Sunday 21st December 2009

We arrived in Auckland at 11pm very tired from Sydney. Janet and Derek met us at the airport and we drove for nearly four hours to Paihia which is the main town in the Bay of Islands. We got to our lovely apartments at about 4am and went to bed.

Monday 22nd December 2009

The next day we got up and went to The Pacific Blue apartment where my Mum, Jennie, Lyndsey and Alison were staying, they have a Jacuzzi on their balcony! We decided to get the ferry over to Russell which is the oldest town in NZ. It was the original capital of New Zealand but after the Maori cut down the flag pole for the seventh of eighth time and captured the township the English decided to destroyed the town of Russell instead of letting the Maori people live there!!

Tuesday 23rd December 2009

The next day we took the big drive to Cape Regina. On the way we stopped at 90 mile beach which is a long beach with tire tracks in it and very windy. Our second stop was at Houhora Heads which was a nice area along the side of the sea inlet with crystal clear water which was freezing.We had lunch near an asbestos hut, hunched below a low rise. Barbara was scared we were going to fall over the edge so Jen pretended to fall over. We then set off to the most northerly accessible point at Cape Regina. On the way we stopped at a tea house for a quick break but found out they rented sand boards! We rented 3 between us and headed to the giant sand dunes. Even our parents managed to get to the top and in the end we could not get them off. After we handed the boards back in we went to look at the light house at Cape Regina and the tree where the Maori people believe souls are released back.

Wednesday 24th December 2009

Christmas Eve we had a day of rest at the apartments with long stretches in the hot tubs.

Thursday 25th December 2009

On Christmas day we got up late before setting off to Blue Pacific to open the presents and play games. Janet produced 2 chocolate quiz's without the answers so they where marked by a majority system. Barbara, with assistance cooked an extremely tasty Christmas meal, even including Yorkshire pudding! We watched some films and had some mini Guinness in-between hot tub sessions before bed.

Friday 26th December 2009

Today was Barbara's birthday and also Boxing Day. For Christmas Barbara had surprised us by booking us all on a horse trek for her birthday. We arrived at the trekking centre at 10am and set off in our group of 12. Most of our horses were tame and well behaved but Jens started to act up along our way. We trekked slowly down to the sea so the horses could have a quick cool down. Jens horse had started to act up more and decided the time was right to force Jen off by walking in the low trees till Jen was forced to slide off the horse onto her bum after trying her hardest at horse limbo. It left her a bit shaken up and as it was close to home she walked the horse back to the stables. After our horse ride it was back to the rooms to pack and the girls organised Barbara's birthday party. We all played Charades and it was a lot of fun and extremely funny. It was then time for cake, a huge chocolate cake that tasted really good. It was then time to pack our bags as we were leaving for Auckland in the morning.