Well, the rain finally arrived... It was only overcast and windy this morning so we headed out for a bit of cultural history, walking to the Waitangi National Reserve. It's the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the British and the Maoris, officially making New Zealand a colony of Britain. We had a look around the Visitor Centre, watching the film about the history of the treaty, complete with excellently naff synthesiser soundtrack and am-dram rec...

We've escaped Auckland yippee! We caught the bus/coach up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands this morning and arrived early afternoon. It's very pretty here - it looks sort of tropical which totally confused me as it's not scenery I'd have expected in New Zealand. That's probably a completely ridiculous thing to say though because I suppose the whole point of New Zealand is that the landscape is massively diverse. The bay here is full of... wait for it... islands! I...