And so my journey on the Kiwi Experience begins...at 7.10am in the morning. Not the most sociable of hours, so the bus was very quiet for the journey up north. We were heading north to Paihia (The Bay of Islands).

Pretty much as soon as we got there me and 3 other girls, Serina, Danielle and Kat went out on a boat trip to find dolphins! The boat took os all around the Bay of Islands, which are stunning! We did find a big group (not sure what they are actually called) of bottle nosed dolphins. There were loads of them and they were coming up and swimming around the boat! Unfortuanetly we weren't allowed to swim with them, because they had babies with them. On the way back we also saw 2 types of whales, one of which was a humpback.; was pretty amazing!

The next day we had another early start as we headed up to Cape Reinga, which is almost the very top of New Zealand! It also where the Pacific meets the Tasman sea (you can actually see where the 2 currents meet). It is a very important place to the Mauri people, as they believe this is where their spirits leave the land and pass in to the other world! Because of this we weren't allowed to take any food or drink down there! After admiring the amazing views from here we headed off to do some sandboarding! We climbed a massive sand dune (I nearly died - I blame my cough and asthma, as opposed to me being unfit), then I jumped on body board and went flying down the sand dune, with only our feet as brakes. I would have gone again and again if I could have made it up the hill! It was then off to 90mile beach (which is actually only 67 miles long), which was also extremly beautiful! On the way back to Paihia, we stopped at the Ancient Kauri showroom, which had loads of amazing things made out of ancient Kauri trees. These are trees that were found in a swamp, that had been preserved for up to 55 000 years.! All in all a great day! I also got to know Danielle and Serina a lot better and they are lovely. Serina is doing the rest of New Zealand with me, but unfortuanetly Danielle is moving on!

Our last day in Paihia and me and Danielle got up to go on a Kayaking trip around the Bay of Islands. We kayaked around for abit, with Nick, our Mauri guide singing songs and telling us stories. We then collected mussels and stopped on a beach to cook them. They were so tasty. We also collected shells and Nick made us necklaces from them!

Unfortuanetly after this, it was back to Auckland (a very boring city). I spent the evening hanging out with Danielle and Serina, before getting an early night, ready for the start of the rest of my journey around the North Island!

(Photos to come..can't get them to upload)