Carrington Club Bay of Islands

We woke up to be greeted by a downpour of rain so our trip around the bay of islands was not so appealing! However we drove down to the harbour to see which trips were operating. The nice lady selling the trips told us she wouldn't go on a boat in the current conditions, and given our boat excitement the day before we decided to give it a miss. This meant we had time to stock up at the local ...

... took the bus back into town &amp; checked into a hostel before having a quiet day around town. <br><br>My mum's friend's daughter, Joanna, who is from Cardiff but had moved to Hamilton with her partner, had arranged to come up to meet up in Auckland on our last night there. We hadn't seen her for about two years, so it was fun catching up with her. We went to a restaurant called Euro in the harbour &amp; had a really lovely meal there &amp; had ...

... us to cross a stretch of beach that is only accessible at low tide. The reason that we did this was because the taxi/guide CLAIMED it would only take 20 minutes to go from one to the other..... What he had failed to mention was that, if you wanted to keep your shoes and socks dry, you'd have to take your shoes off for parts of this stretch and that the shells left behind here after the tide went out were VERY sharp... OUCH!!! It took us closer to 45 ...

... ocean waters and green hills but, after the Fjordland and the Glaciers, we did not find it particularly spectacular. The only explanation for it being the most popular park in NZ having more to do with its almost permanent sunshine and easy access from the large cities than the landscape. We've started the day early with some kayaking along coves on a calm and beautiful sea and, after two hours or so of paddling, we stopped for a ...

... but couldn't swim as there were babies, a huge disappointment!! Maybe another time!! So we left and headed down to Rotorua, aptly named "Fartopolis" due to the sulphur thermal mud pools. We went to the nearby park where mud pools covered the place (see photo's!). It was pretty amazing really, but the smell was so bad!! We also bathed in the sulpher pools at our campsite so we weren't smelling too fresh either!! We also went Zorbing ...

... and found a perfect spot to sit and have lunch. Set just above a rocky cove, we could see the crystal clear water beneath us and in front of us was a large inlet, which was beautiful. Some of the bays were rocky and some were sandy. I really enjoyed taking in the scenery and felt blessed that we had such good weather. Some of the farm houses, including the place we camped at, have honesty boxes. These are stalls ...

... for the fourth time since we have been in NZ! What are the odds? We carry on driving to Golden Bay and stop briefly in Takaka at the info centre to get the low-down on where we could park up for the night. The staff in the centre point us in the direction of Pohara and the boat club, who apparently don't mind people camping on the approach road to their boat ramp. When we get there the single track road in question leads out from the harbour into the sea and has a ...

... I would have to agree that it was delicious, especially the fish. After that it was an hour's drive back to Paihia and the end of the tour, It was a long day, having been on the bus for 11hrs but it was a worthwhile excursion. It would have been nice to have had longer at the Cape but apart from that, I recommend taking this tour, as it is smaller than the other tour operators such as Kings/Fullers etc and even our hotel guide said that Dunerider was the best.

... a dip in the freezing cold water where the Southern ocean meets the tasman sea. Brass monkeys!! At fox we took a drive out to lake Matheson, the most photographed lake in NZ and took some...photos! We then booked our trip on the Glacier for the next day. The day on the Glacier was fantastic. Up there with discovering masturbation for all day fun and exhilaration and want, nah need to repeat! We first had to hike all up the valley from the face of the ...

... jeg skulle hjem der oppe fra tog jeg et par times sejltur i en mega hurtig baad, hvor vi sejlede rundt mellem nogen af bugtens 144 oer og ned til en grotte. Rigtig flot tur.<br><br>I morgen går turen tilbage til Auckland hvor jeg skal mødes med Marting og Henrik snart ankommer og så går min tur ellers videre ned mod Wellington. <br>