We arrived to Auckland at 4am in the morning after a 13 hour flight. We were initially told that our flight reservation was not valid but, thankfully, after a fair bit of stress, we made it on to the flight. We caught the shuttle into the downtown area and had a quick shower and change before heading out for a cup of tea and a stroll around the wharf.

We then headed to a shopping outlet centre for a bit of retail therapy (well in Ali's case anyway). After a tasty pie for lunch we headed to Snowplanet, an indoor snow run south of Auckland. We are tired of hearing about our friends going on ski trips so we decided it was time we had our fix of snow! It took over an hour on the bus and a further 30 minutes walk to get to the snowdome but it was totally worth it! We spent several hours boarding and attempting (crucial word) some tricks. We are still nursing the aches and bruises but we are sure you will find the videos highly entertaining! Thank you very much to Phil's mum and dad for funding the snow fun as my birthday treat!! We arrived back from the dome about 8.30 after a really long day and went straight to bed in preparation for our tour starting the next morning at 7.30am.

On the Tuesday we boarded our bus bright and early, bound for the Bay of Islands - but not before a pie and a cup of tea! In the morning we went to the Goat Island Marine Reserve for a spot of snorkelling and saw lots of different fish including snapper and maomao. We also stopped off for a short walk around Whangarei waterfall for our lunch.

Because the bird recovery centre was closed we were forced to endure the alternative 'attraction': The Kawakawa toilets! Sadly, we are not kidding. An Austrian architect, Hundertwasser (with works all over the world apparently!) lived in the area for a long time and designed the toilets as a thank you to the community. They were also his last piece of art before he died. He used lots of recycled materials and built the toilets in an ecologically friendly way. Needless to say we were thrilled with this outing!

We arrived into Paihia in the late afternoon and headed straight for the hot tub and pool as we were sore from snowboarding. The next day we went on a day trip to Cape Reinga. This is the point where the Tasman sea and the Pacific ocean converge, and where the Maori's believe the spirits leave New Zealand upon death. We were really lucky with the weather and could see the Three Kings islands on the horizon. Although the area where the seas meet would have been far more impressive on a rough day (sometimes 10m high waves).

We then went to Te Paki Stream which borders giant sand dunes, for some sand boarding. We used bodyboards and the speed was insane! We were on a bus with lots of older people and we were surprised at how many of them gave it a go. It was highly amusing to watch 70 year olds throwing themselves off a huge sand dune and skidding into the river bed below!

We drove along 90 Mile Beach (though it is actually just over 100km) and stopped to admire the wreckage of a car which had got stuck in the sand a few years ago and to dig some tuatua - a type of shellfish - which we then ate on the beach. On the way home we stopped for some famous Mangonui fish and chips, which was delicious!

On the last day in the Bay of Islands we went for a 10km walk through the national park and mangroves to Haruru Falls before getting on our bus back to Auckland.

The next morning we caught a bus to Tairua (with yet another tasty pie in hand!) where we were met by Tim and Heather, who we are staying with for a week. Phil used to teach them in North Devon and luckily for us they have a second home in the Coromandel National Park! We are going to do some local sights during our stay before picking up the tour bus and resuming our journey south.

We are adding photo's now too.

Love Ali and Phil xx