There is just a bit of information here for you before I start this blog entry about the Bay of Islands:

The Bay of Islands region has the finest maritime park in New Zealand with the 144 Islands and secluded bays. The Bay has an abundance of marine life, including the big marlin, whales, penguins, dolphins, gannets and many other species. The maritime and historic park is the original cradle of European civilization and has fine examples of Maori culture.

Friday 12th February 2010

A very early start this morning we had to be outside the hostel at 7.15am ready for our bus to take us to the Bay of Islands. The bus was late again but we didn't mind too much as it then gave us a chance to get a coffee. After the driver Flee had picked us up she had another pick up at a different hostel where she managed to take a roof off a Greek Restaurant so she then had to contend with a very angry Greek Women the start she wanted to the morning I don't think!! (These Kiwi experience drivers are always crashingJ). The bus was fine it was just the roof was poorly so we carried on once she had sorted out the Greek women. We stopped briefly for breakfast and a quick toilet stop before carrying on straight to Paihia the town where we were staying in the bay of islands we arrived here around midday. After checking in we had a chilled out afternoon reading our books before having a wonder around the town which didn't take very long it's not very big!!! We also nipped to the supermarket to get supplies for our day trip tomorrow and on the way back to the hostel we went for a quick pint at a local bar where we saw a man who walked past who looked the spitting image of Bob Bunts but we didn't dare run after him to ask if it was… so we'll never know now which is a bit annoying as we know he is around the world somewhere.

Tonight we had a BBQ at the hostel before using the internet and getting an early night as we had another early in the morning.

Saturday 13th February 2010

Another early start this morning for our day trip to Cape Reinga we were picked up at 7.20am outside the hostel. We'll just give you a bit of information about Cape Reinga before we tell you about the day:

Reaching the iconic lighthouse at Cape Reinga is a goal that many travellers set themselves. While it's not quite the most northern point of New Zealand (North Cape is further north, but it's a scientific reserve and not open to the public), Cape Reinga is definitely the end of the road. Here the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, in a spectacular swirl of currents. At the northernmost tip of the cape is a gnarled pohutukawa tree, believed to be over 800 years old. According to Maori oral history, the spirits of Maori deceased leap from this tree into the ocean to return to their ancestral homeland of Hawaiiki.

The company we went with was call Awesome NZ.com and I am going to be really lazy now and just copy and paste the itinerary from there web sight below:

Your day begins with a short walk through the 15,000ha Puketi Kauri Forest. Take a deep breath of our fresh NZ air while you hug a 2,000 year old tree and rediscover nature as it's meant to be.

Stop at the seaside community of Taipa Beach for a bite to eat before climbing north to the very tip of NZ - Cape Reinga.

The headland of Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua) rises steeply to 290m above sea level. According to Maori legend this is the departing place of spirits on their journey to the homeland, Hawaiki. Legend tells of a spirit trail along 90 Mile Beach, starting at the southern end of the beach, the departing spirit waits for an outgoing tide before journeying back to Hawaiki.

The famous Cape Reinga lighthouse, where the Pacific Ocean collides with the Tasman Sea - a great photo opportunity to record your journey and 'smile for facebook'.

During lunch, check out the surf at Taputaputa Bay. Play some beach rugby, cricket and frisbee or just chill out and take in the beautiful scenery.

Learn some quick sand surfing techniques before grabbing a board to surf down the massive sand dunes at the Te Paki Stream. Take the awesomenz challenge and get amongst it!

Speed along 90 Mile Beach - a registered highway on the beach. Smell the salt air and get some toe-digging tips from the local driver as you hunt for pipis (fresh shell fish).

End the day overlooking the water at Mangonui eating our world famous 'fush 'n chups' before heading back to the Bay.

The views from Cape Reinga where amazing and we have got some great pictures from here. The sandboarding was brilliant fun but we only did it once as the hill was so steep to climb you needed a lay down by the time you got to the top so we decided once was enough thank you very much!!! On the way back to Piahia we stopped at the fish and chip shop which accordingly do the best fish and chips in New Zealand they were good but not half as good as Parkinsons and no mushy peas or baked beans and the Tomatoe sauce out here is vile it's called Watties and looks exactly like Heinz and we have since found out that Heinz owns Watties….. Heinz should be ashamed to make Tomatoe sauce that tastes so BAD!!!!!

It was a really good day and we both enjoyed it!! Tonight after getting showered and changed we used the internet in the hostel and by the time we had finished on that it was getting on a bit so decided to go for a drink in the bar it was far too busy especially when your sober!!! So change of plan we went next door to the Beach bar and had a few drinks there it was really nice as there was a live band on. This bar closed at 1am and we were trying to find somewhere else to go but we soon found out that every where in Piahia closes at 1am so we got quite an early night by our standards.

Sunday 14th February 2010

Today was our rest day as we had, had quite a few mornings of getting up super early so we had a lay in and then Suzie got the washing on while I went to ring Rach. After we had got some lunch we then went to the beach for the afternoon trying to top up our tans and make some progress with our books. We left the beach at around 6.45pm and the sun was still shining brightly and it was still super hot.

Tonight after getting showered we went into the town and found a nice and cheap café to eat at for dinner tonight. After we had eaten we went back to the hostel for a drink where we saw a couple of the lads we had met in the South Island but again in here there wasn't enough room to swing a cat (Think we must be getting old we sound exactly like Dad!!) so we had one drink and then went next door to the Beach House.

Monday 15th February 2010

Today we had booked a boat tour to go and see the Bay of Islands as we had been told the best and only way to see them was to get out on a boat. We had booked to go with Sail NZ 'On the Edge' which is the Ultimate day sail in the Bay of Islands and gives passengers theopportunity to experience the exhilarating ride aboard this impressive high performance catamaran, sailing the Bay of Islands. Built as a high performance flyer, 'On the Edge' is capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots. 72ft long, 40 ft wide and a mast that stands over 100ft high, 'On the Edge' looks fast even when standing still. (As you have probably guessed these are there words not mine I wouldn't have a clue!!!).

We had to be at the Marina by 9.30am and the boat left at around 10am, Once we had been given permission that we were aloud to sunbathe on the trampolines at the front Suzie and I were first out there we are really trying to top up our tans we think we've lost them a bit in New Zealand!! For the first two hours we sailed around the Bay of Islands and got some great pictures at around 12pm we docked at an island for lunch.

The lunch was cold meats and salad it was really good. After we had eaten we got the speed boat over to the island and walk up to a view point which gives you 360 degree views of the Bay of Islands. Once we had got back down we gave one of the crew who was ferrying people back and forth our cameras and clothes and Suz and I swam back to the boat. Once back on the boat we sailed around again for another two hours before returning to the Marina. We ended up staying on the boat for a bit longer as the skipper had come back a bit early as there was people on a cruise ship that was leaving at 5pm so they needed to get back to there boat. So he gave us the option of getting off with the cruise people or staying on as he was dropping people off at Russell which is the island opposite Paihia and then coming back to the Marina so we decided to go along for the ride.

Once back at the Marina we went back to the hostel and wrote 30 postcards as we haven't sent a single one since arriving in New Zealand. This took the best part of an hour and half. By the time had finished these we decided we well and truly deserved a beer!!! Tonight after getting showered and changed we went back to the café we had been to the night before as they had a deal on 2 pizzas and two glasses of wine for $30 which we thought was really good. After we had eaten we went to meet a girl we had met a couple of nights previously as it was her 30th Birthday we met her and a few other in the Beach bar and then we all went across to the hostel bar which was actually quiet for a change Paihia is definitely not the place to be on a Monday night!!! Tonight we got offered the opportunity to sail back to Auckland as there was a couple of older men who owned a sailing boat that they where taking back to Auckland tomorrow. We were very tempted to take them up on the offer but we decided against it in the end as it was going to take a day and a half and if anything went wrong we might have missed our flight to Fiji and then we would have been gutted. After closing we went back to the room and had a coffee before going to bed it was great we had an 8 bedded dorm to ourselves tonight so we could make as much noise as we liked without worrying we might wake some one up.

Tuesday 16th February 2010

This morning we had to check out by 10am we were a bit late checking out but no surprises there!!! After we had checked out we went to the post office to buy the stamps for the 30 postcards which cost a small fortune. It was then straight to the internet café to try and get the blog up to date before we leave New Zealand on Thursday. Our bus was picking us up from Piahia at 3pm to take us back to Auckland.