So, after 2 flights (Brisbane - Sydney, Sydney - New Zealand) we arrived in Auckland, in the dead of night (after immigration, getting to the hotel then sorting out a burst shampoo bottle in David's bag it was gone 2am!). The next 2 days we spent at Sue's house, recovering and seeing a tiny bit of Auckland, as well as the beautiful NZ countryside. We're returning for an extra 4 days in Auckland though so plenty more to see and do coming up :)
After our 2 days, we again woke up at the crack of dawn (5!!!) to get the train into Britomart station to catch an early 7.30am bus. However, after getting there on time and waiting at the stop, we recieved an email (luckily we'd bought a NZ sim the day earlier!) telling us that our bus had been cancelled due to lack of drivers! We were rearranged onto a service bus at 12.45 but of course, we all had our massive backpacks, the Stray (bus company) shop wasn't open until 9am and to be fair we'd been looking forward to a snooze on the coach! Along with 2 others who had been waiting for the coach, we went to get a coffee and wait for the Stray shop to open, where we hung around for the remaining 3 hours or so until our bus, which was comfortable and uneventful for the 4 hour journey up to Paihia.

Paihia is towards the very top of the North Island, so technically it should be warmer, which I was looking forward to as I've been very very cold since we arrived in Auckland! Paihia's a quaint little town in the Bay of Islands, with a calm sea and small shops. Our first day, we were obviously tired so checked into our hostel, hit Countdown (the New Zealand version of Woolworths, which is like Tesco!), then prepared ourselves for another early start.

We woke up early in the morning to catch a 7am bus, which thankfully actually turned up! This was to take us up to Cape Reinga for a day trip, which is at the very top point of the North Island.

Even though we spent a long time on the bus, it was amazing to see the scenery, which is nothing like Australia! The fields are lush green like England, but it's a bit more hilly! Also there's a gazillion cows and not many people or houses, at least anywhere north of Paihia. Along the way up to the top, we made short stops in a tall forest (with a walkway built for the Queen, who decided not to walk on it!).

After a lot of skillful diving and windy roads, we arrived at Cape Reinga lighthouse, where we first saw the meeting of the two seas, the Tasman sea from the west, and the Pacific Ocean from the east, which you can actually see joining together as the waves crash in different directions. We then walked down to Cape Reinga lighthouse, where we were lucky to see across to the Three Kings Island, as it was a clear day. The island was first spotted on 6th January! Hence it's name.
Cape Reinga is very special to Maori people, who believe the spirit of people who die go there before returning home (that's a simplified version of it of course!)

The tour guide/driver taught us about the native caretakers and tribes of the land, including some of their beliefs and the names of the places, which were hard for us to pronounce!

After the lighthouse, we made our way to the beach, where we fearlessly drove through a stream known for quick sand! There we got out and trekked up the sand dunes, and sand boarded down! I braved it and went down, and even managed to brake before I hit the stream! David climbed up again and boarded down the sand dune 3 times! We were less covered in sand than we thought we would be, and pretty much everyone on the bus gave it a go! After this, the driver took us to drive along 90 mile beach (it's not 90 miles long...) where we paddled (accidently swam) in the crazy waves! We then drove very quickly around 20km down the beach, passing a bogged car but luckily our bus made it out in 1 piece!

We finally began the long drive back to Paihia again, stopping for fish and chips (pronounced very differently in NZ!) in the now sunny Bay of Islands.

Highlights: Sand boarding! Seeing the 2 seas meet and the views from the bus.

Accomodation: The Mousetrap Backpackers in Paihia, so cosy!