onwards and... well, onwards...

... well, we are nearing the end of our little break and we are destined to take the ferry from Auckland on Tues 17th October to the Great Barrier Island. The place looks amazing and we are both really excited. Since the Bay of Islands we have travelled through Auckland and followed the Coromandel Peninsula nearly all the way around until Tauranga and Mount Maunganui.

We climbed the mount last night and witnessed the most gorgeous sunset! Although we were both very red-faced and tired!

We are currently in the cultural centre of Rotorua and are destined for a Hangi tonight (which will include a traditional meal, welcome to the village, a tour of glow worm caves and traditional performance in Maori stylee).

Tomorrow we are going to Hell's Gate which sounds pretty awesome too!

Anyhoo, much to do and little time left on-line, more pics soon and in case anybody wants to write, send pressies (money appreciated), or hate mail :) then our address from the 17th October for 6 weeks is as follows....

Stray Possum Lodge, RD 1 Tryphena, Great Barrier Island, 0991, New Zealand

Laters, M&T :)
XXX

Pastures new....

... well we have left our job at the Endless Summer Lodge in Ahipara and we are now in the Bay of Islands. Leaving was difficult because we had such a nice time there and the owners of the Lodge (Anna and Blaine) were so nice!!!

As a thankyou and a goodbye, they took us all out for a picnic around the Point... it involved Blaine tackling some scary terrain... well, it was to us anyway!! However, once we finally got through the sea.... lol, it wasnt quite that bad... we ended up in a lovely place with some really big sand dunes! So, after a gorgeous picnic (we were both stuffed!), out came the sandboards! It was great fun and the winner was the one and only Trace, who after complaining that she was scared and didnt want to do it managed to hold on right to the bottom and beat us all!

We then headed out to the Seaweed Picker's Huts further around the bay... en route, Jamie, Anna and Blaine's cute little dog (who we dubbed Santa's Little Helper), firstly, jumped from the window of the moving car... and, then when we got her back in she threw up all over the backseat leaving poor Blaine with a rather dirty job!!

On our final day at the lodge we headed to Cape Reinga and along 90-Mile Beach for a trip out around the Northern Most point of NZ. It was really nice and our first real tourist trip!

From there, we left the lodge (in very sombre mood) and headed off to Paihia (via Cable Bay Whangeroa and Kerikeri), to stay with 2 friends, Alec and Kirsten, who soon cheered us up with a mega nice (and rather hot) chilli!

Our first day in Paihia (the Bay of Islands)', we went to a place called the Lookout and also took a trip to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which was really nice. We followed this with a view of the Harura Falls...

The next day we booked onto a cruise of the Bay of Islands, and so with an early start we hit the high seas... It was gorgeous! The trip took us out to the Hole in the Rock, Cape Brett and all the really nice sights... we even had a few dolphins join the cruise, which made it even more memorable!

Unfortuantely, today we have to leave the Bay as we have an interview in Auckland. But, we will then be taking a weeks holiday (within a holiday of course!), where we head to Coromandel, Gisbourne, Roturua and possibly Napier.... however, best laid plans and all that... so, we'll see where we end up :)

For pics of the last days in Endless Summer Lodge, Cape Reinga, the picnic, dog sick and the Bay of Islands cruise ... click here