Auckland to Tauranga

Hello readers, apologies for the slight delay, yes, we are know safely in New Zealand. So, what have we being doing or, as Polly would saw WUBU2...

Had a trouble free flight from Australia although Em was particularly annoyed that she didnt get to watch all of the film-they turned the inflight entertainment off before it ended! After 3 weeks in a campervan, it was really nice to stay in a "proper" hotel with our own bathroom and a TV, there was even complimentary tolietries. After staying overnight we picked up our hire car and immediately headed north to a place called Paihia, about a 4 ish hour drive from Auckland. Paihia is the gateway to the Bay of Islands.

We had booked accommdation at a hostel called the Pickled Parrott, so called because the previous owner had a parrott who liked to drink (alcohol!) Strangely enough, the current owner also had a parrott called Rocky, as well as a cat and two dogs! Rose who owned the hostel had moved out a few years ago from Somerset.

Paihia - Pickled Parrott - Tim with parrott!

We were both pretty tired so for the first few days we chilled out, read a bit, sun bathed a bit and contemplated the many trip options available to us. On our final full day in Paihia, we booked ourselves on a yacht called "On the Edge", a racing catamaran.

Paihia - On The Edge

We had a fantastic day out, the wind was good so we managed to actual do some sailing, the captain even trusted me with the wheel!

Paihia - On The Edge, reeling in lunch

On the way out, we caught a couple of fish and within 2 hours these were thrown on the barbeque for lunch - delicious! We anchored off one of the many islands and the rib was dropped into the water. I kayaked to the beach and we had two hours relaxation.

Paihia - On the Edge - Em on boom netting

There was also an opportunity to go on a "doughnut" pulled by the rib, needless to say I couldn't refuse a go! The sail back to Paihia was better than on the way out, the wind had got up a little more and we managed to hit 16 knots sailing. Dad, you would have loved this trip.

Paihia - Bay of Islands view

Paihia - On the Edge - Tim sailing

We had our final night at the Pickled Parrott and despite hours of coaxing, we still didnt manage to get a single word out of Rocky! From Paihia, we headed back South and stayed near to Warkworth. We went to dinner at Steve and Michelle's - Steve used to live in my home town and is now resident in New Zealand. We had a lovely a lovely meal of green lipped mussels and beer battered snapper that had been caught that day. It was great to meet the kids, Heath and Caleb and also Fonzie the Bassett hound. Thanks to Steve and Michelle, it was great to see you.

Wark worth - Tim & Caleb

Warkworth - Steve, Michelle & Fonzie

The following day we drove to Tauranga to stay for a few days with my (Em) Uncle and Auntie - Phil and Laura and cousins - Laurie, Mark and Adam. As both Mum and Dad and Matthew had been to visit, it was great to finally get there and to meet Milo the dog, who I had heard so much about! We had been advised that we should climb up "The Mount" being Mt Maunganui, so went to check it out. I will be honest, when we got there, the sun was shining, and the beach at the bottom of the mount looked so inviting - that was as far as we got! However the next day we went back for another try and climbed to the top. Although not a huge mountain it was still pretty steep but the view from the top was worth it though - in every direction!

Tauranga - view from mount

On our last night we all went for proper Fish and Chips - Kiwi style - freshly caught and on the harbour - very very nice! We then went to the Hot Pools, a 5 minute drive from Phil and Lauras, which were almost surreal, very warm - like being in the bath and very relaxing! The pools are filled with water that is naturally geothermically (!) heated underground.

Tauranga - the Barretts'!

Unfortunately the next day we had to move on again - it was lovely to see everyone again, thank you all so much - special thanks to Adam for giving up his room! We resisted the urge to pack Milo into our rucksacks and departed for the Coromandel region.

Tauranga - Milo the dog!!!

Auckland to Tauranga

Auckland, New Zealand