelled up to Te Puke to stay with Gayneer and Gary, Steve's sister. This is the region where the kiwi fruit grows. They are having a big problem with a virus that is attacking the leaves. Got the whole day to look around so we drove to Mt Maunganu, a beautiful area. We drove over the causeway/bridge to Tauranga, once again a lovely place. We got to Te Puke and arrived at Gayleen and Gary's at 5pm. Gayleen's mum came over and we had a very nice meal with them all and stayed the night. Thursday 11th headed for Napier in Hawkes Bay, still on the east coast. took the highway 33 then 5 to Taupo. Will catch up with you all latter. Time's running out. ... read more