Sunday, January 7, 2007

Bay Of Islands.


We drove about 31/2 hours from Auckland to the Bay of Islands, a beautiful drive up. It’s unspoilt (so far) and really spectacular. One detour we took is the road to the waterfalls at Whangerai, then checked out the cove at Whale Bay. It’s a stunning walk down to the beach.
We went dolphin chasing. We got on a boat to look at something called “hole in the rock” which is errm a hole in a rock. It’s in the middle of the sea and is formed after millions of years of battering from the ocean.
Back to the dolphins. People say they have more intelligence than humans, and this proved to be true. We spent hours trying to find them and when we did, everyone shouted “Dolphins up ahead”. While everyone rushed to the front of the boat, the dolphins dived underneath it ten resurfaced to laugh at the idiots trying to find them.
STAYED AT: The Copthorne Waitangi. 4 star service at 2 star prices - and the only place with vacancies when we were there
ATE AT The Sugar Boat. Old clipper turned into new restaurant.
Waitangi is also the place where the Maoris agreed to be under “British Protectorate”. A bit like the protection afforded to locals in New York by Tony Soprano.
Waitangi is also a Kiwi reserve, but one single dog managed to ravage over 180 of the poor things.
If you’re a golfer, then Waitangi boasts one of the best golf courses in the world. We know. We were there.

We came back to Auckland down the north-west coast. Fantastic. Beautiful mountain scenery, no people, nowhere to eat or stay and no toilets. So make sure you stock up if you take that route. We didn’t.

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