FACT - 'The Bay of Islands' was commonly referred to as the 'Hell-hole of the South Pacific' by Charles Darwin.
Day 1 - Auckland to Paihia
I was up early and got myself to the bus and settled in to a window seat. And off we went. And after my jazzy evening in good company I was most definitely feeling brighter. Off across the Auckland harbour bridge, which people bungy 40m off over the water. Why? Because it's NZ. After some driving up the Hibiscus Coast, we stopped at a honey centre in Warkworth. I grabbed a coffee and wandered about the honey centre watching the thousands of bees doing their thing. It was an absolutely glorious sunny day. I went to the loo, and I don't mean to go in to too much detail but I was 1 minute in there. And when I came out it was bloody raining. What the...? I'd heard that the weather was somewhat erratic but really?
But by the time we got to Paihia it had all cleared up. Now I have to tell you now about how the Kiwi Experience operates. The bus driver is a very informative tour guide and tells stories as you get driven along. One being about the 'Shiraffe' that was produced as a scientific experiment back in the 60's. When he pointed them out they looked just like Lama's. I'm thinking they were. Although I only thought that later on AFTER I'd told the story to someone else. Ahem. And the pink sheep!! Apparently the farmer was trying to get tourists in, and painted his sheep bright pink to attract more attention... ANYWAY. The bus driver passes back clipboards which have different activites on them which are available in the place you are travelling to. And another clipboard for accommodation. So you simply write your name on the ones you want and the driver then books it all. So down went my first (of many) signatures, for swimming with the dolphins...
I was up early and got myself to the bus and settled in to a window seat. And off we went. And after my jazzy evening in good company I was most definitely feeling brighter. Off across the Auckland harbour bridge, which people bungy 40m off over the water. Why? Because it's NZ. After some driving up the Hibiscus Coast, we stopped at a honey centre in Warkworth. I grabbed a coffee and wandered about the honey centre watching the thousands of bees doing their thing. It was an absolutely glorious sunny day. I went to the loo, and I don't mean to go in to too much detail but I was 1 minute in there. And when I came out it was bloody raining. What the...? I'd heard that the weather was somewhat erratic but really?
But by the time we got to Paihia it had all cleared up. Now I have to tell you now about how the Kiwi Experience operates. The bus driver is a very informative tour guide and tells stories as you get driven along. One being about the 'Shiraffe' that was produced as a scientific experiment back in the 60's. When he pointed them out they looked just like Lama's. I'm thinking they were. Although I only thought that later on AFTER I'd told the story to someone else. Ahem. And the pink sheep!! Apparently the farmer was trying to get tourists in, and painted his sheep bright pink to attract more attention... ANYWAY. The bus driver passes back clipboards which have different activites on them which are available in the place you are travelling to. And another clipboard for accommodation. So you simply write your name on the ones you want and the driver then books it all. So down went my first (of many) signatures, for swimming with the dolphins...
... as I sat on the boat eyeing up the other passengers (not in a pervy way - I mean just being nosey in a people watching way. Oh apart from one french guy. Yeh I was checking him right out. Hot), I got a bit nervous. Yes, swimming with dolphins sounds very magical, but then so did riding an elephant and walking to a beautiful waterfall. They were both quite traumatic. Someone asked if ther were any sharks, to which the woman simply answered 'Yes'. Not the most comforting approach but never mind. So we headed out in to the pacific. Or Tasman sea (oops sorry i'm not sure which one it is) and it wasn't long before we spotted the first pack of dolphins. It's true what they say - dolphins make you really happy. They have some sort of special effect. Everyone was smiling and talking to them as we were told that they respond to voices. I quietly sang 'Under the sea' from 'The Little Mermaid' but didn't have the guts to belt it out. Although I did get a few people to sing 'happy birthday' as it seemed like the only one that people knew the most, seeing as no one else appeared to be english. Lots of pictures. Lots. And people took it in turns to lay on their fronts at the nose of the boat. The tour guide woman pretty much held on to ankels so the passengers could get up really close to the dolphins. Whilst I was dangling the front of my body over the boat (a sentence I didn't ever expect to write), a baby dolphin appeared and started jumping and flipping all over the place. Pretty damn cute. But because of the baby, we were not allowed to swim with them. Some sort of law. I was happy though. It's just something that will remain on my list until another time. We then made our way deep in to the ocean/sea. I was sitting at the front at this point and I actually remember this being the moment that I fell in love with NZ. Sorry to sound all 'travelly' (I promise I won't be philosophising all over the place when I return) but something just clicked and knocked that wall over. At that very moment I was taking in the most beautiful scenery (very LOTResque) whilst the breeze was blowing all that homesickness away. It was great. I was back on track. As I walked back to the hostel (taking a wrong turn along the way and being very amused by a girl who recognised me from the bus that morning, so followed me as she didn't remember where the hostel was), I thought about what I fancied doing that evening. Just as I walked in to the reception I literally bumped in to David! Hello David. He was staying at the same hostel. We made a brew and decided to just have the BBQ that was on offer at the hostel. (How many times did I just write hostel?) Along with Chantal who I made pals with walking from the dorm to the kitchen. Not sure how that happened actually. You just talk to everyone. As we sat chomping, a guy called Colin from Yorkshire joined us...
Q: How can you tell if a man is from Yorkshire?
A: Because he's already told you 3 times.
A good joke because it's true. And amongst his ongoing chat, he told us a rather disturbing story, which he only realised was disturbing when he saw our rather horrified reactions. He also smelt pretty bad, so we renamed him 'Eau de Colin'. I know that sounds mean but you didn't hear the story. And no. No i'm not going to tell you what it was. We just did our best to avoid talking to him again. After that we just had a few drinks and then I went off to bed as I had an early start the next day.
Day 2 - Pahihia to Cape Reigna Day Trip
So I was told the top bit was a good day out. Mind you, the woman selling me the ticket told me that. But I was keen to see a few things on it anyway. First stop was at the Puketi Kawi forest. Kawi is a type of tree. Some of them in this forest are about 2000 years old and were once used for boat building. And they are now great for hugging. I couldn't help myself, it was just so big! After a little walk in the forst we were driven along 90-mile beach. Which, according to our driver, is only 64 miles. As we drove he told us old Maori stories about the area. And at the end of 64 mile beach (doesn't quite have the same ring does it) there were some sand dunes. Sand dunes which were for sandboarding. Obviously. I'd seen it in pictures and had read about it. I wasn't so sure I was up for it. Not sure why now. Maybe just the height of the dune. So we were given a boogey board and ordered up to the top of the dune after a brief deomstration of how to do it. Woah. I thought I was reasonably fit but it turned out I wasn't. Me and a few others had a sit down midway. Well, almost midway. We watched as people sped past us, either making it to the bottom, stopping half way due to too much knee dragging, or just coming right off the board and rolling the rest of the way down the dune. So it still wasn't appealing to me but sure enough I found myself literally facing the bottom of the sand dune. And... it was 'well fun'! And... I got to the bottom quite perfectly thank you. I would've done it again if it wasn't for the walking up the dune again. Yeh yeh, lazy. I know.
Next up was Cape Reigna itself. There was a lighthouse there which indicated the very tip of New Zealand. Lots of stories along the walk to the lighthouse told of how the Maori people believe that when they die their spirit transcends the land and passes through to the other world, through a sacred tree growing from the cliff. And as I arrived at the lighthouse and looked in to the water, I could see where the Tasman Sea and Pacific joined, which was another attraction of the place. You can actually see where they join, it's pretty cool. And then some lunch at a place called Tepotupotu Bay. Most of these names in NZ are quite tongue twistery. I sat and had lunch with the girl who i'd been sat next to on the coach. We didn't even exchange names actually. Just chatted about stuff. She was from Africa and was working on the Cook Islands as a beauty therapist. Some people's jobs. And then it was time to drive back to Paihia. With a fish n' chip stop along the way. However, I had my budget cap on (it was a little dusty but I found it) and declined. We'd also only just had lunch. I had some rice and cherry tomatoes back at the hostel that needed eating. Which ate when we got back. And David was there too to eat what I rather cleverly had thrown together. He bought me some digestive biscuits as well which is my perfect accompaniment to a cuppa! (Right Laura?!) So with David now firmly on my Christmas card list, we had a few drinks along with Chantal. We managed to avoid Eau de Colin as well which was a plus. We had a giggle that night anyway. Mostly at the expense of my horrible southern accent (I'm not against anyone elses southern accent i might add. Just my horrid one). Chantal is from Holland so was finding it harder to understand me. For example, we were talking about Michael Hutchinson and I asked
'Is that how he died?' although I think what Chantal heard was
'Izat howry died?' and thought I was asking how hairy he was or something. Not that I was actually drunk by the way. It's just 'howri' talk. Much to David's amusement. Bloody northener. Oh and I also took the challenge on to give up facebook for lent. I'd been going on it every day expecting something new to be happening and it drove me crazy. So that was it. No facebook for 40 days and 40 nights. It was going to be hard. I mean, I think if the devil produced facebook in that desert, it might have all been a different story...
So I was told the top bit was a good day out. Mind you, the woman selling me the ticket told me that. But I was keen to see a few things on it anyway. First stop was at the Puketi Kawi forest. Kawi is a type of tree. Some of them in this forest are about 2000 years old and were once used for boat building. And they are now great for hugging. I couldn't help myself, it was just so big! After a little walk in the forst we were driven along 90-mile beach. Which, according to our driver, is only 64 miles. As we drove he told us old Maori stories about the area. And at the end of 64 mile beach (doesn't quite have the same ring does it) there were some sand dunes. Sand dunes which were for sandboarding. Obviously. I'd seen it in pictures and had read about it. I wasn't so sure I was up for it. Not sure why now. Maybe just the height of the dune. So we were given a boogey board and ordered up to the top of the dune after a brief deomstration of how to do it. Woah. I thought I was reasonably fit but it turned out I wasn't. Me and a few others had a sit down midway. Well, almost midway. We watched as people sped past us, either making it to the bottom, stopping half way due to too much knee dragging, or just coming right off the board and rolling the rest of the way down the dune. So it still wasn't appealing to me but sure enough I found myself literally facing the bottom of the sand dune. And... it was 'well fun'! And... I got to the bottom quite perfectly thank you. I would've done it again if it wasn't for the walking up the dune again. Yeh yeh, lazy. I know.
Next up was Cape Reigna itself. There was a lighthouse there which indicated the very tip of New Zealand. Lots of stories along the walk to the lighthouse told of how the Maori people believe that when they die their spirit transcends the land and passes through to the other world, through a sacred tree growing from the cliff. And as I arrived at the lighthouse and looked in to the water, I could see where the Tasman Sea and Pacific joined, which was another attraction of the place. You can actually see where they join, it's pretty cool. And then some lunch at a place called Tepotupotu Bay. Most of these names in NZ are quite tongue twistery. I sat and had lunch with the girl who i'd been sat next to on the coach. We didn't even exchange names actually. Just chatted about stuff. She was from Africa and was working on the Cook Islands as a beauty therapist. Some people's jobs. And then it was time to drive back to Paihia. With a fish n' chip stop along the way. However, I had my budget cap on (it was a little dusty but I found it) and declined. We'd also only just had lunch. I had some rice and cherry tomatoes back at the hostel that needed eating. Which ate when we got back. And David was there too to eat what I rather cleverly had thrown together. He bought me some digestive biscuits as well which is my perfect accompaniment to a cuppa! (Right Laura?!) So with David now firmly on my Christmas card list, we had a few drinks along with Chantal. We managed to avoid Eau de Colin as well which was a plus. We had a giggle that night anyway. Mostly at the expense of my horrible southern accent (I'm not against anyone elses southern accent i might add. Just my horrid one). Chantal is from Holland so was finding it harder to understand me. For example, we were talking about Michael Hutchinson and I asked
'Is that how he died?' although I think what Chantal heard was
'Izat howry died?' and thought I was asking how hairy he was or something. Not that I was actually drunk by the way. It's just 'howri' talk. Much to David's amusement. Bloody northener. Oh and I also took the challenge on to give up facebook for lent. I'd been going on it every day expecting something new to be happening and it drove me crazy. So that was it. No facebook for 40 days and 40 nights. It was going to be hard. I mean, I think if the devil produced facebook in that desert, it might have all been a different story...
Day 3 - Paihia-Auckland
This was a bit of a non day really as we had to be ready at 3pm for the coach back to Auckland. David went and did a boat trip, much to his regret. He'd booked it the day before when the weather had been rather brilliant. But this day was not. It was dull, rainy, and there were severe gail warnings that had caused most trips to be called off. Most, except for David's. His was still on. So, with just one other person booked on the trip for him to talk to, he went on his way, dragging his feet. As it was such a dull day, me and Chantal just went to have some coffee. Then I popped in to the post office to pop a few postcards off, and also a little bday present for my cousin Sarah. I hoped it would get there on time. The rain stopped by this time so we went for a bit of a walk. We got 45 minutes up the coast before it absolutely crapped it down. And with no shelter around, we got wet. But hey ho, at least we got some exercise before our 5 hour drive back to Auckland. Chantal was on my bus as well so we got a table seat together and then spent most the time chatting (or as NZers would say 'having a yarn) to the guy who sat with us. Richard. It turned out he was the bus driver for the next day. He was quite new to the job so this would be his 4th trip around NZ. He's lived in London before and had worked as a chippy. Hey why are they all carpenters when in London? Anyway it was nice to meet him and I was more excited for the trip ahead. David got back later on, and we had a brew and a yarn about his rather enjoyable boat trip he'd had, and called it a night. He was off down south the next day as well but on a different bus so we worked out we'd probably catch up again in a few days time.
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