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On arrival in New Zealand, my first stop was up North for a couple of days in the Bay of Islands (Paihia). This is a group of 144 small islands a few hours north of Auckland. I got off to the best possible start on the Kiwi Experience bus trip by being left behind my bus approximately 40 minutes into the trip, unable to able to resist the lure of finding out Tottenhams result at Sheffield United on a 5 minute toilet stop. We lost 2-1 incase youre interested... But after the bus returned and I sheepishly made my way back to my seat having made the best possible first impression with my fellow travellers, we embarked upon a cruise of the islands. This made for a very pleasant first day in New Zealand and along with a bit of culture at Waitangi Treaty House (where i learnt all about NZ's history and its cultural heritage with Britain) it formed a very sensible start to my trip, as i basked in the history of this stunning part of thr North Island. Who would have thought there was more to this beautiful country than throwing yourself off things??? It would unfortunately not be a sign of things to come...
Before I would start on the main part of my Kiwi bus trip south from Auckland, I decided to spend a dau in the city. Now most people say dont bother with Auckland, that you could be in any city in the world and theres not an awful lot to distinguish it from cityville anywhere in the world. Being as it is however the largest city in the country however, i thought it only fair to spend a day there. Suffice to say they were right! Had a decent enough day there on a free day trip, went on the Auckland Harbour Bridge climb for free (Sydney Harbour Bridge, it aint...), had a nice walk round Waitemate harbour which to be fair is quite impressive and went up a f***ing massive sky tower to see the view of Auckland. But in all honesty there are far more interesting places to visit in New Zealand and I was very much looking forward to getting my trip underway. First stop, Mercury Bay.
Mercury bay (Whitianga) was everyones first stop on the Kiwi Experience bus. In case you have either not travelled or heard about this keraaaazy method of travelling, it is essentially a hop on hop off bus service which travels around the main stops and sights of both the islands of New Zealand. You buy your pass, you hop on and live with your fellow journeymen for the duration of the trip, the idea being that everything is pretty much arranged for you, from accomodation, to activities etc etc. Anyway this was my first chance to meet the scores of gap year students, career breakers and hitherto unseen numbers of Canadian people that i would be travelling with for the next four weeks and on our first day we stopped at Cathedral Cove, a beautiful spot which is ideal for Kayaking around the volcanic coast. This was really enjoyable, until my kayak partner Eduardo, who would later become an honorary member of the 'Gentlemens Club' realised that a Brazilian who suffered with seasickness and kayaking do not go very well together. Nuff said. Good workout for me trying to keep the thing afloat tho! That first night our bus driver Flea took us all to her house(!)/converted bus for a BBQ, a really good way to begin the trip.
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