New Zealand - Bay of Islands

Well I last left you with tales of Auckland - well time moved on as it generally tends to do and I headed on up to the Bay of Islands which is a part of New Zealand called Northlands because bizarrely enough it is in the north of the North Island - didn't see that one coming did ya?!?

The journey up took us through a Kauri reserve - basically it was a forest with Kauri trees. So what I hear you cry....well pay attention - here comes the science...they're a native tree which were logged to near distinction until a protection order was put in them so there's only a few left. The oldest one we saw was somewhere approaching 1000 years old and believe me it was absolutely huge - to give you some concept of how big it would probably take 10 people joining hands around it to measure it. Its a really valuable wood and makes great furniture, blah, blah, blah. Apparently the only way they can use it now is if some is found buried in swamps. Its also the wood the Maori's used to make their canoes so its considered pretty sacred stuff.

Anyway enough of the educational side of things (I can almost hear the snoring....) from there we stopped in at a little town called Warkworth for a quick bite to eat - apparently the property market there has gone through the roof as the Jafa's (remember? Just Another Fu*king Aucklander!) like to pop up there mid morning for a quick coffee..as you do, bit far to drive for a shot of caffeine if you ask me but there you go - those crazy New Zealanders eh!
From there it was on towards Goat Island and on to Whangarei Falls before we reached Paihai - the town I'd love to live in, well I say town but it was more like a little village and it was simply lovely. Extremely laid back, friendly locals, sunny, beach on the doorstep, great sailing, diving, etc, etc - I think you get the idea. Its also the place where New Zealand was effectively born - just around the corner is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed which effectively put New Zealand under the protection of the Commonwealth in exchange for access to fishing, forestry, etc and it stands to this day as the contract between the Maori and the blow ins! Again set in spectacular scenery but then I'm quickly coming to the conclusion there arn't many places here which don't fit that description!

So what did I get up to when I got there? Well I originally only planned to spend a couple of days there but that turned into 2 weeks and then I had to drag myself away. First week was spent between active and completely chilling out - one day was spent taking a day trip up to Cape Reinga which is set on the very Northern tip of NZ - a day driving through rainforests and then stopping on beautiful secluded beaches for a quick dip before hopping back on the bus and making our way to the Cape. The tip itself is dramatic - it is where you get to see 2 oceans clashing - I think from memory its the Pacific and Tasman but couldn't swear on it, was great though, you could really see the difference - one was the clear green and the other was dark blue - all surrounded by rugged wild cliffs and landscapes, definitely worth the trip alone.

From there it was a trip to some massive sand dunes so we could try out dune boarding which was great craic - basically after struggling to get to the top of these huge dunes you fly down them on a boogie board with only your toes to stop you when you get near the bottom! After trying to remove the sand from those awkward spots...it was on to 90 mile beach although in actual fact its only 64 miles long - ladies can you guess that it was originaly measured by a man?!? That was quite amusing too - you shouldn't drive on it in a car as chances are you'll get stuck and there's not much chance of getting out of there - our driver (in a 4 wheel drive bus) showed us the skeletons of some poor unfortunate japanese tourists cars who suffered the fate above. There are also some wild horses who roam up there so that was quite cool to see. And then it was time to head home via New Zealands world famous chip shop which although good wasn't the best I've ever had...chips that is!

Anyway enough of the raving about that particular day trip - the next day took me out on a trip around the Bay by boat with the hope that we would get to go swimming with Dolphins and sure enough some turned up - quick change into a wetsuit later we hopped into the bloody freezing sea and after about 2 mins of the dolphins having a nose around they buggered off again! Bloody inconsiderate wildlife! But that trip gave me a taste for life on the ocean waves so as soon as I was back on terra firma it was straight down to the Info centre to see if I could get myself booked on a sailing course but none were starting in the next few days so the guy invited me to come down to the beach the next day where they were holding a classic sailing boat race and sorted out for me to crew a boat for the day - how sweet is that? Really enjoyed myself and am going back in January to do the full sailing course - 5 days of which you train for 2 days and then take the boat yourself for 3 as well as sleeping on the boat, can't wait!

Then I decided that if I couldn't do something on the water sure I might as well do something under it instead! I booked to do my PADI Open Water scuba diving course - 4 days later I am qualified to dive without an instructor and plan to go diving again very soon. Recommend it to anyone - very wierd at first but gives you a very different way to look at things!

So that's it from the Northlands - met loads of really nice people there, had a great laugh - if you ever come this way go there!