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11/07/06 - 16/07/06 - AUCKLAND & THE BAY OF ISLANDS
Can't say I was over the moon to arrive in Auckland. Hadn't heard one good thing about it during my travels. Everyone said it's just a city with no character. I had three nights there simply because I had a voucher for three free nights at the hostel.
One thing I did do was go up the Sky Tower. You get fantastic views of Auckland from the top. Only problem is, Auckland looks shit. Mind you, it was comforting being at that height and knowing I didn't have to jump off it to get back down.
On my second night there I went round a few bars with Rowina and Louise off the Kiwi bus. We went to the ice bar. Everything in it is made of ice: the seats, the sculptures, even the glasses you drink out of. The bar was called Minus 5 and I asked the guy who worked there how many times he'd been asked what the temperature of the bar is. You only get half an hour in there which is more than enough because by the end of it my hands were freezing, despite the fact I was wearing two pairs of gloves.
Other than that, I just spent my time in the city going to the cinema, which included seeing Superman Returns in 3D at the IMAX.
On Friday I went up to Paihia at the Bay of Islands. Paihia is a small, but beautiful resort, it must be gorgeous in the summer; but the weather was quite mild considering it's winter.
There was a small group of us on the Kiwi bus coming to the Bay of Islands which was good because everyone got along and made friends really easily. We all signed up for the 'Top Bit' trip on Saturday. This is a day trip that takes you to Cape Reigna, right at the very top of New Zealand.
The view at Cape Reigna was pretty impressive because it's where the Tasmanian Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. Unfortunately our bus broke down so we had to jump on another tour bus doing the same route. We then drove to the huge sand dunes to go sand boarding. This was great and you go SO fast sliding down the dunes. However, we only did it three times because it was SO tiring walking up the sand dunes.
After that we drove down the 90 Mile Beach, and then headed to a small town where we stopped at a great fish n chip cafe.
That evening, back at Paihia, we decided to have a beach party. We weren't sure if you were allowed fires on the beach, so we found a secluded spot out of sight from the town and any roads. After poor attempts of getting a fire going in Australia, I was surprised we got the fire going good straight away. I had my Ipod speakers so we could listen to some tunes, as well as bring my guitar. Another guy Dave had his guitar, he was really good which meant we could have a good jam. Apart from playing the usual sing-song requests we jammed a bit of blues which was great fun.
We had to abandon the beach after a couple of hours, because the tide suddenly came in. However, it was a fantastic night - not only for having a beach party for the first time since March - but also a perfect end to my time in New Zealand.
Sunday I got the bus back to Auckland, ready to fly out to Fiji the next day. Down in the bar that evening I saw Andy, the bus driver I had for most of the South Island. It was really great seeing him again and catching up.
And that's it. My time in New Zealand was over. Although it was a shame to be leaving, I've seen and done everything I wanted to do here and had an amazing time. I'm now just really excited about the next part of my travels.
Next: Fiji Time
Previous: Mt Doom & Hobbiton
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