A day on a bus

We spent the Thursday on a tour of the nothernmost part of the North Island.  We started at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom, then headed to the Gumdigger's Forest, up to Cape Reinga with a stop for lunch, down the west side with a stop at the dunes and ending with a trip down 90 mile beach.  The kauri log that you see excavated here is probably 200,000 years old! We also saw samples of the kauri gum that was taken from the ground and traded by the early settlers of New Zealand.  The beach where we stopped for lunch was gorgeous but unfortunately there was no time to swim...

The views from the bus were stunning.

Mangonui

We spent the night in this tiny town at the Mangonui Motel.  You probably can't see it but the board outside is welcoming us along with the other guests!  So charming!  The views from the room were unbeatable.  We had dinner at a cute little Thai place on the water and it was some of the best Thai food we've ever had.  You can see a view of the harbor from there.  

Bay of Islands cruise

The rest of the cruise was awesome and the weather showcased the beauty of the water.

Island stop over and Cable Bay

As we sped away from the Hole, the weather turned in our favor.  We stopped at a beautiful island and opted to spend the hour exploring the island rather than taking a 40 minute glass bottom boat cruise.  We're so glad we did because we discovered Cable Bay (the second pic).  We hiked down and went for a swim in the clear blue water.  It was amazing and we were the only ones there, other than the fish swimming with us.  We even saw a starfish!

The Hole in the Rock

One of the islands has a hole in it and we took the boat right through.  It started getting really rainy as we approached the hole and the driver let us know he wasn't sure if he would be able to make it through or not.  At one point, there are just two meters of clearance on either side of the boat.  As we got closer to the land, you could see millions of blue maomaos churning in the water.  They're after all of the plankton and small sea life that gets pushed to the surface by the upcurrent against the rocks. 

Bay of Islands and Cape Brett

We spent the next 4 hours cruising around the Bay of Islands.  This lighthouse is at Cape Brett and only accessible by boat or by a two day hike in.  The weather started okay but got progressively worse...

An Adventure to Northland

On Tuesday we headed out for another overnight adventure, this time to the north.  We drove up to Paihia and took the foot ferry over to the cute town of Russell for some brunch and a walk around.  The hibiscus flowers are as big as your head!

Goat Island Marine Reserve

This is one of the best places to snorkel in NZ and we took advantage of it.  We saw lots of fish and sea plants and relaxed on the beach.  This is a totem on the site and a note to everyone reminding us how to treat our friends in the ocean.  The rest of the day was spent visiting other beaches, including Brick Bay, our favorite spot for an evening swim.

Pakiri Beach

We had a great weather day so we decided to spend it in the water.  We started the day at Pakiri Beach, just north of where we were staying.  This is a really long and beautiful beach.

Déjà vu

We're back at the Sydney airport heading home. We had to get up at 3
this morning to get out of Auckland. It was raining like crazy so we
were a little worried about getting out on time but it all went as
planned. Now we have 5 hours left here and are having a bite to eat
and shopping while we wait.
We know we have lots of catching up to do but the last few days have
been jam packed with activities! We'll try to be up to date by
tonight. This will be the longest day ever. We got up at three for a
6:30 flight. Took the three hour flight here. Have a 7.5 hour layover
then a 14 hour flight and we get back at 10 AM the same day!