Blogs from Whitianga, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Today was a happy day, though it was cold and rainy all day and grew colder as the day went on. On the Beach is a pleasant place to stay. I like the whimsical paintings on the walls of the buildings: my own building, B, has an octopus pointing the way to the different apartments. It felt just as though I were at Myrtle Beach, which was balm to my homesick heart. This sort of chilly weather is normal there in the winter, which is of course when I stay there. When I'm at Myrtle Beach, I always try to go for three walks by the ocean each day, so I did that today, though the second one required some willpower to take, as it was pouring buckets. On the third walk, I found a ... read more

We cruised into the Bay of Islands on February 7. That means that we only have four months of cruising left until we reach Southampton, England on June 7. I was wondering if I should start packing. Anyway it is always so beautiful to sail into this lovely northern tip of the “land of the long white cloud.” Some of our passengers had private car tours so we escorted them ashore on the ship’s tender and then took a long hike into Piahia. We missed the Whaitangi Day celebration by one day which was unfortunate but we saw the remnants of it with the tents and all the visitors. There is a local crafts market set up whenever a cruise ship is in. So we went to our favorite vendor who handcrafts magnets from paia which ... read more

Llegamos a Whiti y nos reencontramos con gente que conocimos en Gisborne, gracias a ellos caímos en una casa muy linda, con una vista demasiado buena, con la dueña que esta bastante loca, es bipolar, pero para pasar una semanita de vacas zafa!! Vale el comentario que nos encontramos con Javi, un viejo amigo con el que pasamos año nuevo, y fue lindo verlo como mascota del único súper de whiti, también ahí foto!! Whiti esta la península de Coromandel y hay muchas cosas para hacer a los alrededores. Fuimos a Cathedral Cove, en donde se filmo Narnia, el día estaba nublado pero igual pudimos disfrutar del paisaje, después pasamos por la Hot Water Beach, una playa en donde haces pozos y sale agua caliente, pero rrrree caliente!!!! No lo podíamos creer!!! por lo que escuchamos ... read more

Hey people! Sorry its been a while! We are on the Big Green Bus now! For us this is where the adventures begin! We had an early start, we had to catch the bus at 9 am. This would turn out to be a challenge, we had to drop the car off at 8 in the morning but we woke up late! ended dropping it off at half past. Then we had to walk up what seemed to be a small mountain which in actual fact was only a road but it was soooo steep! Nick Lees if your reading i think i could do kilimanjaro after this walk! Only kidding GOOD LUCK DUDE! Anyway, we eventually made the bus, met our driver 'KANE IT' What a Leg-end already! On the bus we met everydody through ... read more

I've been staying in the little town of Whitianga (pronounced with a soft 'f', it's a little bit bigger than Kaikoura) for about a week and a half now, on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. I hitchhiked over here from the even smaller town of Coromandel last thursday, and decided, being a little short of money, to stay here for a while and get a job. It turns out the second place I asked, a bar in town called The Blacksmith, was desperate for a kitchen hand so I got evening work starting immediately. Very lucky. The first thing that made me want to stay was the coastal scenery. The town is fronted by a long white sand beach, thick with broken shells, but the opposite side of the river is overshadowed by high, ... read more