Waiwurrie North Island

... a strong history behind it as New Zealnd was colonised from the top down by succesiive migrations from Polynesia and a strong Maori presence remains today. We headed further north along the coast 50km to our overnight stop at Waipu Cove. Apparently, generations of Kiwi kids have gigled over the name 'Waipu' (Imodium missed a golden opportunity by failing to adopt it as their brand name in New Zealand). The campsite was on the beach front ...

... decent change to relax as we were there for 2 days and we went back to the beach on the second day with proper beach gear to make the most of the sunny weather. We went in to the water for a proper dip and it was great fun. The waves were just like those surfing waves you see on tv (although not the huge ones) and it was great just to be in the cool water and try to surf the waves on your tummy. Well, it was fun until this huge mother of a wave ...

... in return for rights of citizenshihp and protection. Some deal! Maori culture is fascinating but we opt for a 10km walk thru the Mangrove Swamps along the Waitang River and up to Haruru Falls. We sppot groups of cormorant nests with babies, hear the noisy tui bird - whistle.tuck tuck.shriek - and on the return leg when the tide is out the swamp is alive with snapping shrimp. Next day we're on the way back to Auckland but we manage to ...

... kept. Not sure if the wander around is worth the $20, but I guess all part of the history of NZ so important to do. Dinner and well that was the day. Doesn't seem like so much now! Tue 10 Feb - Bay of Islands Out on a day tour of the Islands today. Still overcast, though thankfully no rain. The cruise departed at 9.30am. We went across to the town of Russell, which isn't an island though is quicker to get to, from Paihia, by water than land. A brief stop and then ...

... the national holiday of waitanga, and there is no accommodation available for the weekend. we have to go to the hostel every day to check to see if we have a bed and if not have to beat the other fifty people who came up with the kiwi experience to the few beds there may be in other hostels, also they said all the buses going out of pahia were booked for next few days so we couldnt even leave. there was a lot of cursing the name of kiwi ...

... einem tollen Segelschiff :)))) Gegen 16.00 Uhr sind wir zurueck an Land und stellen Queenie im Beachside Campervan Park ab. Diumenge I - II - MMIX Ja som a febrer!!! Com passa el temps! És increïble!!!! Bé, a les 6am sonarà el despertador... noooo!!! Recollim tant ràpid com podem i a les 7.15am sortirem del càmping en direcció nord. Passarem per Wangharei i, sense aturar-nos arribarem a les 9.15 a Paihia. Ufff... ja veureu els noms dels llocs no són f ...

... New Zealand style. We toyed with the idea of diving but as our great barrier experience had been difficult one way or the other for both of us we decided to give it a skip. Instead the next morning we went on a beautiful walk to Whangerai Falls, and then a tree top walk to see the magnificent, huge Kauri glade. We continued our meandering way on a two hour coastal scenic drive along the Tutukaka coast, and with a short ...

Saturday and we drove into Kaitaia and had lunch at the Tru Time Cafe lovely fish and chips. On the wall in the cafe there was a map of the world and customers were encouraged to write a message on the wall around it stating were you are from, so after lunch I wrote on there Clare from Stockton on Tees and Ian from Devon UK. We then drove down the North East side of the ...

... through the night and was still coming down this morning, but neither of us want to waste our time here so we headed out for the day. We spent most of the morning in town and then in the afternoon did a nice walk around the Whangarei Falls, which were much more spectacular than I expected them to be, even on a grey day like today. I can imagine this place being absolutely stunning in the sunshine. We also walked through a kauri park, and along the river ...

... on me that we'd be in for a real treat travelling the country in our own mobile home. We drove up to a deserted beachhead and had lunch out of the back of Glenda. Although it was a bit overcast the scenery was still pretty stunning and I knew we'd be seeing plenty more along the way. Now, it's at this moment that I have to admit I was a bit rough with Glenda. As a joke, while Lee was taking a picture, I drove off down the road on my own then ...