The Bay of Islands and The Far North

Updated by Paul

The bay of Islands is a bit like Bournemouth. No - not a place where old people go to see out there final days and moan about the young people having fun; it’s the place where New Zealanders go for a beach holiday in their own country.

A two hour coach journey northwards from Whangarei (remember in NZ the further north you go the warmer it gets!) and we arrived in Pahia on the wettest day of our trip so far - yep it was just like going to Bournemouth! We chilled out with a few beers and a barbeque (indoors) and took part in a pub quiz. Except instead of just answering questions in this quiz you also got points for swapping clothes with people of the opposite sex. Proving what good strippers we were our team came second!

The next morning we moved to a place called Peppertree Lodge where we hired a cheap car for a couple of days from a great company called Rent-a-Dent! On the first day we drove up to Kerikeri (so good they named it twice) and visited the old Stonestore - one of the oldest buildings in New Zealand. We then drove out to Whangaroa for some spectacular views - particularly after climbing St Paul’s Rock where we encountered a farmer who had lost a couple of his cows (how the hell do cows climb mountains?!). As we looked out at the huge bay full of 144 islands you could see why Captain Cook so imaginatively called this area…The…errrr… Bay of Islands!! On the way back home we drove through a Kauri rainforest then on to Ngawha Springs (pronounced Naffa!) where we soaked in some sulphurous water to heal our aching bones (and certainly clear the nasal passages). As this place was in the middle of nowhere and had walls made of old tyres and stacking crates we did think we had arrived at the wrong place - perhaps it was the local rubbish tip!

The next day we headed up to Cape Reinga. This is a place spiritually important to the Maori people as they believe it is where the deceased spirits jump off the earth back to their mythical homeland. I believe it is a remote place reached by three hours of driving on the twistiest, bumpiest roads possible. The view when you get there is worth it though as you look out from the lighthouse to where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet in a colossal, wave forming clash. On the way back we drove to Ninety Mile Beach - a stretch of beach 54 miles long on the western coast (nope - I don’t know why either). This is a long and straight stretch of beach so suitable for driving on it even has a speed limit. Just don’t get stuck there when the tide comes in!

On the drive back home we stopped at the Gum Diggers park where they used to dig for Amber. Last stop then was to eat some of the best fish and chips in the world in Mangonui - right next to the boat that caught the fish that morning. Mangonui is on Doubtless Bay - so called because Captain Cook had no doubts he could sail his boat into this bay. There is another place in NZ called Doubtful Bay…. A Great one for names was this Captain Cookie! Back in Pahia we gave the car back to Rent-a-Dent - the 1994 Nissan Bluebird had certainly done its job!

The next morning we took a ferry ride across to Russell. This small community used to be called the ‘hell hole of the Pacific’ in the 19th century when all the British Sailors stopped there and it was filled with bars and brothels. Now it is a quaint little fishing village with restaurants and coffee shops. Mind you though there are still bullet holes in the church walls from the muskets in the battle of 1844!

A trip out to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds meant we were able to see the place where the British and Maori people signed the treaty that brought New Zealand into the British Empire in 1840. This treaty is still being debated to this day as the English and Maori language versions say different things. Who would have thought the Victorian British were trying to pull the wool over the eyes of some local inhabitants in a far off country eh?!!

We headed back to Pahia and caught the coach that afternoon back to the big smoke of Auckland where we would spend the next few days job and apartment hunting only to give it all up and fly down to the Marlborough wine-growing region to chase the dream of working in the vineyards!

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Who Let The Cows Out, Who, Who Who....?

Updated by Anna.

No more holiday it was time for some hard work on a small farm. They call it WWOOFING( Willing Workers On Organic Farms) and it means you work a few hours a day in exchange for food and accommodation. We met up with Janet who was a lady in her early 60s and a owner of three cows, ten sheep, fifteen ducks and hens and one rabbit. She is an artist with a whole separate house for her pottery school. There were several plastic houses with lilies and lots of weeds we had to remove on rainy days. The farm also had avocado, lime and mandarin trees.

We also met Janet’s friendly lodger Alex who was a young apprentice working in town. He lived in the garage(!) but always had dinner with us in the evening. There was a lovely fireplace in the living room that kept us warm on chilly nights.

Up with the rooster in the morning and off to collect big tamarillo trees and branches to build a massive bonfire. Paul was given the job as a driver of the worlds smallest truck to transport it to and from different places in the paddocks. The cows were there to wreck everything we built up by eating and pulling the branches down from the bonfire. It didn’t help that the truck would get stuck in the mud all the time and Anna had to push it.

It was sunny most days and this so called winter was really pleasant with temperatures of 17C. We fed the animals in the morning and all the ducks and hens came running towards me and I would throw the food out in panic scared of them to attack me the first time. After that though it became good fun to see them every morning. One day we decided to go for a walk to the village for some coffee. It took us an hour to get there, and by the time we got there café was closed. Typical.

One day Paul decided to move the cows to another paddock so we could work in peace. What he did not know was that the electric fence he thought was there was gone. What followed is a scene from a Benny Hill film. First the cows came running then Paul and then Anna. I could see myself in slow motion saying “Nooo there is no fence up” and Paul said “Oh shit“…..after chasing cows for 10 minutes we got them back into the original paddock and we could breath again and laugh J

Janet lent us her little truck and we went to see Whangarei waterfalls, an impressive waterfall with a gorgeous walk along the river. We also travelled up the east coast to walk along some beautiful beaches named Tutukaka, Matapouri and Ngunguru, to climb some rocks and cliffs that looked inviting.

Janet had a memorial evening for her ex-husband who died recently and invited friends and family to her house and we both got to meet them all. The house was full of children, grandchildren and old friends from all over New Zealand. Its true that New Zealand people give a lot of themselves and are really friendly. It was a nice evening full of food and wine and Janet planted a tree for her ex. We all tried to light up lanterns in the night but the wind was against us. We met some really nice people and we were invited to a table-tennis tournament the next day. 10 people played and it was sad to say Anna came last L

Our time at the farm had come to an end and we said good-bye to the lovely Janet and it was time to go further north to Pahia for more adventures…….

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