Bay of Islands to Whitianga
Bay of Islands (cont)
At the end of my last post, I'd had to move hostels. This is because New Zealand was celebrating Waitangi day, a national holiday celebrating the signing of the treaty signing NZ over to Britain. This meant that lots of people were heading to the area for the weekend. When I tried to stay an extra night in my original hostel, I was unable to. However, the place over the road (Mouse Trap) was much nicer. For the rest of Saturday, I met up with Nicola and Simon, two friends from earlier, and walked over to Waitangi to see what was going on. We didn't see too much, as entry to the treaty grounds wasn't free (and would be on Monday!). However, we did see the Navy practicising their 21 gun salute from a frigate out in the bay.
On Sunday, I took a ferry across to Russell, a previous capital of New Zealand! Russell is a much quieter and less touristy affair than Paihia. Quite hilly though, as I found when I took the walk to flagstaff hill. This gave quite nice views out over the bay. It also showed me that it was too far to walk to the beach on the other side of the peninsula! In the evening, went out with a friend for a nice meal, as a change from BBQs and pasta & sauce!
Monday was Waitangi Day, and upon checking out of my hostel and catching up with the others from the hostel over the road, we headed down over to Waitangi to watch the celebrations. These were all based around the treaty grounds, the area where the treaty was originally signed. When we got there, there was a navy band playing (strange to hear a Robbie medley from a navy band!), before a 21 gun salute. Originally, the NZ prime minister was supposed to put in an appearance, but after previous years turning into protests and him being egged, he pulled out of this spot. Instead, we watched some local bands and groups performing for a bit. This included more from the navy brass band, and the youngest haka performers I have seen so far! Unfortunately, the next part of the day was too late for us to watch, as we had a bus to catch back to Auckland.
Auckland
Upon arrival in the big city, we headed down to the bar to celebrate the last night of Nicky & Jeff, and the last time we'd see Nicola & Simon. We stayed in the Globe Bar until nearly 3, but were all tired due to spending the day in the sun! Our hostel in Auckland, ACB, was a strange affair - it was massive, but most rooms had no windows! However, this meant you could sleep in (unless the other two in your room got up early!)
On Tuesday, I did the free Kiwi Experience tour of Auckland - meant for people who haven't yet signed up for any tours to give them a taste of what's in store. To me, it was a convenient free bus to a few sights - we went up a couple of volcanoes on the north shore of Auckland, and a beach. In the evening I had an earlyish night, as I was starting the main part of the Kiwi tour the next day, which would probably involve lots of staying up drinking!
Whitianga
For the first day of the tour south of Auckland, we got a new driver (Little John), who would be staying with us for the rest of the trip if we did the minimum journey times. On the way out of Auckland, we went up another volcano with impressive views of Auckland. We then left Auckland, our first stop off point being Hot Water beach. This is a beach where you can dig holes in the sane which will fill with hot water, making your own little hot pool. If you get there at low tide, which we didn't. However, we still went for a little walk on the beach. Until it started spitting (at which I turned back with about half of the group). Then it started really raining, and everyone left on the beach got soaked! Unfortunately, the rain stayed with us for most of the afternoon, meaning that our next stop, Cathedral Cove, was also a washout. We were supposed to be spending 3 hours kayaking through a marine reserve, but this was cancelled due to the weather! Although we had a quite look around in Cathedral Cove, there wasn't much point doing the 1.5 hour walk that was possible instead of the kayakking as the heavens were threatening to open on us again! Instead, we headed to our hostel (Turtle Cove - the nicest hostel I've stayed in yet!), where we spent the night playing pool, having a BBQ and a few beers.
At the end of my last post, I'd had to move hostels. This is because New Zealand was celebrating Waitangi day, a national holiday celebrating the signing of the treaty signing NZ over to Britain. This meant that lots of people were heading to the area for the weekend. When I tried to stay an extra night in my original hostel, I was unable to. However, the place over the road (Mouse Trap) was much nicer. For the rest of Saturday, I met up with Nicola and Simon, two friends from earlier, and walked over to Waitangi to see what was going on. We didn't see too much, as entry to the treaty grounds wasn't free (and would be on Monday!). However, we did see the Navy practicising their 21 gun salute from a frigate out in the bay.
On Sunday, I took a ferry across to Russell, a previous capital of New Zealand! Russell is a much quieter and less touristy affair than Paihia. Quite hilly though, as I found when I took the walk to flagstaff hill. This gave quite nice views out over the bay. It also showed me that it was too far to walk to the beach on the other side of the peninsula! In the evening, went out with a friend for a nice meal, as a change from BBQs and pasta & sauce!
Monday was Waitangi Day, and upon checking out of my hostel and catching up with the others from the hostel over the road, we headed down over to Waitangi to watch the celebrations. These were all based around the treaty grounds, the area where the treaty was originally signed. When we got there, there was a navy band playing (strange to hear a Robbie medley from a navy band!), before a 21 gun salute. Originally, the NZ prime minister was supposed to put in an appearance, but after previous years turning into protests and him being egged, he pulled out of this spot. Instead, we watched some local bands and groups performing for a bit. This included more from the navy brass band, and the youngest haka performers I have seen so far! Unfortunately, the next part of the day was too late for us to watch, as we had a bus to catch back to Auckland.
Auckland
Upon arrival in the big city, we headed down to the bar to celebrate the last night of Nicky & Jeff, and the last time we'd see Nicola & Simon. We stayed in the Globe Bar until nearly 3, but were all tired due to spending the day in the sun! Our hostel in Auckland, ACB, was a strange affair - it was massive, but most rooms had no windows! However, this meant you could sleep in (unless the other two in your room got up early!)
On Tuesday, I did the free Kiwi Experience tour of Auckland - meant for people who haven't yet signed up for any tours to give them a taste of what's in store. To me, it was a convenient free bus to a few sights - we went up a couple of volcanoes on the north shore of Auckland, and a beach. In the evening I had an earlyish night, as I was starting the main part of the Kiwi tour the next day, which would probably involve lots of staying up drinking!
Whitianga
For the first day of the tour south of Auckland, we got a new driver (Little John), who would be staying with us for the rest of the trip if we did the minimum journey times. On the way out of Auckland, we went up another volcano with impressive views of Auckland. We then left Auckland, our first stop off point being Hot Water beach. This is a beach where you can dig holes in the sane which will fill with hot water, making your own little hot pool. If you get there at low tide, which we didn't. However, we still went for a little walk on the beach. Until it started spitting (at which I turned back with about half of the group). Then it started really raining, and everyone left on the beach got soaked! Unfortunately, the rain stayed with us for most of the afternoon, meaning that our next stop, Cathedral Cove, was also a washout. We were supposed to be spending 3 hours kayaking through a marine reserve, but this was cancelled due to the weather! Although we had a quite look around in Cathedral Cove, there wasn't much point doing the 1.5 hour walk that was possible instead of the kayakking as the heavens were threatening to open on us again! Instead, we headed to our hostel (Turtle Cove - the nicest hostel I've stayed in yet!), where we spent the night playing pool, having a BBQ and a few beers.
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