Copthorne Bay Of Islands Paihia

... left our coats in the hotel. Ooops! It's still sunny in Russell for an hour or so, so we explore the old town. Russell incidentally is one of the earliest settlements in NZ and many of the houses are a couple hundred years old. They are wooden in the 'colonial' style and very picturesque.

Eventually the black clouds catch us and then the rain hammers down. Luckily we take refuge in Sally's cafe overlooking the bay and partake of tea and cake for the hour or so it takes to stop and ...

... we got to spend a good few hours enjoying learning about Maori life and history amongst a massive display of artefacts and displays. The 2nd floor about animal life in NZ was equally enjoyable even though we didn't pay the extra $12 to go in and see Sue - apparently the most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world. We all then had a memorable lunch in a nice bar before waving off James on his way to South America. Sarah and I plumped for the local ...

... Resume Francais De Kaikoura nous retournons sur Auckland en passant par Wellington.. pas grand chose a signaler... long trajet en bus.... Je repars aussitot pour la "Bay of Islands" pour deux jours.... deux jours bien remplis. Le premier avec calins d'arbres Kauri (et oui, encore une fois...) , petite balade pres des cascades de Whangarei, visite de toilettes celebres (si si c'est vrai!...) en passant par le cap de Rodney ...

W'eve made our way up to Paihia, our last stop in the North island before we head back to Auckland to leave for Australia. Along drive from the Coromandel but we arrived to find warm sunshine and beautiful scenery. Excellent accommodation at the Seaspray Suites, was given a huge two bedded unit with great facilities overlooking the beach. Monday saw us rent some snorkel equipment and go off to Okie Bay , a beautiful secluded beach on the peninsula beyond Russell ...

... on their honeymoon from Wales. It was really great to catch up with them. We started another long day's drive with no real goal for the day. After two hours of highway, we decided to detour via the gorgeous Goat Island near Leigh. At the island we picnicked under a tree jealously watching the snorkelers float by in the crystal clear water. Tempted though we were, we decided to press on to the Coromandel peninsula in search of gold.

... dolphin pod. Then she said the dolphins were swimming towards an area we did not want to go towards, so we left them and went to one of the biggest islands in the bay. On the way, some of the passengers were not doing so well. I felt really bad when the dolphins were playing around, but got it under control. Others didn't. Before we left, one of the mates on the boat said that they never have to use sick bags. Well, they did on ...

* Went on day sail with 'on the edge NZ' * Only 3 guys from UK, a older couple and me on boat - sweet (in season can be 40+) * It was overcast and windy! * Very fast sailing boat, catamaran bit like in waterworld (**** movie, great boat!) * BBQ lunch, had smoked chicken - yummy! * Went sea kayaking for bit after lunch to explore the bay we were anchored in. * Then we (not the older couple) took turns in holding on to a rubber ring and being ...

... de lo mas impersonal (donde quedaron esos guias que intentaban siempre ligar contigo?). Paihia es un pueblecito de costa de lo mas tranquilo. Seguramente la cosa cambia en verano, pero en nuestra estancia nos parecio incluso inquietante (tipo pueblecito David Lynch). Paseamos y disfrutamos de un estupendo albergue que parecia la casa del capitan pescanova y que tenia una chimenea fantastica. Y la excursion al punto mas al norte (que en realidad no lo es ...

... a great spot for our lunch after a walk through some fields and after a beer and a damn good sandwich we dropped in at the police station to follow up from the night before. Malcom had already contacted them that morning however and sent the photo to them via email. They seemed to be fairly impressed and agreed there was an uncanny resembelance. Having done our good citizen thing (even though we were only tourists) we left them to follow it up and they said they would show the ...

... in time before his next venue at a Nursing Home. A very friendly character and was well appreciated by everyone in the parkland. We were very impressed by the quality of the Visitors Centre as they seem to cover every aspect of Tourism on the island. All the maps were free and they also marketed local craftworks which were of a high quality. We set off once again and as we continued our journey we ...