Best Western Opononi Resort Whangarei

... in Turkey mid July &#8211; Searing heat &#8211; We plastered the kids with sun tan cream before commencing the tour, but Bronwen still burnt a bit on her shoulders. The sun is definitely more intense in New Zealand.<br><br>Left Zion Lion Sanctuary around 3:45 PM; heading for Whangarei Heads; beautiful coastal road with a lot of mud flats; once again outstanding scenery. Kept driving until we came to a each called Ocean Beach. Fabulous little ...

... We were stuffed so back to the Marina and to<br>chill at home.<br><br>Back at home Charmain was busily<br>preparing a traditional New Zealand Sunday lunch, Michelle did a spot<br>of researching on the internet about the bay of Islands and Dean<br>Spent the time playing with Ethan playing star wars.<br><br>Lunch was great, New Zealand Lamb, Veg,<br>Sweet potatoes and yams..2 new vegetables to Michelle and Dean. This<br>was swiftly followed by pudding, Steamed Chocolate and Date ...

... and we partied the nights away. From here I headed to Te Anau and booked myself onto an overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound...the lesser known and thankfully less popular big sister of the infamous Milford Sound, which is a third of the size of Doubtful and plagued by dozens of boats. It was well worth the extra bucks. There were 7 other fantastic people on board, plus 2 crew members. We sailed, we ate, we drank, we admired the dramatic scenery, we paid a visit ...

... place to park our van but finally we parked on a parking with toilets on the street at 10pm. Our first night in a campervan somewhere on the street :-) Ich stand so gegen 9.45h auf und hatte Fruehstueck bei Carmen zu Hause. So gegen 11.30h sind wir dann alle zusammen los, John, Carmen, die Kinder und ich. Wir fuhren zum Mall um eine Karte zu besorgen. Dort hatten wir einen Kaffee und so gegen 14h holten wir dann ...

... mid-afternoon, we arrived in Whangarei and had a drive through the town to have a look and get oriented. It was a mid-sized town, and everyone seemed to be out scurrying around doing their Christmas shopping. They have a weird pedestrian crosswalk system where all the cars stop and everyone at every corner crosses at the same time. So for a few minutes there is a mass of people crossing diagonally and every which way to get across the ...

... En Karibu nos quedamos una semana, unos dias pintando porque llovio muchisimo, otros cortando lenya y alimentando a los animales y removiendo un poco la tierra porque estaba preparandola para poner mas plantas. Yo no se lo que le costaria alimentar a ese cerdo, miss piggy, pero comia dos veces al dia unas siete piezas de fruta, arroz blanco, y leche en polvo, ademas de todos todos los desperdicios de cualquier comida que los metia todos en una gran cacerola y lo hervia antes ...

... and then another look at the 'Whangarei Falls', now back to a pretty cascade after yesterday's torrents. Late afternoon and we were back in 'Tutukaka', where we booked into the modern hotel for two nights. Distance driven 157 Km 97 miles Thursday 29th May An early start and in the dive centre for 8am, to leave the jetty at 8.30. On the way out I spotted an old RNLI lifeboat that had served in 'Weymouth' in England, now ...

The most awesome thing about New Zealand is their national holidays! Easter here lasts for a whole weekend! No one works on Good Friday and Easter Monday. This gave me just enough time for my last road trip!! I rented a car after work and drove up the east coast of the north island to Poor Nights Islands to finish my PADI Open Water Diver Certification. So after work on Wednesday I ...

... le dit. Pas Goldman, Cousteau. Enfin, il le disait. Tous les gens qu'on a rencontre hors de NZ nous ont plutot prevenu: la reputation des Poor Knights est surfaite. Mais on decide d'aller faire un tour quand meme, bien que les prix soient loin d'etre les meilleurs du monde. Mais apres tout, on aime plonger, non? 25kms a bord d'une vedette rapide nous convainquent rapidement que : - la houle c'est tres mechant (mais le staff du club de plongee ...