Kia Ora!
Here we are safely in beautiful New Zealand! It has been a jam-packed first three days in the country and it looks to be non-stop while we are here so we are very excited about that.
We arrived in Auckland on monday night and after having our shoes disinfected in customs we were collected by Chantal, a friend of Kerry's who lives in the city. It was really good to see her again after our brief meeting in 2005 so we chatted all the way home, not forgetting to stop off so we could see where Kerry lived while she was there. We were slightly over excited to be staying in a real house for the frist time in 7 weeks. It's surprising how much you miss the small things like a bedside lamp and other little bits that make a place feel homely, so a night in a comfy bed was a real treat!
Our next treat was a guided whiltle-stop tour of the city with Chantal. We drove through the city and all along the shoreline stopping for photos along the way. We also went up to two vantage points to get great views of the city and a real feel for what it was like to be an Aucklander. Considering the whole population of NZ is only just over 4 million, Auckland is a pretty big city with a population of 1.3 million.
After the city we headed north to a place called Matakana and to a sculpture park which was brilliant - see evidence of jon's new interest - artistic photography - in the photo album! After winetasting and a pottery factory we stopped at the supermarket to restock the cool bag and went back to Chantal's for a glass of wine. Went out for dinner in Auckland with Chantal's boyfriend, Maurice, which was lovely and we had lots of laughs. She misses you lots Kez and has very fond memories of your time here.
We were sad to leave Chantal the next morning as we had a lovely time with her and wished we could have stayed longer but we were up early to join the big green Kiwi Experience Bus. We have had very good things about the Kiwi Experience from other travellers so our bus breaking down and us joining the sister company for the over 50s was shall we say not the best start, but we are sure things will look up from here on in!! We arrived in Paihia in the Bay of islands at lunch time and took a walk along the sea front road and admired the beautiful views. The rest of the day was spent in the hot tub making friends with the other people in our dorm. We had a BBQ in the evening and spent the evening in the hostel bar with the same group, which was great except for Jon's lethal farts!! Today we took a day trip up to cape Reigna which is the most northern part of the country. It was a pretty long drive but we started the day in a Kauri forest. Kauri trees are only found in the northern most point of New Zealand and can live up to 2000 years so this was pretty special as some of the trees were huge - only second in size to the Sequoia trees. After breakfast we went up to the Cape and did a beautiful walk, spending a long time watching in amazement at the point where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide - you can sctually see it which was so cool! The weather was gorgeous too which was great as although the weather is good here now, temperatures are not quite what we have been used to lately and the jumpers have been out on the early mornings!! After the Cape we went to a 85m sand dune for sand surfing - wicked!!!! We slid down a huge sand dune laying on our tummies on body boards, it was so great and well worth the agnising walk to the top! We had been warned of the horrific injuries we may incur (like one guy who was going so fast he crossed a stream at the bottom of his dune and went head first into his waiting bus, knocking himself out so badly that he ended up on the wrong bus!) so needless to say we were very glad to come away unscathed not counting wouths and pockets full of sand!! On the way back to Paihia we made three stops. One to an anciant Kauri workshop where they made all kinds of furniture and artefacts from Kauri trees which had been found preserved underground and were carbon dated to be about 45,000 years old. Inside there was an entire stairwell which had been carved out of the inside of one of the trunks, pretty impressive. The second stop was a fish and chip shop for dinner where we had battered blue nose - yum! The third was a little fruit farm where we had all kinds of inseason fruit chopped up ready for us! We bought some of the oranges as they were delicious! Back at the Pipi patch in Paihia - The Bay of Islands - now and planning a chilled evening after an 11 hour round trip today. It's already 8pm so it may be an early one as we are both really tired. Our first impressions of New Zealand are that it is a beautiful lush green land of quaint townships and energetic and kind people. A total change from Australia and somewhere I think we will enjoy alot! Tomorrow we are thinking we will go up to the Waitangi treaty ground where a treaty was signed in the mid 1800s officially joining the Maoris and Europeans and creating the nation we now find ourselves exploring - we thought it would be a good start to understanding lovely New Zealand!! Back to Auckland in the afternoon, arriving in the evening and then starting our journey South Saturday - woohoo!!!!! Fingers crossed for better luck with the buses. Lots and lots of love - especially to Sarah Harris who I can't believe is moving to Sydney so suddenly. Despite crying all morning I am thrilled to bits for you and looking forward to lots of free holidays!!!!! xxxxxx Hope everyone is ok at home and thanks all for the messages and update emails. It's so good to hear from you and what's going on as we are missing you loads! We realised today that this is the mid point of our trip and after today we have less days remaining than preceding - booooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! We still promise to come home for Christmas (maybe) - sorry Jode not tomorrow!!!! Lots of love and kisses and cuddles especially for my Mum - missing your cuddles the most xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx