Whangarei Falls

As we work our way back to Auckland, we’ve spent the last couple days in Whangarei, the capital of Northland. With more showers in the forecast for Sunday, we didn’t want to risk taking a long hike and getting stuck out in the rain. Of course, the day was perfect, so we enjoyed a relaxing Sunday, strolling through the city’s parks and reading the newspaper in a café.

Today we took the 5K stroll (one way) up the Hatea River walk. Our favorite morning show, Breakfast, promised good weather today, so we took to the trail with confidence we’d get in a full day without getting wet. Initially, the hardest part was finding the trailhead much further up the road than we anticipated. Once we were on track, it was a nice leisurely stroll along the river.

At the end of the track, the river tumbled over the impressive Whangarei Falls. We knew from our pamphlet that they were supposed to be pretty tall, but I guess we weren’t really thinking about how tall 26.3 meters really is. After a full morning of relatively flat walking, the falls almost didn’t fit in. We enjoyed lunch under the mist of the falls while trying to fend off an aggressive duck that was really interested in our food.

On way back, we decided to change things up a little bit and take a different route. Unfortunately, our trail map didn’t have any indications of elevation and we soon found ourselves heading straight up the side of a mountain. Switchback after switchback, we were sure that we were almost at the top. The climb seemed to go on forever. When we finally made it to the top, we were treated to a beautiful overlook of the far north’s largest city. The final decent was much easier, but after a long day of hiking, we were ready for an early dinner and a well deserved rest.

Tomorrow, we return to Auckland to get ready to fly out on Wednesday. We’ll be meeting up with Maelle and Martin, our French roommates from Christchurch (who as luck would have it are also leaving Wednesday) for a quick reunion before we head out. Hopefully, seeing some more familiar faces will ease the pain of our impeding departure.

We’ll check in one more time before we leave to try to ease the pain of your impending blog withdrawal.

All Aboard the Dolphin Seeker

Today we took a tour around the bay containing the 144 different islands that give this region its name. With the mostly gray landscapes and the rain muddied water that we’ve been witness to of late, our expectation for the tour weren’t too high. Once we left Paihia, however, the waters cleared up, the sun shined brightly, and we were pleasantly surprised with a great day at sea!

Our captain spotted a pod of dolphins almost immediately, and we took some time to enjoy the always welcome sight of some bottlenoses playing in the surf. As we learned later, there were some Orcas prowling the bay a couple of days ago and since then, the dolphins have been understandably skittish. Without them playing in our wake, we had to settle for admiring the dolphins from a distance before moving on to examine some of the islands.

After a few short stops, we eventually made our way out to Cape Brett and the famous Hole in the Rock. We’ve been poking fun at this slightly over hyped tourist trap since we arrived. Once we saw it though, we really did appreciate our captain’s skillfully navigating us through said hole.

Having reached the Pacific, it was time to turn around and head back into the bay to Urupukapuka Island for a lunch stop. We took the short climb up to the lookout, avoiding some sheep (and sheep droppings), to find a nice spot to enjoy our standard PB&J lunch. We had about an hour to explore the island before reboarding for our return trip home.

On the way back, we made a quick stop at Russell, New Zealand’s oldest town, to drop a few passengers off. Having just visited two days ago, we learned that it was formerly known as the Hell Hole of the Pacific. We didn’t find it to be that bad, but the few craft shops and the museum didn’t require a second visit. We were treated to one relic from the town’s colorful past though as a pirate ship (apparently crewed by school children) set sail just as we were pulling in to dock.

With any luck, the weather tomorrow will defy forecasts and be good enough for our much anticipated return to Action World (or as we’ve take to calling it “Awe – Ome Land”). On Saturday, we plan on checking out the town of Whangarei (pronounced FON – Gugh- ray, just ask Sue how to pronounce Whakapapa her favorite New Zealand town) as we make our way back down south.

Have a great weekend!

Journey to the Far North

Today was the first day, since the fall of the Cavalier, that we haven’t seen one bit of rain. So, with the weather cooperating (even if only for a day) we decided to take advantage of it and make the full day trip to the northernmost point in New Zealand, Cape Reinga (or “Cape Regina” as Chris likes to call it).

We knew that the trip would be long, so we prepared ourselves for the journey equipped with our iPods and plenty of food (the iPods proving to be more essential as we were faced with quite the long-winded tour guide).

Starting in Paihia, we headed north along the east coast catching glimpses of the vast Pacific Ocean. By lunchtime, we had made it to Cape Reinga and got to witness the crashing together of two oceans (well, I guess not technically since the Tasman is really a sea, but you get the idea). From up above at the lighthouse, we could see some beautiful views of the coastline to the west. After snapping a few photos and taking a little time to have our lunch, we were ready for some action.

The next stop was at the huge Te Paki sand dunes for some sand boarding. We’ve sand boarded a couple of times before (once in White Sands, NM and another in Moreton Island, Australia) so we knew we wanted to do it. Unlike our previous experiences though, this time we were provided with actual boogie boards. What a difference! The ride was smooth and the boards definitely provided you with more control. And, no sand in the face! (Doesn’t that sound nice, Sue?) We took some video footage of our rides down….enjoy!

The final highlight of the trip, was a drive down the west coast on 90 mile beach. Since it was low tide, we could drive right on the beach for about 52 miles. For all of you trivia buffs out there, we were told that the beach isn’t actually 90 miles, but more like about 64 miles. Why they named it 90 mile beach, we have no idea (although our driver speculated with some mundane stories that took almost the entire 52 miles to tell).

After the beach, we headed back to Paihia, happy to be back again after a long day. Tomorrow we plan on taking a cruise around the Bay of Islands to look for dolphins and just check out the scenery mostly. Check back in tomorrow for some more!

90 Mile Beach

The two of us at Cape Reinga (notice the rough water on the left)

Ratbags and Rainy Days

We first learned the term “Ratbag” from our tour guide down in Abel Tasman. He used it to describe the Kiwi Experience (a local tour company) crowd who ½ km into a 16K paddle had to stop because they were too hungover from the night before. We’ve embraced this term and run with it. In our travels so far, we’ve seen that the Base backpacker chain generally attracts mostly Ratbags, while YHA’s have drawn a more diverse and usually more mature crowd. (Yes, we’re old.)

Our options were limited trying to find a triple up in the Bay of Islands and the Base Pipi Patch offered what seemed to be the best room at the best rate. When we booked a room with an ensuite bathroom and kitchenette, we figured we wouldn’t have too many problems with the ratbags. That may have been true, had the person on the phone actually made the reservation. No worries, instead we were given the makeup deal of two doubles for the same price and tried to make the best of it.

With some relatively clear weather on Saturday, we tried to squeeze in some fun in the last few hours of daylight. We started with a coastal walk around Paihia checking out some of the many islands from a distance. Next we checked out the i-site for the lowdown on things to do. Our attention was immediately drawn to Actionworld, which promised trapeze, circus walk, a jousting log, mini golf and more.

We were disappointed to find out that we were too late for all the activities but the mini golf, but we could come back the next day. Mini golf was challenging. The brochure warned that you could easily leave hating the place as there are no barriers and the ball can end up anywhere. The par 7 was a particularly tough navigation of the Nile River, but our favorite hole was easily the one involving a shot up a sheep’s bum. Good times!

With Crystal joining us here in Paihia, we though it appropriate to kick start Sunday with our traditional pancake party. It felt just like old times, well if you consider March old times. Anyway, of course we were psyched to be hanging with Crystal for another weekend. Sunday brought more rain and without much to do, we decided to see if we could escape the ratbags. There are heaps of hostels in town so we thought we’d try to find a better one. We ended up in the place next door and we love it. With no set plans until we leave on the 14^th, we may just stay here a while (Actionworld reopens for the weekend on Friday so…)

It seemed our best option for rainy day entertainment would be to check out the historic sights just a few minutes north in Waitangi. It was here in 1840, the leaders of the Maori tribes signed a treaty with the British. It’s considered the birthplace of modern New Zealand. In between bursts or rain, we toured around the grounds and found some shelter from the rain in the Marae (Maori meeting house). Not as culturally significant but still fun, we spent the rest of the day watching American Psycho on the plasma tv in the lounge, played some rummy, and downed some pizza and brew at Salty’s.

The unquestionable highlight of the weekend came on Monday morning. The sun made a brief appearance so we tried to get some kayaking in. It took a while to get outfitted in the shack down the street, but eventually we were off to explore the bay. We had to battle some pretty stiff currents and after a while we gave up on our quest to make it to some small waterfalls. There were some decent sized swells and getting back to shore looked like it might be somewhat difficult.

Jen and Crystal started off well, heading in directly to shore. A wave came from behind spinning them up parallel to shore, just on the sand. We all had a slow motion moment as Crystal stood up (NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!), not seeing the next wave coming in. No one could move fast enough to save her as she tumbled into the water. The wave crashed over the kayak filling it to the brim with water. With the girls soggy, but otherwise fine, we enjoyed a good chuckle while deciding how to tell the kayak guy his boat was now filled with water. Even though we came back very early, we decided against asking for some money back and fled the scene of the crime.

After drying out, we grabbed a quick lunch and saw Crystal off to her bus. Of course, we’re very sad to see her go, but glad we had one more weekend together.

We're going to take our time here to "chillax" and hopefully take in the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga (and Actionworld) when we finally get a nice day.

Week's End Roundup

Just some quick notes before we head up north ...


We spent yesterday in Hamilton where the big attraction was their gardens. We checked out some of the themed areas especially enjoying the Italian Rennaissance garden. Sorry, no pictures today as we're checking in from an internet cafe.


The big news here today is that Flight of the Conchords have reached number 3 on the American Billboard charts, surpassing Crowded House to become the highest ranked Kiwi band of all time! If you haven't done so already, check out the video link in upper right corner.


We haven't had a full day without rain since the fall of the Cavalier. We're starting to think it had magical weather controlling powers. We were clearly not worthy of such an awesome car! We're heading up to the Bay of Islands tomorrow, which is known for it's beaches and sunny weather. Hopefully things will clear up, but it's not looking good.


There's a Guitar Hero Knockout Competition every Sunday at a bar here in Auckland. Our skillz have been seriously wasting away down here so we don't think we'll enter. With rumors of Boston tournaments, we're anxious to get back and practice.


Hope everyone has a great weekend. We'll check back next week!