Tio Bay Lodge North Island

... kayak. Made it to a little island reserve where you can do a 5 min hike to the top for a beautiful 360 view of the bay. Thought I was going to get run over by a yacht on my way back but they verred off at the last moment, as if I should've gotten out of the way of something. Then I met a guy from Oz, thats Australia not the prison, and did a little bit of mountain biking to some waterfalls, had to shimmy our bikes through the gate to get ...

... with sailing boats crossing its waters. The BoI are of also of enormous historical importance. Maori known as 'Pewhaurangi' settled here in their early migrations and was the location of England's first settlement (the town of Russell). It was here in the BoI that Captain Cook arrived on 1769 and subsequently invaded and it was here that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Russell, as we soon discovered, was a picture perfect sleepy ...

... that you can stay around them. After stop in Russell we passed the Black Rocks on the way to Marsden Cross at Rangihoua Bay. The Black Rocks are volcanic remnants with the interesting thing being that they support flora and birdlife - not something that can happen on most rock surfaces. Marsden Cross is where the first Christian service was held on Christmas Day 1814. From here went back passed the second largest island in the bay, Moturoa. It is farmed with sheep ...

... paradís! Sembla irreal! És bellíssim! Uau!!! Les veles són inmenses... el vaixell tot blanc enmig de la mar clara, blava... ufff... no tinc paraules per descriure aquesta bellesa :) Al tornar, ens dirigirem a un càmping de la mateixa població i arranjarem el tour per demà. Un bon sopar de llenties amb els nostres veïns de caravana - una parella de Suïssos-. Una bona xerrada... un bon kiwi per postres... i cap a dormir tant aviat com sigui possible ja que ...

... by going on a day's sailing trip in a catamaran. The trip was fantastic, seeing various coastlines and islands under the power of the sails. We stopped for a refreshing swim in a gorgeous bay just off one of the islands. We took a walk up the hill to get more of the spectacular vistas. Re-boarding the boat we were treated to lunch of barbequed hot dogs - some of us getting invited back for fourths!!! Setting out again, we ...

... lunch on the grounds, we headed to the coastal areas north of the BOI, which had mile after mile of beautiful beaches breaking up the hills and cliffs that made up the landscape of the Northern Island. At one point we considered the possibility of driving all the way up to Cape Reinga, but we decided to keep our driving minimal after the long driving day to get to the BOI. We tackled the all-too-familiar winding roads and gradually made ...

Stray Patch Pass: Paihia, the Bay of Islands & Cape Reinga Spike was our driver for the day - crazy guy, really enthusiastic & funny, always making comments like 'happy as pigs in sh!t!'. He told us he was glad to get out of Auckland as they're all miserable - shouting 'Gudday mate' out the bus window to people, only to recieve shocked un-amused faces ...

... at some dolphins (cute). Got the customary sausage roll for breakfast, planted ourselves on the boat and waiting for take off. It was such a nice day. We saw some lovely scenery and got our first taste of how beautiful New Zealand is. The sun makes everything so much brighter so the sea is such a vivid blue and the trees etc are soooooo green. It's fab. Then came the dolphins. Jumping around the boat so excited to see us! On certain days you can get to swim ...

... The skipper put my bags away and gave me a waterproof then off we went. It was really fun when he went fast :) We bounced across the waves and the spray was flying past us. It was really exhilerating! The scenery was spectacular as we sped past lots of islands of all shapes and sizes. Some of them had just one house on it. Can you imagine the cost of that! With its own private jetty too! We got to a cave and he drove in. The colours of the rocks were beautiful ...

... historically changed hands, they got a damn good deal. I was finally well enough last night to hit the town. Russell isn't exactly a happening place, I had to concede to the bar-tender at the Pub. That's what it is called; "The Pub". He told me that food is better elsewhere. I moved on down the orad and ordered some fish at a restaurant. And a large pint of beer. I invited myself to sit with a random ...