We headed up north (very) early friday morning and arrived in Pahihia by lunchtime. Saw some genetically modified pink sheep on the way up! Wouldn't lose them easily come sun or snow!

Pahihia itself is a small town that mainly serves as a stop for tourists so is pretty quiet at this time of year.

We headed over to Russell on the ferry in the afternoon. The coastline is beautiful and the sun was shining which is always a great start. Russell is actually part of the mainland but it's quicker to get the ferry over.

Russell is more like a village with justa few shops, cafes and most importantly a pub. We went on a mission over to the other side of the hill that sits right behind Russell. I say a mission because we thought the flat route that goes around the edge of the hill was closed so we trekked up the steepest road I've ever come across and dropped down the other side to long sands beach. Fortunately the views of the islands from the top of the hill were incredible!! The water was turquoise and so so clear and the beach was of the white sandy variety :D

We decided to treat ourselves to a BBQ cooked at the hostel for dinner. Rump steak, sausage, jacket potato and a glass of vino for $11 (£5.50)! Truly delicious after the previous nights' dinners of a McDonals wrap and a dry microwave pasta dish (the just add milk and water and microwave kind).

Saturday was another early start as we went on a day trip up to the very top of NZ - Cape Rienga. We took a stop in the rainforest on the way up to see some Kauri trees . Basically the widest trees you've ever seen! My arm span was probably a third of the circumference (ie 5ft4)! Much better than the one we saw in Nelson that was more like a long skinny stick. We then went up to Cake Rienga and walked to the lighthouse that stands at the tip. No land mass between there and Russia! The heavens truly opened when we got here so unfortunately my pics are a bit wet and I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards but 5mins later when the sun did come out the views were stunning! We then headed to a beach for lunch and after munching my bacon butties on the bus waiting for the rain to stop once again, I went into the sea! It was actually warmer than English sea in Summer!

We then went sandboarding - like sledging but on body boards and down massive sand dunes lying on your front, head first. Steering is done bu sticking your foot in the sand (both feet to brake!) This was soooo much fun! If you were going fast enough then you also crossed a little stream at the bottom without getting wet. Hiking up the sand dune was an entirely different matter though!

We then cruised down 90 mile beach in the coach and headed to a final stop for fish and chips! The fish of choice was a good bit of snapper and boy was it good!

On the sunday, I headed off first thing to go on a cruise around the islands and to see some dolphins. We saw loads of dolphins including a baby dolphin 1 day old!! (the crew had seen it's mum the previous day and there was no baby then!) They were right up next to the boat! We then went to the infamous 'hole in the rock' - literally a giant hole in a rock that sits in the middle of the sea and the boat squeezes through the hole and everyone goes 'ooo' and 'aaah'. We got off for a walk around one of the islands led by a Maori guy, who taught me a lot about Maori culture. They believe a lot in spirits and focus a lot on nature and the environment. Apparently they used to send old women to guard the islands and live alone, because they could no longer bare children and were therefore of the least use! I said what about old men and he said, oh they just hang around in the background in Maori culture. I don't reckon that's just Maori culture!

So another thing ticked off my giant list of things to do and a truly amazing weekend was had! It was then back to the big cityfor our last few days in NZ!