The Bay of Islands
After hectic and long journey up to the Bay of Islands - which was unexpected as we had been told by so many people that the North Island was completely flat, it turned out to be pretty damn hilly. We arrived there just in time to make it to the information centre and book a tour for the next day.
The next morning we had to get up really morning to catch the tour bus. It was a really cool tour actually that took you right up the Northernest point of New Zealand. Luckily our tour was really empty and there was only 11 of us. Our first port of call was one of the last remaining kauri tree forests. Kauri trees are massive, and the walk went on to show you the widest ever cut down which was much wider than the height of a tall man - sad really. After a short drive we headed for 90 mile beach - which is actually around 67 miles long! As we were in a 4x4 bus it was easy work for the bus. We stopped a few times to take in the sights, the strangest being 'the hole in the rock', which is literally a hole in a rock that unbelievably people pay good money to take a boat ride through it! We didn't manage to see any wild horses, but the driver did stop the bus to go digging for tua tua, which are like clams. I was one of the only 2 people to try one, but it didn't really taste of anything. Next stop was the giant sand dune where we did the well awaited sand boarding. We treked up to the top of the sand dune, which was hard enough work, you were totally out of breath half way up, and then you lay on your board and went sliding down at top speed, it was so much fun. We reached Cape Reinga, and checked out the lighthouse and then on to a bay for lunch. It was pretty windy, but that didn't stop Elliott and our new found friend, Ian, running on to the waves, which were apparently brilliant. On the way back, we stopped at a kauri workshop , where they had amazing pieces of furniture and even an entire stair case hollowed out for the centre of one trunk. As we neared Pahia, Elliott and I were the only one to get a $5 portion of fish and chips. which I'm sure everyone was jealous of because the fish was so fresh and the portion was enough to completely fill us both up with.
That night we met up with our new friends, and met up with other who had crazily camped on the beach. For one, you re not allowed, but then you couldn't see the tent in the dark. Secondly the sea breeze was freezing! We sleep well in our car under the trees!
The next morning, we woke up quite early as usual, and went sea kayaking. I was a bit nervous about it as the last time I had kayaked was when I was the secondary school and it was pretty windy - topped with the fact that the kayak owners told us we were pretty crazy to go out. We were going to do half a day but in the day settled for 2 hours. In the end it turned out to be fun. We got a double kayak out, me at the front and Elliott directing at the front. WE were supposed to kayak around several island but instead we just went in front of them, shielded from the sea and big waves. We decided to go to an island that can only be reached by boat and was completely covered in nice shells. After arriving back without tipping over once, a quick spray of the cold shower and we were off to our final stop in NZ, Auckland, giving Ian a lift. x
The next morning we had to get up really morning to catch the tour bus. It was a really cool tour actually that took you right up the Northernest point of New Zealand. Luckily our tour was really empty and there was only 11 of us. Our first port of call was one of the last remaining kauri tree forests. Kauri trees are massive, and the walk went on to show you the widest ever cut down which was much wider than the height of a tall man - sad really. After a short drive we headed for 90 mile beach - which is actually around 67 miles long! As we were in a 4x4 bus it was easy work for the bus. We stopped a few times to take in the sights, the strangest being 'the hole in the rock', which is literally a hole in a rock that unbelievably people pay good money to take a boat ride through it! We didn't manage to see any wild horses, but the driver did stop the bus to go digging for tua tua, which are like clams. I was one of the only 2 people to try one, but it didn't really taste of anything. Next stop was the giant sand dune where we did the well awaited sand boarding. We treked up to the top of the sand dune, which was hard enough work, you were totally out of breath half way up, and then you lay on your board and went sliding down at top speed, it was so much fun. We reached Cape Reinga, and checked out the lighthouse and then on to a bay for lunch. It was pretty windy, but that didn't stop Elliott and our new found friend, Ian, running on to the waves, which were apparently brilliant. On the way back, we stopped at a kauri workshop , where they had amazing pieces of furniture and even an entire stair case hollowed out for the centre of one trunk. As we neared Pahia, Elliott and I were the only one to get a $5 portion of fish and chips. which I'm sure everyone was jealous of because the fish was so fresh and the portion was enough to completely fill us both up with.
That night we met up with our new friends, and met up with other who had crazily camped on the beach. For one, you re not allowed, but then you couldn't see the tent in the dark. Secondly the sea breeze was freezing! We sleep well in our car under the trees!
The next morning, we woke up quite early as usual, and went sea kayaking. I was a bit nervous about it as the last time I had kayaked was when I was the secondary school and it was pretty windy - topped with the fact that the kayak owners told us we were pretty crazy to go out. We were going to do half a day but in the day settled for 2 hours. In the end it turned out to be fun. We got a double kayak out, me at the front and Elliott directing at the front. WE were supposed to kayak around several island but instead we just went in front of them, shielded from the sea and big waves. We decided to go to an island that can only be reached by boat and was completely covered in nice shells. After arriving back without tipping over once, a quick spray of the cold shower and we were off to our final stop in NZ, Auckland, giving Ian a lift. x
posted by Simone @ 3/10/2007 07:08:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home