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We are seriously going to spend more than we planned to in New Zealand - there are so many cool things to do here. Sky dives, bungy jumps, hot springs, glowworm caves, rafting, sailing, fishing, hikes, glacier walks etc etc - and we want to do them all. It seems crazy that a country can be so diverse and have so much to offer.
On our first full day in Auckland we just wandered round, soaking things up, before having an early night. The next day we picked up our Rugby World Cup tickets for England v Georgia at the Sky Tower, the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. Then, as we were there, we decided we might as well go up to the top, especially as the backpacker rate to do this was just $18 (compared to $28 normally). It was definitely worth it; you could see for miles across the harbour and out past the city to the fields. You could also spot the many dormant volcanoes that speckle the city. Best of all, the glass panels on the main observation floor meant that you could 'walk' on the air and pretend that your giant feet were squishing all the little people almost 60 floors below - hours of fun :-)
After that we went shopping down K Road for warmer clothes. There are tonnes of thrift and vintage stores down there so I managed to pick up an almost new winter coat for just $12, which is a bit pikey but perfect really seeing as I will have no need for it after just a few weeks.
Yesterday we were picked up at just gone 7am by Magic Bus and taken up to the small town of Paihia. The town overlooks the beautiful Bay of Islands which comprises of 144 islands. In order to see it properly we booked a place on an afternoon cruise out to one of the furthest islands, which has a huge hole in it that you can literally drive a boat through, which of course we did. About halfway into the trip the driver stopped the boat so that we could watch the dolphins who had come to say hello. For the next half hour we watched as they frolicked in the water, performing flips and somersaults and looking for all the world as if they were putting on a show just for us. A lot of their jumps were even synchronised! It was amazing.
That night we cooked (and burnt) pizza in the hostel's archaic oven before settling down with a bottle of wine to tackle their massive VHS collection. We managed 'America's Sweethearts' and 'Trainspotting' before admitting defeat and going to bed.
This morning we were picked up at 8am and we headed back to Auckland via Opononi to see the huge sand dunes at Hokianga, and via Waipoua Forest to see Tane Mahuta, a giant tree estimated to be between 1250 and 2500 years old. It is hard to describe how big this tree is and the pictures don't do it justice but we estimated that it would have taken at least 8-10 people with their arms fully stretched out to make a chain around it. Unfortunately you can't get close enough to test this theory!
Tomorrow we move on to Rotorua...
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