Blogs from Paihia, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

So much to add since I last managed to update! Travelled out from Auckland to Paihia. As a result of bad weather could not go out for any activities this afternoon, but Kiwi Exp found us a different opportunity at some hot mud pools. Was really relaxing and we were filmed by Kiwi at the same time, believe it will be for some new videos showing kiwi exp activities! Had an amazing day yesterday on a trip right up to the most Northerly point - Cape Reinga. Had to be careful up there, as it's a really spiritual Maori place where they believe their spirits will leave the island. This meant we were not allowed to walk on the very tops of any of the hills, as this is seen as disrespectful to the Maori who ... read more

From trip of mid February '05: Headed North first as suggested by various books, was shocked to feel like I'd landed in L.A. after 16 hrs of plane travel when I arrived in Aukland the first night. Walked across to a pretty little beach but was still in a sectioned off suburbia. At last reached little harbor town of Paihia after stopping at Kawakawa to use the famous toilets recycled glass artwork of Austrian artist F.Hundertwasser,they have postcards and calendars, it's a 2 street town the post office was my first taste of Kiwi hospitality/education in Maori welcome, a favorite for chatting with the locals who stopped in. In Paihia had rented a two bedroom apartment set on a hillside off school street, as part of group of 5,traveling with handsome Butch and my lovely ... read more

We have going non-stop for the last 5 days. I have dropped my camera off to have the pictures put on CD so I can upload them. I promise to have pictures in 24 hours. We have met tons of people from all over the world. England, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Canada, South Africa. Still haven't met any Americans since we've down here. Just wanted everyone to know I am still around, but on the go most of the time. We are in an area called the Bay of Islands, which is where all the Kiwis come to lay on the beach and do that stuff. I will fill everyone in tomorrow when I post pictures.... read more

All day on my feet Look out, Waitangi and Beach. Can't wait to sit down. None of us were really all that motivated to get up too early. Tine and I slowly made and ate our breakfast and waited for Jasper to get his act together. We eventually headed out and went on an easy walk to a look out point over Pahia. We had a pretty good view of Russell and some of the surrounding areas. Jasper of course spotted a tree just outside of the fence and just had to climb it... Then the three of us walked over the bridge to get some culture and check out the Waitangi Treaty grounds. So much for trying to get some culture, it would have cost us $10 to enter the museum so we decided to ... read more

Kia Ora, You know what's weird about NZ? No native mammals or any poisonous beasts in the wild. I've just had a nice long solitary walk in a eucalyptus forest (minus the koalas) and am sitting in Kerikeri's super happenin' Internet cafe -- McDonalds. Let's talk about McDonald's differences, because everyone likes it. The menu here is different from America. (Sorry, no Le Royales.)Everything comes in the form of a sub sandwich with all the naughty fillings inside. Vege, Italian, Beef 'n' BBQ, or, if the customer's really feeling wild, Chicken Tandoori. What happened to the burgers??? I suspect guess the sandwich bread are really just elongated burger buns. The kitchen is totally laid back. No one wears uniforms or latex gloves. Before coming to civilization, I had a beautiful week running around the Kauri ... read more