Edelweiss Motel Paihia

... not a cloud around! We went for a little trek to the top of an island for some great views and wandered on to a cute little beach. We all got back on 'the rock' and motored over to a different island. Once there we took the kayaks to the beach and went to another lookout point. Bay of Islands is so beautiful, pictures and words do it no justice. We layed on the beach, went snorkling and kayaking more. Then it was time to return to the boat and go back to Paihia. I ...

From Kaikoura it is a two day trip back to Auckland via Wellington. Nothing too exciting, just a bus journey... I decide to stay in a hostel out of town. It takes me ages to get there (my own fault for picking one so far away!) but it's worth the hassle. It's fun and I have a great evening there talking with other travellers. I head off to the Bay of Islands, North of Auckland, the very next day. Small bus this time and very small croud, and lovely ...

... was a 4 hour drive back to Auckland, stopping in Whangarei for a toilet stop. We watched a film on the bus on the drive back which helped pass the time, arriving at the hostel just before 7pm. It was FREE pizza night in the hostel bar - Globe Bar, at 8pm. We made sure we were there in time for the free pizza which was Domino's and it was really good, we ended up with about 5 slices each. We stayed in the bar with some people from the bus and had a few drinks before calling it a night.

... us and one for some other guests!!!!!!!! No lock on our bedroom, which was very old style Blackpool B&B and a bloody dog, which sat down in our room while we were being shown it. We dumped our cases and drove into town where we found a fabulous 2 bed apartment right on the seafront for less than we were paying at that dump. Like some of our earlier apartments we have absolutely everything we could want and we think ...

... and started to ride on the boats wake. It look brilliant and they seemed to really enjoy themselves!!! The boat stopped at Russell on its way back and we all got off so we could have a look round. Russell had been to capital of New Zealand for a short time when the Europeans first arrived in the islands. It was once known as the " Hell hole of the north " because of the troubles caused by the whalers and fisherman. I left the others ...

... were seated. The food when it came was fantastic and we took the recommendations of the waitress of this family owned business. We left feeling very stuffed in deed and were both glad of the 15 minute walk back to the hotel!! The next day we were off bright and early as we had a big day ahead of us - we decided to head up to the very tip of NZ, Cape Reinga which was about a 4 hour drive away. The weather was again fantastic so it was amazing when we got up there. It is also a ...

... going back to the nice little hostel and chilling out there (with tea). Day 209 - Left Paihia at 7:15 this morning for a day trip to Cape Reigna, which is the northernmost, accessible point in NZ. Barry the tour driver was one of the best guides I've ever had - enthusiastic, interesting and funny, plus he was very caring and sweet too - calling everyone 'Bub' - he seemed to really care that that everyone enjoyed themselves and it was down to him to a great ...

... until it was time to drag ourselves away. It's a hard life. The second dive was in a sheltered channel between two islands, on a lava rock, gullied bottom. The heavy kelp hid lots of fish life, whilst around us there was a huge stream of blue maomao fish, a fascinating sight, in what they called 'the fish bowl'. We swam into a narrow rock split that was just wider than our shoulders and under a collapsed boulder, jammed in the gap above us. Another excellent ...

... when he went inside, he didn't even stand in a line. He stood in between the lines and just stood there. Dunno what happened there, apparently he got confused. Anyways, it took us an hour to get a tank of gas. But! Once we were on our way, all was good! Just 2 crazy Canadians and the road...oh..and Madonna. Madonna is our car. We decided that it was a fitting name as we had never rented a car or drove long distances on the other side of the ...

... There aren't many left anymore compared to the massive forests that were once there but those few are worth a look. There are still enough to call it a forest. The photos don't show the size of the trees at all, they are HUGE.

We reached Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of NZ in the evening. This is where Tasmanian Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, it has a small light house in the top and was covered in the thickest pea soup fog. Marvellous place, really felt like land's end ...