Paihia Beach Resort & Spa Bay Of Islands

... shared up here - signs in plenty, including lovely brown tourist signs. We take the northern toll road in the interests of speed. There's no toll booths, so right after posting this I'll have to log on to their web site and pay the toll of $2 each way. We make good time; Whangarei for coffee and our hotel in Paihia before 1pm. The sunny weather also returns by Whangarei, so much so that the heat is a shock leaving the car - 26 degrees according to the car thermometer.<br><br>The hotel ...

... and was introduced to a talking bird, that sounded so much like a man, and i saw a Kiwi Bird. That was very lucky to be able to see that Kiwi Bird, cos apartly its nearly impossible to see them in the wild and your never any guarentee to see one if you go to a kiwi house. <br>

... house. Before ent**ing 3 of our male contingent are challanged by Maori descendants in a Haka. 5 almost naked Maori are dancing and prancing and pulling the funny faces and sticking the tongues out and waving spears in the air and all that jazz - much more than you see at the All Blacks games. The 3 nominees on our side have to stand straight faced and show no fear - thankfully I managed not to be volunte**ed - for I just can't help ...

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 ...

... waited. Then the fish started biting and I reeled in a few more too small to keep before catching the best one yet. I ran home down the beach dropping beer bottles and stuff as the fish were in the little coolbag, the last one still flapping around a bit as I hadn't whacked it properly. When I got back we BBQ'd our three snapper, less than an hour after they were caught, getting jealous looks as everyone else ate their pasta.

... on the road earlier in the day, I was very suprised as to how quiet the town actually was...but in fact it felt pretty restfull an relaxing. That evening we had a beautiful meal in a restaurant that sits over the shore of the beach and talked away the evening whilst being watched by a very sick in an aquarium next to us. The next day we had a boat excursion planned to go and watch and swim with the dolphins - depending on whether the shoal contained ...

... somehow ended up with a Nissan Sunny from Scottie's. Stupid comparison website, it confuzzled me. The car is fine, though it sort of drives me crazy at the same time, no pun intended. It's an automatic, for a start, which would be great if - and only if - I were to find myself in lots and lots of traffic jams. That is the only time during my driving career I have ever craved an automatic, when I've been sat in traffic (usually, strangely enough ...

... but we decided to pass on that because the water is likely freezing. In Paihia, I met my new friend Montekeith beer--a New Zealand ale that I am very fond of. We stayed at a lovely beachfront motel and went to sleep and woke up to the sound of the waves. Luckily for us, despite the bad forecast, we again woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Paihia. We hope the weather will hold out as we continue to make our way north to Cape Reinga at the tip of the northern island.

... yielded sawn timber of unsurpassed quality for building. The gum, too, became essential in the manufacture of varnishes. Gum was obtained through digging, fossicking in treetops, or, more drastically, by bleeding live trees. The exploitation of forests increased with the demand for more and more cleared farmland. Kauri forests once covered 1.2 million hectares; now they have been reduced to 80,000 hectares. Facts Of Kauri Trees -Ancestors of the ...

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