The Mousetrap Backpackers Paihia

Deciding to limit our journey time, we made a scheduled overnight stop in Whangarei, before heading on to Paihia, in the Bay of Islands. We arrived in Whangarei on a Saturday afternoon and were amazed to find the town pretty much deserted. We had not eaten all day and were not even able to grab a McDonalds', as that, along with virtually every other shop in the town was closed! Eventually, we managed to get fed and returned to the backpackers for some much needed chill-out time (we had been o...

Christine, die ich am Freitag auf Waiheke kennengelernt habe, und ich haben gestern beschlossen uns ein Auto zu mieten und 3 oder 4 Tage das Northland zu erkunden. Ich habe mich so darauf gefreut, dass ich heute morgen ohne Probleme um 6.30 Uhr aufstehen konnte (wer mich kennt, weiss was das heisst). Da ich voll bepackt war, wollte ich morgens eigentlich den Bus nehmen, um in die Stadt zu kommen. Leider hatte der solche Verspaetung, dass ich letztendlich doch laufen musste. Und ich sag euch, ...

Arrived safely from Australia having had to go through a rigorous process to get in. They are so strict I had to have my boots washed because I said I had been on a farm!! Oh well that over Scenic Circle Airdale Hotel made up for it as I was double-booked into one room they gave me a suite instead - bargain. Picked up early on day one of my 21 day New Zealand Tour of North and South Islands. Its a bit drizzling but its not cold. North Island Day 1 - Auckland to Bay of Islands. Going to Bay of...

Pahia, een stadje middenin de Bay of Islands. Het gebied hier is groen, warm en vaak is er een hoge luchtvochtigheid: het is het subtropische gebied van Nieuw Zeeland.

In mijn dagen hier heb ik veel gewoon lekker aan het strand gelegen. En dan eventjes souveniers gekocht ennnnnn weer terug naar het strand.
Op donderdag ben ik met een groep op een catamaran door de Bay of Islands gevaren, hebben we dolfijnen gezien en geluierd op het eiland Urupukapuka. Daarna een BBQ (op de catamara...

8th to 12th Jan 2008 On Tues, 8th I was up early to catch the bus to the Bay of Islands (Piahia) stopping off at various places on the way - Goat Island (NZ first marine reserve) and Whangarei falls arriving around 3pm in Piahia. Went to the hostel to check in (Mouse trap) but as they were cleaning the carpets in my room and they weren't dry yet, they offered me a room in a house up on the hill at the same price as the hostel. In the evening I went down to have a walk around the town and ende...

From Whangerai we drove up the coast road into Russell, which is a historic pretty town that is now a very desirable place to live and has a bit of a snooty atmosphere. It was too expensive for us to stay so we took the car ferry across to Paihia from where all the boat trips exploring the Bay of Islands are arranged. We stayed at another Backpacker establishment, actually a "resort" with a studio, swimming pool, spa and tennis courts, along with all the other usual facilities. These hostels ...

We arrive in Auckland pretty late and manage to find a bus that will take us near to our hostel but end up getting on the one that goes the long way round so we get to the hostel pretty late! In the morning we walk down to the centre of Auckland where we have a quick look around and then we head to the harbour. We catch a passenger ferry across to Devonport where we walk along the sea front for a while and then walk around the headland before heading back into town for a very late lunch and t...

We arrived into Auckland on a beautiful sunny day. The weather was similar to Sydney but the scenery was very different. It was so green as we flew in for our landing. We caught our bus into town and settled into the somewhat tragic Fat Camel Backpackers Hostel. We spent a couple of days exploring Auckland. It's a pretty small city so it didn't take long. If you have been to Victoria, BC and enjoyed it,you would love Auckland. There is a nice friendly feel to the place and we managed to get a...

Friday, February 23 Whangerei to Cape Reinga and Paihia Ada greets us in the morning with a tour around the farm where we see the smaller 6-month old lambs. At about noon we are on our way north. Our goal today is to drive to the northernmost tip of the North Island of New Zealand, called Cape Reinga. The land becomes more rugged as we approach land's end, and there are some dramatic sand dunes along the beach. The Cape Reinga Lighthouse stands on the cliff above where the waters of the Tasma...

We struggled through the rain with the most horrendously skweeky windscreen wipers ever up to Paihia and the bay of islands which we think would look a lot better when it wasn't raining! We went to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds which is where the Maori tribal leaders signed New Zealand over to British rule. There was an awesomly long war canoe hear made out of a hollowed out Kauri trunk as well as a Maori meeting house and the renovated colonial house that belonged to the guy that sorted ...