Flames International Hotel Whangarei

Once we'd got the car we headed west to two little beach resorts with black volcanic sand. We stopped off to look at a 27m waterfall, which was beautiful and we were the only people around. Then we walked up to the beach and took some photo's... it's just coming into spring here so it's not really beach weather yet.<br><br>After this we drove north... I was trying to get to grips with map reading and Jon was trying to get to grips with sharing ...

... od** nicht dreimal taeglich abzuwaschen, od** weshalb sie sonst p**manent das Wass** in d** Kueche laufen haben, ab** manch** Menschen Logik kann ich einfach nicht toppen. (Zumal uns**e Gastgeb** nur Regenwass** nutzen.)<br>Und dann hat mich auch noch d** grosse schwarze Hund angeknurrt als ich ihn in die Garage schicken musste. Die Hunde waren ziemlich schlecht bis gar nicht **zogen und mussten deshalb imm** in die Garage, wenn niemand im Haus war (und auch ...

... waited till nightfall, figuring that the glow worms could only be seen in the dark of night...not really taking into account dat da caves would be dark anyway and the glowworms probably didn't keen da diference between night and day. We were directed up the mountain on a windy road by wir hostel owner, he said it is difficult to find as the signpost is not good......he wis right. Eventually after much backing and foreing we found da start of da trek ...

... about leaving the bus even though I've only been on it for the morning. At the tourist info centre at Whangarei I somehow wangle a lift from the owners of the Little Earth Lodge the hostel I am staying at, even though its 7km out of town. Spend the evening chatting to some other travellers. The night sky is fantastically clear, loads of stars. 22/01/2009 Head to the Abbey Caves with another chap staying at the ...

... as I'm on my own here. I turned down the invitation to join in this social/ environmental/conservation event being held not too far away from here by someone with a new pizza oven - it's no longer enough to have a BQQ, or a chimera, now you need your own special pizza oven and you invite guests who in turn bring along their own toppings. (It's customary here in NZ to take a 'plate' when you're invited round to a friend's for a meal, which is a great ...

Vital Statistics: Journey Bus: Auckland to Wellsford - nice people, great views, no problems Bike: Wellsford to Paparoa - distance 64.4km (16 not fully loaded going to a boring museum), Average speed 16.90km/hr. Bike: Paparoa to Dargaville - distance 52.02km (give or take bit when the little computer didn't work) Average Speed 17.01km/hr Accommodation: Due to there being no backpacker hostels ...

... en de wetsuit weer aangetrokken. Ik moet zeggen dat de tweede duik veel makkelijker ging en dat ik mij veel meer op mijn gemak voelde. Uiteindelijk heb ik gedoken tot een diepte van 12 meter. Ik ademde ook een stuk rustiger tijdens de tweede duik. Als ik ooit de kans krijg zou ik wel mijn Padi diploma halen. Prioriteit heeft het niet maar als ik het tegenkom! Wel in Azië want daar kost het minder dan 200 euro en is het nog veilig ook!!

... our way up to the 200m high summit through a dark, moist forest. When we got to the top we were rewarded with a stunning view over the surrounding area along with five rock pinnacles (figures of Maori mythology who were struck by lightning and petrified where they stood) reaching upwards. After we rested and caught our breath we began the descent, only to discover that the return track of the circular route was closed due to heavy rock slippages, so we had to ...

... Meid oli ca 15 nägu, kes personaalse vestluse tulemusena jagati gruppidesse. Oli võimalik ka eraldi paaris sukelduda, aga me otsustasime grupi kasuks. Igal grupil oli oma instruktor, kes selgitas reegleid ja kordas üle tähtsamad märguanded. Poor Knight's saarte juurde jõudes sõitsime soojenduseks läbi kalju-augu (hole in a rock) meie 2-dekiline laev mahtus sealt vabalt läbi. Edasi suundusime esimesse sukeldumiskohta. Tegemist oli saare kaljuseinaga, mis kaetud korallidega. Meile ...

... so lovely and cosy in the van. Dean laid back on the bed (we had put the awning on the back) and discovered that you can see all the stars through the back window which is obviously above our heads. He called me in to look and I laid back with him and looked up, it was so beautiful (there are no streetlights on this campsite). There were thousands of stars and it did feel like we were in outer space (I wonder if that's why they call them spaceships). I felt like Sigourney ...