Brantome Villa Whangarei

On a Sunday in Whangarei, the shops are shut down and the buses don't run however the tourist attractions are still quite busy. This place has a pace of its own - sloooow. It's great! One of the main things to see is the Clapham Clock Museum, the largest collection of clocks in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a lot more interesting than you might think. My favourites are the ...

... that swayed with the swell. there were also some really big snapper.

Back on the boat we sailed into a huge sea cave and then had our lunch. We moved further up the island to the next snorkle sight. This sight was much deeper and was dominated by a large arch. Again we swam around and under the arch... I saw lots of fish and kelp and Jon managed to spot a stingray.

The boat trip back was calmer but there were still alot of ...

... in some way, but up to now they seem totally redundant... which is fine because all I really need to do is bring out my hippie side and "just go with the flow man"(stereotypical hippie voice). I'm kidding but flexibility has been heavily-used tool thus far. So, I'm dropped in Whangarei and with my handy dandy... notebook! (blue's clues reference) I find a decent hostel to stay in called the Bunkdown Lodge. It's an amazingly beautiful place that ...

... the work the guys are doing is very special. Upon meeting the Barbary lions, we stood by the fence and a large male came over and rubbed his head off the fence like a small cat rubbing against your leg. Thinking he was greeting us we stood closer to the barrier and listened to our guide tell us their history. It was then that the lion turned his back on us, shoved his bum against the fence and jet-peed all over us and the camera, marking ...

... a little perplexed. After a bit of scouting around we discover its possible to just about climb out of the cave, so we do. We circle back to the entrance to find the missing cavers who had been through without torches, helmets or shoes. Madness. In the afternoon I walk to a local waterfall. 23/01/2009 I have booked a tour called the Perfect Day run by a local(ish) operator. Im hoping one of the other guests might ...

... the Bay of Islands, stopping at the first place we could find that did breakfast. There's nothing like a full breakfast to cure a hangover! We arrived at Paihia around lunchtime and went straight to our accommodation, Nautilus Resort. I hadn't stayed here before, but for a 2 bedroom apartment it was one of the most reasonably priced, and as it turns out, it was a very nice apartment as well, with access ...

... obviously weren't in the mood to play today, and although we saw plenty, they didn't get to really swim with them much. It also looked pretty cold in there! We set sail at 9.15am, and followed the old dairy delivery route from island to island (thus the tour is called the Cream Trip). It's very cool, and the commentary from the driver was really interesting for the most part. There was a slightly irritating Australian kid on ...

... on the lawn indicates where the marquee was in which the treaty was signed. After the treaty grounds we went into the Opua forest looking for a living Kauri tree, but no luck so onward back south towards Auckland, where we eventually arrive at around 6pm and pull into the shore car park looking out towards the Harbour Bridge. We settle down to a meal and enjoy our warmest night in the van so far.

wow- this was an experience like no other. we met Sharon and Bruce who lived in the bay of islands. They had a beautiful house on the far side of the island. There house overlooked a beautiful cliff. We ended up kayaking in the bay right below there house and watch a sun set. They were in the process of setting up a party for some of ...

... latitude to Tasmania, Australia. We then travelled about another 10 minutes to out lunch stop, which was on a beach. Got to have a swim and a drink - heaven !! After this we started travelling back south, but stopped at the Te Paki lakes and sand dunes. This is where the specialised 4x4 coach came in handy, as a normal vehicle would never have got through this landscape. We then had half an hour to have a go at sand boarding. That was great, I surprised myself at how much I ...