We spent three hours on the beach and I collected lots of shells. Dad said to come and see the shell he found. There was someone living inside it! We saw that it had a bit of shell on the live creature so when we picked it up, the shell would snap shut. Then we drove around to see if we could find a place to horse ride. We rode on a beach for a while and then rode on hills near the beach. Sometimes my horse would stop to nibble grass when we stopped. Then we rod...

We had lunch in the Bay of Islands and took the ferry to Russell where we looked around. Then we took the most winding road that we had been on to Mangawhai Heads. We stayed in an apartment with a spiral staircase. 

Today we got ready for a 9:00 tour bus. After we got on the bus we went and picked up other tourists from different motels. Then we drove to the Kauri Kingdom where they sell kauri sculptures. At the back of the room there was a big kauri tree that had been cut down and placed there. In fact, there was a staircase carved inside it! On the main floor there was a couch made of kauri wood, but it had a few holes in it so it didn't look too comfortable. Then, whe...

We headed out to Kaitaia. On the way, we stopped and looked at different kauri trees. The first was at Trounsen Reserve. We went walking on the boardwalk and there were different signs to tell what the different plants were. The kauri trees had 'hanging gardens' on them and they looked like hairy armpits! At the next stop, we ate lunch by four kauri trees called "the Four Sisters". Then we walked to the second largest kauri tree in New Zealand called Mat...

We stayed in Dargaville today. We went out to the Kauri Museum where I got a piece of kauri gum. At the Kauri Museum we saw how big the kauri trees can get. We also saw the old machinery that they used to cut up the kauri trees. Then we went to Bayly's beach where you can drive on the beach with your car. I asked a man walk ing by what the little blue bits on the sand were and he said that they were Man of War! After the beach we went to different wood turnin...