Blogs from Warkworth, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Spent most of the day at Tawharanui Regional Park which is about an hour north of Auckland. It includes an open sanctuary as well as a marine reserve. The open sanctuary is free from plant and animal pests so native plants, birds and animals can breed successfully. A 2.5 km pest-proof fence keeps pests out. Within the Marine Reserve I visited Anchor Bay and walked about a km up the sandy beach. Did some shelling. Picked up a few unique New Zealand shells for Gabrielle and Xander. After investigating a sea cave at one end of the bay, I wanted to hike around the coast but unfortunately it was high tide and much of the beach unaccessable to hike. Alas, I started another cross country trail, hiking up a steep path adorned with hundreds of sheep. ... read more

27th Nov Friday up at 6am for a trip up to Erewan there are 7 waterfalls with a rise of over 2000 metres. We walked up to the 5th waterfall at just over 1000 metres. At each one there was a large pool, deep enough to swim in, with very large fish that nibbled your toes when you went swimming. The walk up was good, but steep in places, and time was an issue, so didn't make the 7th waterfall. Our driver then drove us to Hellfire Pass approx an hours drive away. We got information headsets, which were very informative describing what the prisoners of war went through, with living and working conditions. It was very moving. Did the pass backwards...which turned out to be easier, as was a long steep hike down many steps ... read more

Finally we jumped onto our flight, after checking in a full 9 hrs early! Due to the fact that we had to check out of the hotel and jump on a couple of trains to changi ( its quite easy, without 2 backpacks) Our first flight was to Brisbane, so while killing time walking around the airport we notice a suspicious looking bag near a stair well to an emergency exit. It consisted of a paper shopping bag and a handbag. We walked past about 3 times and then walked away wondering what we should do? In this day and age you cannot be sure. Eventually we went up to the information desk around the corner, it had 2 very silly looking people on it. hello Sir, can i help? yes, there is a strange ... read more