Blogs from Dargaville, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

On March 14, we left the Coromandel Peninsula (weekend getaway for Auklanders) for the Kauri Coast, named for the huge, ancient trees that once forested this section of Northland. At a museum in the middle of countryside, we saw Kauri wood said to be up to 45,000 years old due to the fact that it had been buried in the swamps and sand of the North Country. Though the Kauri forests were logged to almost extinction during the early 20th C., one portion has been preserved along this wild, sparsely populated coastline. This was where we found our most fascinating B&B to date in a rural lodge built in the 1860's with beautiful interior Kauri woodwork and period furniture. The hosts rear Romney sheep for the special qualities of their wool,which, Coleen claims, spins and ... read more

Hi all, Just a quick one to let you know we are still alive. Been up to quite a bit lately and will update a little later on. Currently in Dargaville in an internet cafe which charges more to use my own laptop than it does to use his computers. After arguing with the guy in the shop as to the reasons behind this I refuse to give him any more of my money than is absolutely necessary. We are heading back down to Auckland now anyway so will update the blog more with photos and stories soon! Watch this space Love Mike & Caroline... read more

Hi everyone! Eric and I have been busy travelling around the North Island of New Zealand since our arrival here last weekend. I haven't had time to blog! This one will need to be quick because I am meeting Eric in less than an hour, and there is so much to tell! Look for me to add more details to this entry at a later date! I took an early ferry to Vancouver on Friday and Simon was nice enough to meet me. We had lunch and then he dropped me at the airport where I caught the first leg of my flight, to LA. It was interesting, landing in LA in the early evening - I was able to see the Malibu beaches, the "HOLLYWOOD" sign and a few other landmarks as we came in. ... read more

As I was so rudely interrupted by the computer saying I had no more credits..... After my visit with Tane Mahuta, I then heading back down to Opononi to have a nice swim on the beach. People have told me that up until recently, there had been a friendy dolphin that would come to shore and play with the locals. Unfortunuately, the dolphin died just a short time ago. I found myself wishing I could find such a dolphin, to laugh and swim with, and even try to play with. Sadly, there was no such dolphin, but I found people surfcasting (fishing from shore with big rods). It felt a little like South Carolina to me. So I took a little dip in the Hokianga Harbour, wished I had a boat to get over to the ... read more

Today we drove over to Dargaville, where my uncle used to be a GP some time in the 70's. I was saddened however to find that the mullets I so wish to have seen and which he must have seen plenty of back then have begun to die out. A small (hopefully breeding) population still exists in a remote cafe down a dirt track to the south of the town. Which reminds me, I'm going to find a proper NZ barber to deal with my ever increasingly wild mullet. A quiet town, we enjoyed a nice luncheon and tripped up to the museum where we used their bogs, but didn't go in cause it looked a bit crap and cost $7 (thats more than a large beer!) Then treked down to the beach, where we hired ... read more