Blogs from East Coast, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 8

Back on North Island. Feeling shattered after our massive driving and travel day yesterday, and a bit shell shocked that we are now back on North Island, we have a new plan to head up the East coast of North Island. At first we got totally lost trying to escape from Wellington and stopping a man to ask directions, it turns out he is from Totnes, we chatted with Gary for quite some time, he moved out here 4 years ago and hasn't looked back. We were initially headed for Napier, but it is Saturday and we were told several times that everywhere there, is fully booked out. So we took a left at Masterton to Castle point (mentioned in Johns Surf Bible). 1 hour drive away from any shops (including food shops, and liquor out) ... read more

The East Cape is the Eastern most spot on the mainland New Zealand's and after various stops along the way to take more picture of the amazing coast line, we arrived at the Eastender Backpackers in the early afternoon. We were greeted by Rich, the one-armed Maori who runs the backpacker with his wife, and who is the proud owner of 24 beautiful horses. (btw, he lost his arm in a shark attack!!!) After a short introduction into horsemanship, we set out to ride along the beach, through the crashing waves, (which was just simply amazing,... imagine a beach, for miles not a single other person in sight, a bit of driftwood, waves splashing and crashing, and then you on a horse... a dream, really) after about 20 min of riding along the water, we turned ... read more

OH MY GOD! I had the most amazing day. I couldnt do a dive in the sea as the visability wasnt good, so i went to the aquarium and did a dive at feeding time. It was truly amazing. I was feeding stringray and they were all over me really close, they had their barbs which was a bit scary as they were close but they were really friendly. There were sharks in the tank too, they havent bitten anyone for 5 years though!!! I tried to feed them too but they didnt come close enough but maybe thats a good thing! Graeme came back from Auckland in the eveing and we headed to ocean beach to kip in the van. It was cool, it was nealy a full moon and we watch it rose above ... read more

We spent the days over new year in jail!!! Well it used to be a prison. Its now a backpackers! Had a look round Napier. It got destryed in 1931 by earthquake and is now very much an art deco town so we went on a tour. In the veing there was a free concert so we saw some bands play and watched the fireworks.... read more

Hello everyone - you will be secretly pleased to know we are sat in an Internet Cafe because it is pouring with rain outside, and I mean pouring!! Anyway, a good time to try to play catch up again with this diary. We have been moving on pratically every day, trying to see as much as we can so here goes. I left you in the Coromandel where we had stopped in a Motel due to the weather. Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful so we were able to carry on up the West side of the Coromandel Peninsula which was so lovely. The road got even windier, so I am glad we had stopped the previous day.... We drove up to Coromandel town itself and went on the Driving Creek Railway. This has been one ... read more