Alfa Boutique Motel Paihia

... lol i agreed, as i figured im still getting over jetlag and it would help!! and it definately did, the views were amazing, it was a 20min flight out to an island called Hole in the Rock, for an obvious reason, there are over 100 islands around the Bay of Islands, and flying over them was just amazing, the sea is a beautiful tourqoise colour, and i even managed to spot a pod of dolphins lower down:)
No pics to upload yet but will get thenm up as soon as i can!
Talk sooon
Paihia, North Island, New Zealand leox

... 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 ...

... was quite impreessive, with a rainbow starting to form at the base. After our escapades we headed back to the hostel (after visiting the shopping market) and had our BBQ, it was nice although not very filling!! After a few drinks with the group I headed back to the hostel to get an early night.

Day 27

Today in the morning I headed up to the viewpoint. It was a nice walk, although I got lost a few times. When I reached the top there was a ...

... from it was something to fill the afternoon. Apparently this was actually the famous Bay of Islands we were cruising around. It was certainly the right day for it, the sun was shining and the water sparkling. We went to see a geographical feature, with the very imaginative name of the "Hole in the Rock". You can probably imagine what it looked like. We watched as a huge shoal of small silver fish, flicked just under the surface, apparently under attack from something. The skipper then ...

... the 'Lord of the Rings'-esque landscape. I guess that will be what is instore for us in the South Island. But whilst the weather is around 25oC, we decided to soak up the sun and enjoy the cooling ocean breeze. We headed across land to Ahipara on the west coast where we went to the Bayview restaurant for a delicious steak dinner overlooking the 90-mile beach, the long stretch of coast heading up to the northern tip of NZ, Cape Reinga, our next destination.

This morning we travel north along the Waikato River to Auckland, otherwise known as the "city of sails" and New Zealand's largest city. It's here we have time for lunch and pick up any new passengers before our journey continues across Auckland's scenic harbour and north with our to Parry's ...

... to enjoy time outside on the patio with our steak and a nice white wine. The next morning we awoke to fairly decent weather, and the much anticipated dolphin sail was a go. Both Paul and I have always wanted to swim with wild dolphins, so we were really looking forward to the chance promoted in the Bay of Islands brochures. We stopped for a coffee on the way to the boat, then soon boarded and got a prime seat on the Carino Sail and Dolphin ...

... the Trounson Kauri Park, which was just up the road. I was the first there, so heard a lot of wildlife and even saw a few birds, The sun was still low, and the park has small walkways through thick swampy forest; very atmospheric. The Kauris were pretty impressive, but the generally wild feel was the most notable aspect. At one point, a small brown thing scuttled away through ...

... the plane land. Phew- this one was a bit bigger and looked more sturdy. The sunset was really beautiful tonight. I fell asleep even though the flight was only 30 mins. At Auckland airport I grabbed a snack and a cup of tea. My face was starting to burn up and my throat was getting really scratchy! Great! I could Kill Trev as he had had this in Sydney and I told him I didn't want to get ill! hehehe! But seriously, this was the last thing I needed when I was on such ...

We'd hired a car in Auckland and so we drove up into Northland, the spur sticking out of NZ into the subtropics. Our car was a bit of a gas-guzzler, a 90's throwback called El Cheapo by the hire company, but it got us up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. We visited nearby Waitangi, the site where the treaty between Maori's and the British Government was signed, in the 19th Century. Mis-translation meant the Maori ...