Once again we find ourselves back in Auckland for the night as we have just finished our "top bit" tour of the North Island.

We left for Pahia nice and early on Saturday morning with the bus picking us up at 7:15am! After struggling out of bed we were soon on our way over the harbour bridge and travelling on towards the Bay of Islands, our destination for the next three nights.

After a couple of hours on the bus we stopped off in a little town called Kawakawa to visit the public toilets, and no, George Michael was not with us! These toilets have been designed by an Austrian artist and architect called Frederick Hundertwasser, and are a pretty big attraction. They have a grass roof, windows made out of bottles, crazy mosaic tiling all around them, and even a living tree in the middle of it all. Apparently, the police found a huge marijuana plant growing on the roof a couple of years back and they have no idea how long it had been there!! Afraid we didn't take any photos, as it felt weird enough just walking around and looking at it while people were trying to use it.

After this brief stop it was onto Pahia, in the heart of the Bay of Islands. Once we had checked into our hostel it was straight onto the Excitor jet boat for a tour around the islands and out to the hole in the rock. It is one of the most powerful jet boats around and the views of the islands where amazing, but it's bloody difficult to get photos when you're being thrown around a 1200bhp boat! We then went inside the actual hole in the rock and circled around the outside and to where a face in the rock formation looks directly out towards Hawaii. This is where the Maori's in this region settled from and they believe that she looks out to protect them from any incoming dangers. On the way back to the harbour the skipper decided to show us just how fast the boat could go, which was great until we flew into rain and it felt like it was a needle storm as the rain stung our hands and faces and any other part of our bodies that were unfortunate enough to be exposed!!

Once we had recovered it was time for more humiliation as we went to watch the Lions get mauled by the All Blacks for the final time. As we were now out of the big cities, we found that we were in a room full of All Blacks fans with only a handful of other Lions supporters, and come the final whistle we left quietly and hurriedly trying to hide our shame!!

The next day, we were greeted with some great weather and although it was still jeans and light jumper conditions, it was still a welcome rest from the cold of the last week. We caught the ferry over the bay, and after a ten minute crossing we were in the lovely old town of Russell. The town was really quiet and laid back, with hardly any cars and lots of wooden houses, and even the police headquarters seemed to date back hundreds of years.

We walked around the town for a little while and along the beach and through the woodland, before coming out at the hilltop where there is a flag that represents the singing of the treaty between the Maori chiefs and the Queen Elizabeth, and a huge sundial with a mosaic of the area on the floor around it. The original flagpole was erected directly opposite where the treaty was signed across the bay (more later), but was then cut down by the Maori's, erected and then cut down, and erected and cut down again before the Maori tribes finally left one standing.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the huge lounge that the hostel had and resting ahead of another early start the next day, for our day trip up to Cape Reinga - the most northern point in New Zealand.

Monday morning we were once again picked up far too early and off on our travels once more. First stop was the Waipoua forest to see the mighty Kauri trees. These trees are second only in size to the Redwoods in California and are used for everything from furniture to houses to bridges. They are so big that it was almost impossible to get any into a photograph, however as it was raining pretty hard we were grateful of some shelter - so much for the winterless north!!!

Then it was back on the bus and up to the lighthouse on Cape Reinga, where the Tasman sea meets the Pacific Ocean. It is here that the Maori's believe their spirits must travel too in order to pass into the afterlife, and there is a small tree clinging to a rock that marks the exact spot.

After a quick lunch break we drove up a river (literally) in order to get to the sand dunes, and luckily the weather brightened up and the sun was out by the time we got there. The dunes were huge this time, much bigger than in Fiji and after a smooth first run, where I managed to make the river, I once again wiped out on the second run, although this time I managed to avoid landing directly onto my neck!!

It was then time to head back to Pahia, and our coach headed out to ninety mile beach to drive back along the sand for most of the way. It was kinda odd, driving along like this (and more than a little bumpy), but good fun none the less.

Our last stop on the way back was at a Kauri tree workshop and warehouse where the centrepiece was a 110 tonne tree trunk that had been carved out and turned into a staircase, with the whole building then built around it. The craftsmanship was amazing and some of the pieces of furniture and little collectables were fantastic, but we managed to keep our hands out of our wallets for this one.

Then it was back to Pahia in the evening, with just time for some gold old fashioned fish and chips.

Our last day in Pahia was spent visiting the grounds where the treaty was signed. There was another flagpole to mark the exact spot where the signing took place, opposite the one in Russell, and a huge 35 metre war canoe that some of the very first settlers used to fight off the influx of white man. The original house that the Queen's representative lived in was also refurbished and looked out across the bay with the flagpole essentially in it's front garden. Once again, the weather picked up for our final day, and the views across the bay were pretty cool.

Then it was back onto the bus for the 3 hour journey back to Auckland. Tomorrow we head south to Whitianga and onwards into the deep, dark, cold depths of the North Island before bracing ourselves for the South Island's weather!!