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Friday 16th March
Time to pack away the waterproofs and woolly jumpers, we were heading North to the Coromandel Peninsula, where we were assured it would be warmer. Stopped for our breakfast at Rotorua, surprisingly the town didn't smell of rotten eggs anymore. We drove around the lake and then onto the East coast past Tauranga, stopping at Whangamata to stretch our legs with a walk up the beach, hooray, the sand is now a golden colour instead of that horrible grey / black we saw on the West coast.
Arriving into Tauria, the sun was shining again and we booked into our accommodation at Pacific Harbour Lodge, we had been allocated a bungalow with a porch right on the waters edge, it was great. We soon found ourselves walking around the water inlet towards Ocean Beach, the beach was almost deserted and we enjoyed our usual paddle in the sea (the water was quite cold). As we had a kitchen area in our accommodation we went and bought some goodies to cook, sirloin steak, jacket potatoes and corn on the cob, delicious.
Saturday 17th March
We had 2 destinations in mind today, Cathedral Cove - reportedly one of the most picturesque beaches in the world and Hot Water Beach. We drove as far as possible to Cathedral Cove, the actual beach can only be accessed via a 45 minute cliff top hike (or by boat). The walk was quite strenuous but well worth the effort as the beach lived up to all its expectations.
On return to the car we headed towards Hot Water Beach, we had been advised to take a spade with us as this would be needed to dig ourselves a hole near the hot springs on the beach. When we arrived there we struggled to even park up the car, the place looked like Bournemouth Beach on a hot sunny day, it was packed!! We had to contend with watching others digging their holes where the tide had gone out (this can only be achieved on a low tide). The idea is that once you have dug yourselves a big enough hole to sit in, it would fill with hot water from the thermal springs underground. After spending a couple of hours at this beach (in a quiet corner) we headed back to the hotel where Linda cooked another superb dinner (ha ha), well it was Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread.
Sunday 18th March
Today's activity is tackling another steep climb to the top of a hill, this time Paku Hill (179m), which dominates the skyline at the entrance to Tairua Harbour. At the top we had 360 degree views of Ocean Beach, the Aldermen islands, Pauanui and the Coromandel Ranges, again well worth the effort but hard on the legs. Whilst we were tackling the walk the sun was beating down, but by the time we were back at the hotel it had started drizzling (again), we decided to settle down and watch the Australian Grand Prix on the TV.
Monday 19th March
Early start again, this time we had a 400km drive which would include driving the gridlock system that runs around Auckland. We headed West towards Auckland and joined the motorway traffic. Once we got over the Auckland Harbour Bridge the traffic died down a bit and we stopped for a late breakfast at the Honey Centre Café near Warkworth. Eventually we arrived into Paihia, which is the main town in the Bay of Islands, the drive took us 6 ½ hours. Our accommodation is on the outskirts of town (only 200m from one of the main beaches) so we headed off along the beach to the harbour in order to book a boat trip around the islands. There were so many trips to choose from it was difficult to decide which one to take, but eventually we chose an island trip for Tuesday and an all day coach tour to the most Northerly lighthouse in New Zealand for Thursday.
Tuesday 20th March
Picked up by minibus from our hotel at 9.30 and then boarded the catamaran for the start of our tour around the Bay of Islands, there are 144 islands in the bay. We stopped at Russell which is the oldest town in New Zealand and used to be the headquarters of the South Pacific whaling fleet in the 1830's. Some of the islands are privately owned but there is a law in New Zealand that states all beaches must have public access so everybody is free to use the beaches. Other islands are wildlife reserves home to some of New Zealand's rarest and endangered birds. We stopped at Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island (the largest island in the bay) where we had a barbecue which included rump steak, lamb sausage and fish . Whilst we were on this island we also took the Nautilus submarine underwater adventure, which took us to an area where the fish are fed so that you could see them fairly close up, we mainly saw snapper, the eagle rays that are in the area where better seen off by the pier. Back on the boat and we headed towards Cape Brett and Piercy island. The Island was named by Captain Cook after the First Lord of the Admiralty at the time and is renowned as the "Hole in the Rock". The skipper of the catamaran carefully negotiated the hole and we sailed through. It was a really good day and we just chilled out back at the hotel pool and spa later that evening.
Wednesday 21st March
Drove out to Haruru Falls - only 4 km from Paihia, and walked along some of the boardwalks over the mangrove trees that grow in that area. Leaving the car back at our hotel we then walked to the other end of Paihia to visit the owner of The Marlin Court Motel. His name is John Davison and he was in Ron's year at Secondary School, he has lived in New Zealand with his wife for the past 5 years. We spent an hour or so with them discussing old times and then headed back into the town centre for some fish and chips. After our refreshments we walked to the other end of town into Waitangi. This is where the treaty between the Maori Chiefs and the British Government was signed in 1840. To celebrate the centenary of the treaty a Maori Waka (war canoe) was made from 3 massive kauri trees, the canoe is 35m long and carries a crew of 90 paddlers. There is also a meeting house (Te Whare Runanga) which was opened during the same celebrations. After our lengthy walks of about 10km we came back and cooled down in the cold swimming pool at the hotel.
Thursday 22nd March
Picked up by coach at 7.30 a.m. for our trip to Cape Reinga and the 90 mile beach, we had to unpack our raincoats as it was drizzling (again).Our first stop of the day was at Puketi Kauri Forest which contains some of New Zealand's largest Kauri trees, the oldest being over 500 years. After a brief scenic walk around a loop path we then headed Northwards to "The Ancient Kauri Kingdom". This is where an ancient forest of Kauri trees that are thousands of years old have been unearthed , they are still in a preserved condition. The wood is left to dry out naturally and then furniture etc is carved out, the main feature in the show room is a 50 tonne trunk that has an internal staircase cut into it to take you to the first floor of the shop. Heading even further Northwards we stopped at Houhora for our lunch at the local fishing club, there had been a competition the previous weekend for the biggest Marlin or suchlike. As we climbed to the most Northerly points of New Zealand a heavy sea fog rolled in and we could hardly see in front of us. The coach was parked at Cape Reinga and we walked the short distance to the lighthouse, where on one side you have the Tasman Sea and on the other the Pacific Ocean, we could not see either but could hear the waves crashing below. With everybody on board a bit disappointed we drove about 15km South on to the entrance of the 90 mile beach, the fog lifted and the sun came out. We stopped at the giant sand dunes where you were offered a board to slide down them, we both plodded up to the top of the dunes but only Ron came down on the board (head first), Linda lost her nerve it was too steep. When Ron came down on the board he had to dig his feet in to use as brakes otherwise you ended up in the shallow estuary. We now started the run down the beach and stopped for a while in order to have a paddle in the sea, you had to watch your backs as the huge waves were coming in thick and fast. It was a long but enjoyable day and we arrived back to our hotel at about 6 p.m.
Friday 23rd March
Pack up and move on again for our final stop in New Zealand, we headed South to Auckland where we were booked in at a hotel near the airport, but firstly we had to take the car back to the rental depot (luckily for us only 2 streets away from the hotel) Our total mileage in the North Island was 1730 km making a total of just over 4000km for the two islands, no wonder we need a break from driving. Amazingly we found everything first time, no going round in circles like we normally do in cities. A glorious afternoon so we just had a dip in another freezing cold outdoor pool. The restaurant at the hotel was pretty good so we had their buffet evening meal which was absolutely delicious and very filling.
Saturday 24th March
When we had organised our trip our flight to the Cook Islands was at 9 a.m., just before we left the UK we found out that the flight was changed to 10 p.m., so that left us the whole day to fill. Enquiring at reception their only offer for entertainment was a taxi into the city centre at a cost of approx NZ$25-50 dollars each way, or to go to the airport and get the shuttle bus into town at a cost of NZ$15 per person each way. Being the careful people that we are with money we decided to find a bus stop and see what we could do. The bus stop was just around the corner, the bus duly arrived 10 mins later and we paid NZ$10 each for a return trip to the city centre.
We walked to the waterfront and took the obligatory photos of Auckland Harbour Bridge and the Sky City Tower, where we also watched somebody "fly" from the top, the guide book tells you that it only takes 15 secs to come down this way. Back to the hotel to type up our journal, download our pictures and say "au revoir" New Zealand. We will arrive into Rarotonga at 03.55 a.m. on the same day, so in fact we will have a 46 hour day today.
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