Best of New Zealand

Kia Ora, Hello again, unfortunately now back home in what is a sunny Stafford, the final few days of the New Zealand trip were spent in the beautiful Bay of Islands,from the 19th - 22nd,  although the weather was not the best, torrential rain and gale force winds .... we did manage to enjoy it. After leaving Auckland we crossed the harbour bridge, and made our way to the Kauri Museum, at Matakohe. Here we had time to experience this fantastic museum, and learn all about the Kauri tree and its uses. The afternoon drive was through a native forest, where we stopped to view the oldest largest of the Kauri trees, Tane Mahuta (the big tree), it is said to be over 2,500 years old, and stands tall in the forest (see pics below). Later we travelled through to our destination of Paihia, in the Bay of Islands, when we arrived we met with Lena, our guide from Culture North, she took us on a short orientation tour ending at the Waitangi Treaty Ground, where we had a visit to the Treaty House and Meeting House, as well as viewing the grounds. The next day the weather had improved and we managed to take the cruise through the Bay, and out to Cape Brett, and the Hole in the Rock, due to heavy seas we were unable to make the journey through the rock, after an Island stop, we returned to Paihia, some of the folks went ashore at Russell to explore the lovely little town. The afternoon was spent at leisure, and in the evening we rejoined Culture North for their show. The show tells the story of a grandchild asking the grandfather about their (the Maori) heritage and leading to the signing to the Waitangi Treaty, an excellent performance of narration, song and dance. The following day is a free day, allowing everyone to relax and enjoy the area, some folks went on a full day tour to Cape Reinga, the most northerly point of New Zealand. The final day and the sun is shining, just typical, we made our way back to towards Auckland, on the way we stopped in the largest northern town of Whangarei for lunch and in Warkworth in the afternoon for an ice cream, before arriving back in Auckland for a dinner stop, before heading to the airport and check in for the Air New Zealand flight 39 to London via Hong Kong. We arrived back in London on the 23rd March, to brilliant sunshine .....  a great trip with a really great group of people, hope that you all enjoyed your time in New Zealand, welcome home to those of you that went off to Fiji, Australia and Hong Kong, hope you enjoyed your extensions, and look forward to seeing you again soon. Remember those questionnaires !!!!!    Some of the final pics are below. If you would like a disc with a selection of photographs from the trip drop me a message with your address and I will get one off to you as soon as possible. Richard. Kia Ora  PS ... thanks for your wishes I had a great day for my birthday on Saturday.

Cape Brett, Hole in the Rock

Culture North Show, Paihia

Fern

Kauri Museum 

Kauri Tree root

Tane Mahuta (Old Man of the Forest)

View from the Copthorne 

View from the Copthorne in Sunshine

Copthorne Grounds