14/7/9 Bay of Islands

After a terrible nights restless sleep we had to be up at 6am to catch our bus. We reserved beds at the hostel in Auckland so we had a bed after the game, still hoping for tickets. We got toasted bagels for breakfast and boarded the kiwi bus. The driver acts as a tour guide and she was called Fly. Fly gave a commentary as we drove along through Auckland over the harbour bridge and through town. The bridge had an extension of four new lanes which were made in japan and are locally known as the "Nipon Clip ons". We saw a lovely sunrise over the city and drove out of the city towards Paihia, passing Sheepworld-with sheep painted pink for some reason!!! The scenery was really beautiful and Fly pointed out things of interest along the way. We stopped for morning tea after about an hours drive and Phil had "pudding now" as did Liz. We continued towards Paihia with Fly waving at all the passing truck drivers and she even flashed her chest at a passing train much to Phils amusement. We arrived at the Bay of Islands at about 12 noon, which as the name suggests is a large bay with many islands. We stopped at the marina to book a boat trip out into the bay in the afternoon as it was a lovely afternoon but the weather was due to change the next day. We also boooked a trip out on a Waka which is a Moari canoe. The sea was really calm and there was a little wind but nothing to indicate what would happen later.....the trip was out into the bay to see the world famous "hole in the rock" which neither of us had heard of but is a huge hole through a rock out in the sea which the boats can go through. We were hoping to see some dolphins too and maybe Orcas as they are seen pretty regularly too. The Te Waka trip was a Moari cultural trip out on the Waka into the bay with Moari songs and legends which sounded really good. We checked into our hostel called Pipi Patch where we had a room in a three bedroom apartment. The hostel had a hot tub and pool which was a bit of a bonus. We headed to the harbour, grabbed a quick sandwich and boarded the boat for our afternooon trip just as the weather began to change...for the worse. The boat was pretty empty it being winter and a bit rough and we stopped first at the township of Russell just accross the bay from Paihia. Darwin called it the "hell hole of the Pacific" as it was a stopping point for sailors and whalers and was very lawless with much drinking and prostitution in the years before NZ was colonised. The Moari asked the British to send troops to sort out the problems in Russell and some were sent from Australia. Missions were also set up there and eventually it became the quiet little settlement it is today. The small town has the oldest licensed pub in the world which we decided to visit later on. Some other passengers boarded at Russell but the weather had really turned quite nasty and the boat was rolling in the waves even in the protection of the bay. The captain announced that as the weather was so bad he would go straight to the hole in the rock as that was the trip highlight and then come straight back to the shelter of the bay. As we headed out the boat passed through a channel between two islands (Okahu and Waetorea) and out to the open sea. The water was really rough and the boat really rolling so we travelled out to Motukokato island of the famous hole in the rock!! When we got there it was almost impossible to stand and take any pictures and we certainly couldn't go through the hole!!! We turned back to the bay after only five minutes and made an unscheduled stop on Urpukapuka as many people were feeling rough. It is a holiday destination in summer but was totally abandoned. Back on the boat it was all a little calmer in the bay so we travelled round Motukiekie, Moturua and Motuarohia islands which had some fantastic properties on them. One had a tunnel drilled through the rocks big enough for the owners golf buggy to be taken to the jetty for the private launch....nice!!! Next we docked again at Russell where we got off to take a look round. It was about 4pm and the skies were very dark and grey and unfortunately everything on the island was shut so we had little choice but to head for the bar. It was a bit odd in that a Frenchman ran it, an Irishman was the chef and the happy hour prices were more pricey than normal Auckland ones. The oldest pub is for sale if anyone is interested but it does need a bit of a renovation. We returned to Paihia on a fast ferry in the dark feeling a bit deflated we hadn't had such a good trip and no dolphins either. We got back to the hostel and called Phils mum to wish her Happy 60th Birthday and went for a barbecue in the hostel bar. After a couple of drinks we went to bed.

15/7/9 Bay of Islands

After a very wet night with pounding rain we had a lazy morning and went for breakfast in a beachside cafe. We called a kayak hire chap and arranged to meet him to hire a couple of kayaks for a few hours. We wanted a guide but none were available so when we met the chap and asked for half day hire he said we could keep the kayaks until 5pm which was about 6 hours. He also gave us his best kayaks for a reduced price...nice fella. We rowed along the coast up to a road bridge where we joined a river and rowed into a mangrove forest. It was really quiet and sheltered there and we spent a little while exploring. There were herons and kingfishers as well as millions of sand flies which took a real shine to our flesh unfortunately!!! We headed back out to the bay and rowed to Motuarohi island where we got out to take a short break from rowing. We carried on round the island and also around Taylor island and on to Motumaire island. We rowed towards Waitangi where there is a small beach for us to land on. We landed and pulled our kayaks onto the beach. We had arrived on Hobsons beach famous for the landing of Captain William Hobson, a British Government representative, who wrote the Treaty of Waitanga. The treaty is the agreement between Moaris and Non Moaris to live and work together in one nation. It basically put NZ under British rule but gave the Moaris land rites. It was signed in Waitangi on 6th February 1840 and is still adhered to today but there were wars in between when Europeans came and tried to lay claim to land. We were dressed in our wet suits and dripped our way around the vistor centre, the Treaty house, moari meeting house and Captain Hobsons house. There is also a huge Moari Waka (war canoe) which we took a look at before getting in the kayaks again to row back to town. We passed the jetty and crossed the bay to the kayak hire place on the beach and returned to the hostels hot tub for a warm up after a great day out. We got dressed and went to a local bar for some food and there was a pub quiz in full swing. We were too late to enter but played along and were scoring more points than the other teams by a long way. Shame we were too late as the prize was a $50 bar tab....doh!!! After the quiz the pub filled up as the state of Origins rugby match was on, a game between New South Wales and Queensland rugby teams...apparently its like a big grudge match and loads of people were watching it. We went off to bed after a couple of drinks.

16/7/9 Cape Reinga

We had another early start as we were going up to Cape Reinga the most northerly point of the North island. We stopped for a visit to Puketi Kauri Forest for a short walk to see native trees from NZ called Kauri trees. They are massive straight trees which are up to 1000yrears old in this forest and Captain Cook saw the trees from the sea and used one to replace a mast which bought him to NZ. The Moari believe it is good to hug the trees as they give you good health so we both hugged the really big one in the middle of the walk! The trees were pretty amazing and the forest really lovely with lots of native forest plants. The trees have been found under ground perfectly preserved and have been dated as old as 50,000 years!!!This wood is called swamp wood and is used for carving all sorts of things and is incredibly expensive. The growing Kauri trees are protected and big fines result if you chop one down. We stopped at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom where the carving of the beautiful wood happens. It is a really dark and smooth wood when it is finished and in the middle of the building the spiral strairway was carved from a single tree. Next we stopped at Kataia which was a Moari town before becoming a mission station in 1833 after which we drove onto the southern end of 90 mile beach. We drove along the "recreational highway" with no need for any licenses, saw a baby seal and a dead dolphin ! We travelled along for about 40kms and saw another hole in another rock. This one is reputedly the anchor from the boat belonging to Kupe a Polynesian voyager who had found the North island around 950AD. We turned off the beach up Tepaki quicksand steam to go sandboarding on the huge dunes (biggest in NZ) along side the beach. There had been a huge storm and the drivers couldn't stop where they normally would but we stopped further on and sandboarded down some dunes before the coach sunk!!! Then we made our way to Cape Reinga which is NZ most northerly point and is a very sacred Moari sight as it is believed that the spirits of the dead pass to the spirit world through a tree on the cape. There is a lighthouse there and the Tasman sea and Pacific oceans meet creating turbulence on the surface of the water. We took a walk to the lighthouse and the views were really fabulous. The day had started pretty rough but it was just beautiful on the Cape. We also posted ourselves a postcard home as any card sent from the Cape is supposed to be good luck so heres hoping. The postmark is hand stamped which is apparently the last plase this still happens in the world!!! We stopped at Houhora boat club for fish and chips. The most northerly St John station is there too and we took some pictures for the Fullloways. We travelled through to Kauri kingdom again where we both had a Hokey pokey icecream (honeycomb) . We went to a really pretty little coastal town called Monganui meaning big shark which was a natural harbour. It started to pour with rain again as we headed into Paihia again. We went for some tea and had another early night....this travellling lark is exhausting. Our sand fly bites are really @#$%^&* itchy!!!!!