Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So.... we had a pretty early start on the 2nd as we were going to be driving over 400km past Auckland up to the Bay of Islands at the very North of NZ. So after leaving Kiwi Paka at about 9 we then didn't stop until about half past 1 for petrol and lunch in a random place called Warkworth. Jo's road rage at some of the ridiculous driving by the native drivers was on the point of boiling over when we finally arrived in Whangerei (pronounced FAHN-ga-ray apparently!) after over 6hrs in the car. Checked into the Top 10 Holiday Park there via a supermarket and an ATM, then chilled in the TV room until going out again in the rain for dinner in the Town Basin. We got some food and had a few drinks at a microbrewery called Brauhaus Frings (very German!). Got some sweets (including incredibly sickly Rolo chocolate) before watching some South Park and getting some sleep in the Spaceship.
Left Whangerei at about 10 (on the 3rd) to drive the 70km North to the Bay of Islands and more specifically a place called Paihia, which was just a strip of shops, cafes and tour operators which although busy in summer was currently pretty quiet, picturesque and offered great views across the views and the islands for which the bay is named. En route we stopped at Whangerei falls, just 5km from Whangerei, which was quite substantial at 26m high (though it looked bigger) and quite spectacular views were on offer at the top and bottom. In summer people actually swim in the plunge pool at the bottom, but given that it was mid winter, there was a lack of nutters on offer to swim in the freezing cold water. Arrived in Paihia at about 11 and decided to actually sleep in a hostel and ditch the Spaceship for a night, only for us to find that the hostel we had chosen had an offer of two nights for the price of one for double rooms, so we took up that offer, and got a room with a massive double bed and TV for just $34 a night (bargain!), and we could even park the Spaceship right outside the door! In the afternoon we drove up to Waitangi for a little bit of culture as this is just over the river from Paihia and is the site where the first treaty was signed by Maori chiefs and representatives of the British crown in 1840 and basically formed NZ as a country, or at least a British colony, as the Maori would be protected from all other invaders by the British. Nowadays there is a small visitor centre, a flagpole, houses, walks along the bay, and the largest Maori war canoe in existence. All of this is set in very lush and beautiful forests which we could walk around at our leisure. Sadly our camera died not long after arriving there, but our tickets were good for 2 days so we resolved to return the next day to get more pics. Went back to central Paihia for lunch at a nice cafe called Franks - I had a huge BBQ pizza whilst Jo was "healthy" with a chicken and avocado salad.... and a massive portion of chips! The weather was getting a bit grim by now so instead of exploring further we just watched some TV, spent some time on the internet and popped to the Woolworths supermarket for a few essentials (milk, green pepper and boysenberry ice cream... but of course!). Jo managed to talk to her mum on Skype for a bit before we cooked what will almost certainly be the worst meal we will have while we are away, trying to use up what food we still had in the Spaceship.... we had pasta with a raw green pepper and a tin of Watties (Heinz) tomato sauce, that wasn't pasta sauce, but basically ketchup. Not nice. At all. No redeeming feature whatsoever. Even I couldn't eat it! So we just went to town on the tub of ice cream that we had bought instead! Stayed up pretty late to watch the Wimbledon semi-finals only for Andy Murray to lose at about 5am. Muppet!
The alarm was set for half 8 but after the tennis going on so late we turned it straight off and slept until about 11. We would have felt guilty about missing some sight seeing time except that we were going to go to 90 mile beach but it was pissing it down with rain so that wouldn't have been much fun anyway. After some late breakfast we went to Waitangi again during a brief stop in the rain to get the pictures we couldn't the day before. Decided we were going to go for a drive to another town about an hour away but after about 10 mins the heavens opened so we aborted and went straight back to Paihia (wicked road trip that one...). Decided to get some lunch and dinner bits from Woolies and watched some awful daytime TV in our room and caught up on some sleep from around 3 til 6! Woke up, checked the internet and cooked up the last remaining food in the Spaceship - noodles with chicken in satay sauce. Marginally better than the previous evening's efforts, but not by a great deal! Then we watched Ice Age in our room before crashing out ready to drive to Auckland in the morning.
- comments