Went to Paihia and Cape Reigna

Location: Rotorua Central Backpackers
Weather: Warmish but cold at night

Went to the Bay of Islands on the InterCity bus. Checked into the Peppertree Hostel in Paihia. Whilst up there did a cruise and saw some dolphins very close up plus the famous hole-in-the-rock and a few other islands. Following this I disembarked the boat at Russell island(across from Paihia and the once capital of NZ) and walked to the top of the Flagstaff Hill, where the Maori chief Hone Heke cut down the British flagpole 4 times! on the way there was a wildeness 'Kiwi' area and so I waited until night and went back to do some Kiwi hunting. Unfortunately I was darker than I had bargined for and I got totally lost in the forest around the hill and ended up having to knock on somebody's door for directions.

The next day I did a tour to Cape Reinga (just about the furthest north you can go) in a big 4x4 bus. We drove down 90 Mile beach and near the end we had to rescue a people carrier containing about 10 Japanese people who had got stuck in the sand and were being washed down river! our driver charged them $50 for this, which was very funny! Beyond the beach is an almost desert area, where we went Dune Surfing on boogie boards down the giant sand-dunes! this was most excellent.

In Paihia and on the tours I also went swimming and did a bit of kayaking, the water was absolutely freezing! At the hostel you could hire bikes so I went to see Waitangi (where the Anglo-Maori treaty was signed and where NZ was first settled) and walked to Haruru Falls (yet another waterfall!).

By JamesReed on 08.04.04 @ 12:28 AM GMT