Waterfront Suites Bay of Islands

... of stone). We stopped at a really nice spot to cook our soup and eventually got to the Kauri forest - the roads are incredibly windy and hilly.<br><br>The biggest Kauri tree in the world was the first stop, it was a short walk from the car park and the reaction as you walk around the corner is wow! It isn't that tall but the girth is about 17m! We carried on to several other huge trees ...

... the "Hole in the Rock", so we carried on back to Moturua Island, where we disembarked on to the shore. Here we visited the scene of the first major bloody encounter between he very early European visitors &amp; the indigenous Maori people. We were told of the tale of the bloody revenge &amp; massacre between the Maori Chief, Te Kuri, and the French Captain Marion Du Fresne. During our time ashore, we were able to visit the remains of the Maori Pa ...

What a blast, got a boat (ferry), that delivers the mail, and tells us all about the local history, this on its own was really good. Then we went swimming with dolphins, drive through a hole just big enough for the ferry, and then on to snorkling. Great weather and a great day - the only downer was i got stung by a wasp

... holidays. But as we've found out so far, crowded in New Zealand is not really that crowded considering the population of the whole country is about the same as Sydney, Aus. While we were there, we took the ferry over to the small historic town of Russell, which is on an island across the bay. This area has historical significance because it's the site where Caption Cook first ...

... Rotorua, a new concept to be but was totally amazing! You go in a massice plastic ball and they put water in with you and roll you down a hill. Mark and i went in together and it was like being in a washing mashine!! Got some great pictures!! From there, we left for Taupo, which i have to say was one of my favourate places. It is beside Taupo lake which was just stunning, i will include a photo, but it really doesn't do it justice ...

14th October - 17th October 2008 Ross introduced us to our home for 2 months. She actually looked pretty good. I had expected rust, a tatty interior something that was missing from his description of the van, especially after now meeting the guy!! We had the quick tour, had all the explanations fired at us, how to clean the *******, turn on the heater, pump the water etc etc, we signed the paperwork and Ross disappeared. It really was a blur. We loaded our bags ...

... I'm now feeling a bit skeptical that I'll have a new passport in time for my flight to Singapore next week. I was feeling a bit down in the evening because of that, and decided that given my recent luck it would probably be a safe bet to stay in the hostel watching horror films to celebrate Friday the 13th. I got chatting to an English guy called Mikey who has just arrived in New Zealand, and he's going to join me on my travels around Northland, so that ...

... and chilling out. Our last evening together was spent drinking the bottle of wine Flis had purchased for Tony back in Napier alongside some mussels and crackers. We then made our way into town and after a drink in an Irish bar, went to a Turkish eatery which although wasn´t what we expected at all, had a bit to eat before returning to the Irish bar for another drink to finish off the night. Knowing tomorrow we would be back in Auckland saying goodbye was a sad thought but one we didn´t dwell on.

We continued up north and on our way found a Jandles fence!! So Cool, might just start one of our own when we get home!!! we decided to stay at a really tiny Game Fishing village called Whangaroa, it was so serene and had outstanding views, overlooking a lake!! we stayed in a backgarden basically of a backpackers hut, but it was catered for like 2 vehicles to camp out, it was at the top of a really steep hill, but once we were up there ...

... with them. The dolphins, of course being the smarter species of the two, had different ideas and decided they weren&#8217;t really all that interested, and it didn&#8217;t long for us to no longer be able to hear their sonar calls in the water. <br><br>I don't exactly have a huge tolerance for the cold, especially cold water, and being spring the water was not exactly at its warmest. While the sailing company ...