Having got on an early bus up to Paihia we finally arrived just gone midday and were welcomed by a very excited Tony (Flis´ dad). It was lovely to have a taste of home and for Flis to catch up with her dad and after dropping the bags off in the rental car the three of us went for lunch. It was a real treat to be taken out for lunch as we had become so used to catering for ourselves in New Zealand, sandwiches being the staple lunch food. After a bowl of seafood chowder for us both, Tony opting for Nachos, we made our way back to where we would be staying for the next week.
A brief stop off was made at Connie and Malcom´s house (where although they don´t actually live at the moment as they are currently looking after an old hotel for the owners, the cats still reside). Dad had taken over the task of feeding the cats over the time he was there whenever he drove past as it saved Connie a journey. We then arrived at the Old Hotel where we would be staying and after meeting Connie, we were briefly shown around and were also introduced to their dogs Bobby and Benji. The Old Hotel is situated by hot springs and although guests were no longer able to stay at the hotel as it was in need of renovation, the pools were still open to the public and there were camping grounds available as well. One camper had taken up a sort of residence there, an elderly man and his dog Rocky, who had obviously become great friends with both Bobby and Benji. There was a distinct eggy smell which hung around the hotel and its grounds due to the sulpher from the springs which took a bit of getting used to, however it was suprising just how quickly you did become accustomed to it.
Malcom soon arrived back from work and Flis met her second cousin for the first time (someone who looked very similar to her dad, and whistled exactly the same as him) very confusing! Our first evening meal at the hotel with Connie and Malcom was wonderful, a steak which was absolutely huge, a big salad and potatos with rather a lot of red wine, which was consumed after the couple of bottles of bubbly we had opened to celebrate. We had dinner out on the porch and because there is very little light pollution the stars were out in all their glory. The drinking continued after dinner and by the time we all went to bed, I think it is fair to see we were all very pleased to see each other.
The following day after being woken up by Tony banging the door down with a morning cuppa (just like being back at home), we got up and started to make plans of what we wanted to do over the next few days. The weather wasn´t at its best unfortunatly, however it didnt put us off and we made our way out to start the time we had in the north with a bit if sight seeing. The first stop was the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, New Zealand's birth place and pre-eminent historic site which over looked the Bay of Islands. It is seen as a place of belonging and enjoyment that is central to the life of the nation and special to all New Zealanders and indeed it became rather special to us because it was the beginning of our touring of the Bay of Islands with Flis´ dad. After numerous obligatory photos and a good look around we drove north and started to do some of the coastal drives which are so prominent in the Bay of Islands. Stopping for fish and chips for lunch in between numerous stops at beaches to take in the amazing coastal scenery we made it all the way up to Mangonui. Here is where New Zealands World Famous Fish and Chip shop is, however having had fish n chips already for lunch we just took a couple fo silly pictures of us outside and continued on our way. The second evening back at the old hotel with Malcom (as Connie had gone back to check on their house) was spent again catching up and eating and drinking the hours away.
Our third day at the Bay of Islands and we both decided we needed to get some adrenalin pumping. The three of us set off down to Whangarei for 11.30am where we had booked ourselves in for a Skydive. When we arrived, there were a group of people all sky diving taking part in competitions based on their skill on landing. Whether that was on a specific marker or how far they could slide when they touched the ground etc. This made fantastic viewing as they were going up and down so frequently because they didn´t jump from very high as it wasn´t necessary to freefall. Finally the low cloud which had prevented us from jumping when we first arrived cleared and by about 2pm we were getting suited and booted for our jump. Flis was a bunch of nerves by this point, Henry was jumping around like a lunatic, high on excitment and Tony was still considering whether it was a good idea or not to have opted out of the days activity. Finally we we re in the airoplane and heading on up....the adrenalin was definitely working overtime by this point and when we dropped someone who was part of the competition out of the plane at around 5,000 feet, pure panic had taken over Flis´who was sitting next to the door and realised it was another 7,000ft higher she would be jumping from. Finally we reach 12,000ft and out goes Flis, only a moment later and Henry has joined her in the freefall, by this time its fair to say we were both probably screaming our heads off and absolutely loving it. What seems like only seconds later, the parachute was pulled and then it was a steady drift down with the odd spin or two. Finally we touch down and both were ready to do it again, unfortunatly the cost did not quite although that! After a beer to congratulate ourselves it was back into the car and we made our way back to the old hotel. The night panned out much as those before, although an earlier night was had by all of us as tiredness had crept up from all the excitment of the past few days.
The following morning was a typical Sunday morning which was so nice to experience again, a lazy morning, an awesome cooked breakie and lots of cups of tea to top it off. Malcom then offered to take us for a walk around some of the hotel grounds which are geothermal and proved to be very interesting indeed. The walk was about an hour and with the dogs in tow we made our way deep into the grounds where we came across blow holes, bubbling mud (from cold to very hot), a huge slag heap where ore (cinebar) used to be extracted and some more hot pools (these dating back to the Victorian times). After covering our faces with mud (supposedly a very good and obviously very natural face mask), we made our way back to the hotel and had our first dip into the hot pools. The pools were amazing, there were around 10 different pools all beside each other, each with its own temperature. These are all completely natural and are not altered in any way, a true representation of how strange and amazing nature is. After a good soak and a much needed shower so we didn´t all stink of sulpher, the three of us made our way down to Russell for the afternoon. We took the ferry across and then drove around Russell for a couple of hours, again checking out the little secluded beaches, the view different from each one and the drive in between just as interesting. We passed one bay where a 4x4 was on the beach and the tide had started to come in beofre the guy had chance to move it. The back of the vehicle was getting more and more stuck into the sand and we watched a rescue job when his friend came and dragged the car out with his own. Rather amusing but the guy I´m convinced found it less than funny. We finally stopped for a late lunch at a cafe high up in the hills overlooking the Bay of Islands, however the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was fairly misty. The food was exellent however and there was an art gallery next door which was lovely to have a look around. We then made our way into the small town of Russell and after a little walk along the front and stopping to pick up a bottle of vino, we went over to the campsite where we had organised to meet up with some of Tony´s friends from home who also happened to be in New Zealand. After a catch up with them we headed back over to Pahia on the ferry and stopped by for some nibbles to take home for a light supper. A TV dinner and a few beers again resulted in a good nights sleep.
The next day was then back to more of the cultural side of things. After a drive over to the West coast and a coffee stop we made our way on to see some of the largest Kauri trees in the world. We stopped off again before we reached the forest as we drove past an excellent look out point up which looked out over some massive sand dunes. The look out point was a small peninsular and the water surrounding it was a small inlet of the sea which reached over to the bottom of the sandunes. After numerous photos, (again), we continued towards the forest to see the largest Kauri tree off all, known as Tane Mahuta. Kauri trees are among the world's mightiest trees, growing to more than 50 metres tall, with trunk girths of up to 16 metres. They covered much of the top half of the North Island when the first people arrived around 1000 years ago and now although not a huge amount remain it those that do are generally well preserved, espcially the very old ones. The Tane Mahuta (King of the Forest) is the largest known Kauri tree and it really was huge, there are a few other famous Kauri trees in the same area which we went to see including the 3 sisters and Te Matua Ngahere, the second largest Kauri. After a good walk through the forest, we continued in the car slightly north to stop for lunch beside a river. As we were tucking in to our cheese sarnies, Henry spotted a guy who looked distinctly like the profile of the guy who had allegedly raped a girl in the Bay of Islands only a few days before. He took a photo as we weren´t sure but when we got back to the hotel and checked it against the profile from the police, it did look to be a very close match. A few phone calls later and the police were informed, however they seemed to be fairly disinterested, even though we had a photo. We left it for the night, however Malcom said he would contact the police again the follwoing morning when he got to work.
The next morning after a lazy start we headed down to Pahia for a spot of lunch on the beach and with the hope of going out fishing in the afternoon. We found a great spot for our lunch after a walk through some fields and after a beer and a damn good sandwich we dropped in at the police station to follow up from the night before. Malcom had already contacted them that morning however and sent the photo to them via email. They seemed to be fairly impressed and agreed there was an uncanny resembelance. Having done our good citizen thing (even though we were only tourists) we left them to follow it up and they said they would show the photo to the victim. We then made our way down to the jetty and jumped aboard a small boat for an afternoon of fishing which turned out to be rather successful indeed. Henry with beginners luck on his side managed to catch the most and Tony and Flis were in competition over who caught the biggest, there wasn´t much in it but Tony´s came up trumps with a couple of extra mm´s in length. After returning and gutting the fish we drove back and cooked up a delicious meal of red snapper, salad and potatos. There was a huge amount left over which got frozen for Connie and Malcom to enjoy after we left. After quite a few drinks that evening we ended up down in the hot pools relaxing after another hard days holiday.
Our final day in the Bay of Islands was spent rather leisurely. After a trip into KeriKeri, a lovely town just north of where we were staying we, we took a picnic down to the Rainbow Falls which are just outside the town. The falls were beautiful and the name ´Rainbow Falls`was obviously given due to the rainbow which was prduced by the waterfall. Henry jumped straight in for a swim after lunch and found out later that night there were actually a load of eels which lived in the water which he hadn´t been aware of. The last evening was spent over another large steak and Connie and Malcom´s son came and joined us for dinner with a friend. It was great to meet him as well, another distant relative for Flis, and Tony went to town on dinner, prawns, steak and kiwi and mango pavlova for desert. It was a little sad to know our week of `holidaying´ at the hotel was coming to an end but we still had two days before we said goodbye to Tony.
The following morning after packing we said our goodbyes to Connie and Malcom and made our way down to Orewa (just north of Auckland on the east coast for the night). We stopped off for lunch on the way and arrived into Orewa mid afternoon. After checking into a motel we made the most of the sun lying on the beach 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.
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