Jan 19th continued
Well I put my diary on blog quite late last night, was well pleased with myself even though I had not finished the day. After our boat being cancelled we decided to travel northwards to the bay of islands. Went to a lovely beach on the way and robin had a surf and we had a walk. Drove through some lovely countryside and decided to stop in Russell. Went to the pier and booked a sailboat trip for tomorrow. Jim says he would like to learn to sail and they take us snorkeling and canoeing as well so we booked it. Got settled in our campsite and then went to a pub called *the round the corner pub* for dinner. The people here in Russell seem a bit snobby which is strange in this country but perhaps its just the strange campers with kids…the fish and chips is highly recommended though and I tasted my first ever oyster. Quite liked it.
20th Jan
Got up and walked down to the harbour to board our sailing vessel. It was a beautiful boat 40ft. It was ideal sailing weather, windy but sunny. We soon got the hang of it and its easier than the small boats libby used to use, you do not have to tack so often. The area we were sailing in was very beautiful too. We stopped at an island for lunch and went out over the rocks in glass bottom canoes, viewing the fishes. One of the guys went out in a canoe and gathered some greenlip mussels from the rocks and we got the captain to steam them open, it was fantastic sitting on the island eating fresh mussels all we needed was a bottle of champagne….. We also did some snorkeling. We had a race against another boat on the way back to harbor and jim got quite worked up and competitive…..we lost but only because they had a bigger boat. Got off our sailboat in Pairah and said goodbye to our shipmates and had a wander about town. Had a meal and then got ferry back to Russell. The ferry was 50 years old and had character but was not as cute as the ferry in Vancouver…. Went to rec room and harry potter is on the tv so decided to write this blog though robin is watching it. It is great here still light at 10pm and then when the night comes you get so many stars that look soooo close and are so bright and you have to enjoy them as all the electricity on the campsite goes off at 10pm.. ha ha no more harry potter….
21st jan
Up and out, drove our car onto the ferry in Russell and it took us over the bay to Opua. It was quite exciting. We then drove down windy roads to Waitangi which we thought had the big treaty house. Had to go a bit further on to find the place at Waitangi that had the place where the treaty was signed and England got permission to govern nz. At the first place that we thought was the correct meeting house I opened a door and went in and jim and robin followed. Well the maori woman came out of nowhere and asked us to leave. We found out later that you have to be invited in and must take off your shoes and there are all sorts of rules. Well they should have locked their door. We had a great day at the treaty grounds and learned loads about customs and saw the hukka performed and learned about canoes etc. will keep the book to remember it all by. Then back on the road to Haruru Falls. Nice river and falls then onwards again. A few more stops along the way and we arrived at Taupo Bay which is supposed to be a great spot for surfing. Unfortunately, there was calm when we arrived but hopefully it will be a bit rougher tomorrow as robin is having a surfing lesson there and can only do it if we get surf. He is quite brave as I have not felt comfortable in the water knowing there is a rougue shark in the area at the moment. We are still camping as have been unable to find motels/hotels still peak season.
Jan 22
Robin was up nice and early and in the water having his surfing lesson. We could not drag him out of the water afterwards, so when his lesson finished we let him keep the board and wetsuit and practice on his own. He was standing up and surfing though. He thought it was fantastic and so did we. When we finally got going again we were all starving cause we had not had breakfast, only robin. So we stopped pretty quickly as jim gets moody when not fed…. Then we made our way up the coast (west) to the start of ninety mile beach, which was amazing, a long sandy beach the length of the peninsular nearly. You can drive a four wheel drive car along it but not hire cars and only when the tide is out of course. We made our way up to the most northerly point Cape Reinga, which is a scared maiori place. Very very beautiful, the lighthouse at the end was nice but the views absolutely breathtaking. Had a lovely walk but would have liked more walking. Jim said we had to get going, so we got back in car driving through some lovely places and stopping at some lovely beaches but only for 5 mins. Nz is full of so many lovely sights. Reached Kairaia and found a motel for the night. Yes, yes, yes, a motel. A proper bed, how fantastic!!!!!! Used the internet to look up places to stay in aus but ran out of time, went for lovely meal and then into a real bed!!!!!

Jan 23rd
Left kaitaia and was on 90 mile beach again by 10am, it is absolutely stunning. Had a great drive through forests and by beaches and went on another ferry at Hokianga. Met some people making a film about nz and continued our drive. In Omapere we stopped at a desserted beach that was eroding the coastline and several houses are going to be lost in the next few years. Here we learned about opo the dolphin who made the village of Oponani famous for a while. Then onto Waipoua forest which is home to the oldest, biggest, tallest and widest Kaouri trees in the world. Its like a rainforest with not snakes, how wonderful. Found a campsite, robin went for a swim in the river, and we are going on a night walk into the forest tonight to see what we and our guide can spot, hopefully kiwis etc.

Jan 24th
Saw eels, whitebait, possums and various trees bushes and wildlife but unfortunately no kiwis but it was a great experience walking through the forest in the dark. Makes me glad we did not go too far into the jungle when it was pitch black. Also saw the milky way, orians belt and the southern cross. Very bright in the dark dark sky last night, oh, I nearly forgot the glowworms and they were spectacular. Did not get back to camp till very late but did not sleep any better for it!!!!!Robin went back to the river at the back of our tent, it was lovely they had put up a wooden diving board and a tarzan swing and innertubes in it and it was great fun. We then went to the kouri museam which was fantastic, very interesting have saved the booklet and we bought a bowl there by a local artist and made from kouri wood. We then went to a regatta which was a first for us, then drove to aukland to spend the night.
Jan 25th
Up early and out going to thames, but on the way we stopped at a lovely café for breakfast with all the locals in clevedon and then went to a polo match which was another first. I have always wanted to go to a polo match but have never had time so it was great. Then back on the road all past the seabird coast in the firth of thames and around to thames itself. Had to stop as we were all sick of being in the car. Had takeaway and watched film. It was really nice to just veg out.
Jan 26th
Was in reception at 8 trying to get signal to email the girls. Had a wonderful nights sleep in the beds last night so was up early feeling really refreshed… left Thames and up to Commeral which was quite a nice town, had ice cream there and bought some really fresh plums which were very very tasty. Went to castle rock and climbed up to the top of the volcano, took us about an hour and the view from the top was amazing, it was also a great sense of achievement to climb as it was quite difficult with only one hand to hang on with. Then we went to swim in the waterfall on road 301. It was really beautiful but the water was freezing, absolutely awesome swimming underneath the waterfall though. The rocks we had to climb over on the way out were slippy and I hurt my ankle quite badly. Seem to be quite accident prone at the moment. We then got into the Bay of Plenty and after looking round, found hotel bargain and also booked a fishing trip for tomorrow. Hope Jim catches his marlin. Woulnt that be great but I dare say that he will be pleased if he catches any fish.
Jan 27th
Fishing was amazing, we were out of the harbor at 8am and the views were stunning, I love the speed of the boat and going through the water in the sunshine. Within a few seconds of throwing out our rods we were catching little maki. It was really good fun we caught all sorts of little fish the prettiest being the red sea perch, the only thing was that when I caught my first blue cod ever the bloke (gary our guide/skipper) said it was big enough to keep and promptly killed it. I said to him as long as it did not go to waste but I would rather they were put back as we have no way to keep them and eat them. Then jim felt a great tug and was making such a fuss abouth ~the big one~ that we all had to reel in and watch him, it was a small kingfish he pulled in so I teased him about making a meal of it!!!! It was a beautiful fish though about 10lbs but it had put up a tremendous fight. Then a little later I got a tug that jolted my broken arm quite badly and I knew it was another kingfish. Unfortunately for me but great for jim I handed my line over to him as there was no way I was going to get that fish in with one arm. It was a beautiful bigger than the first kingfish and I cannot wait to go fishing when my arm is better so that I can manage to get one aboard. Robin had a fantastic time and the skipper said at 1pm if we wanted to stay out longer we could and though we all wanted to there had been one man that had been ‘rather unwell’ so we agreed to go in for his sake though I think robin wanted to argue about it… I caught the first, robin caught the most and jim caught the biggest (though it should have been mine) How competitive are we?? On the way out we saw most of the Murcury Islands and he took us up close for a look at the hole in the rock (they have quite a few holes in rocks over here) (caused by volcanic behavior) so that was great of him as they are interesting formations to see.
After breakfast/lunch we went to Catherdral Cove which took about an hour to walk to along the cliff tops but it had stunning views along the way and was beautiful when we got there. The rock formations were awesome and it’s a marine park so the snorkeling was great though I did not do any as I fell asleep on the beach… a gorgeous strip of sand and the boys left me while they explored… on the way back though we went into gemstone cove and robin and I went out snorkeling but it had taken him so long to gget into the water because we had to scramble across rocks that I was getting a bit cold, so when we started swimming out and he started moaning he was scared I swam straight back in instead of encouraging him, if I feel better tomorrow I will take him out and make him less scared, he loves the fish especially the big ones but he does not like the kelp beds or looking in the dark rocks I think he does not want to meet an eel and he did mention yesterday after talking to someone else ,what bit of their body do stingrays sting with, front or back, so I need to put some work into his snorkeling. Could not get any accommodation at hot water beach (no time today but want to visit tomorrow) so drove a little way back on the route 25 and found a lovely place, a farm with ordinary and exotic animals and a pond and stream, its lovely here would stay for a couple of days but we have to move on as so much to see and do. I am going to slow down a bit again though as my arm is aching worse now than when I first broke it, think I should rest it, its also getting very manky and itchy, may visit somewhere and see if they can take it off and just strap it back on after cleaning everyday.