Hamilton, Raglan, New Plymouth [December 17 - 23]

On December 16th I arrived back in Auckland from the Bay of Islands and arranged my trip to the west coast of the North Island. Hamilton (an afternoon), Raglan (3 nights) and New Plymouth (3 nights). And the weather changed for the better.


The Waikato River in Hamilton, New Zealand's largest inland city.


Waikato River.


Silver Ferns. The symbol of New Zealand. Legend tells that Maori people used to turn the leaves upside down so that the moon would reflect in them (the bottom of the leaves is silver) so they could find their way home.


Me, chilling at the Waikato River.


Kurt (from the USA) and Rich (from Canada) - two fellow backpackers.


The beach where I surfed (!) for the first time in my life! It was ace!


New Plymouth beach.


Twilight hours...


Along the coast of New Plymouth they have a coastal walkway where you can ride a bike as well.


Mount Taranaki. This volcano is so evenly shaped that it resembles mount Fuji and was used in the filming of the movie The Last Samurai.


About 30 km along the Forgotten World Highway lies the little village (population: 40) of Whangamomona. They declared themselves independent and became a republic. We did indeed buy a passport. Heaps of fun!

'
The hotel where you could buy your passport.


:)


The Dawson Falls near Mount Taranaki.


A church in New Plymouth.


Mount Taranaki seen from the Pukekura Park.
In this park there was a festival of lights as shown in the pictures below.







And that was New Plymouth. The next day I traveled onwards to Wanganui. More about that in my next blog.

Northland and the Bay of Islands [December 8 - 17]

On December 8th I left Auckland early in the morning to visit the Northern part of the North Island and the Bay of Islands, with Magic Tours. As soon as we left Auckland the weather deteriorated and it stayed bad (cold and rain) my entire time on the Northland. I got a flu and a cold and the cold stayed with me until a couple of days ago. My first stop was Whangarei and because of the rain, the already industrialized town didn't have too much to offer. After that I traveled upwards to Paihia and my only regret is that I didn't dive at the Poor Knights Islands (near Whangarei).


Part of the Treaty of Waitangi, signed on Feb. 6th 1840, between mainly local Maori chiefs and representatives of Queen Victoria's government.


The Maori Whare Runanga (Meeting House). It was built for the various tribes of the Northland, where normally the meeting houses are built for one specific tribe.


An ancestor.


Carvings on the outside of the meeting house.


The Maori War Canoe - Ngatokimatawhaorua. Try to say that without tripping over your tongue.


See inscription.


The beach near the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.


A church in Paihia.


A kauri forest on our way to Cape Reinga.


This is Cape Reinga.
It was foggy, very foggy. You can see the lighthouse in the distance.


Me in front of the lighthouse, which is operated on solar energy. Well... I guess it won't be working tonight then...


See, it is really me. :)


Tasman sea.


And the Soutgh Pacific Ocean.
Normally you can see the two collide...


Climbing up the hill to slide down from it on a sand board. Heaps of fun, but chances are that you will loose the skin on your toes...


The 90 mile beach. Which is in fact more like 90 kilometers. It's classified as a highway. 100 kilometers an hour is the maximum speed limit.


Cape Reinga is known in Maori legend as Te Rerenga-Wairua; where the spirits of the dead depart the earth. Before they reach Cape Reinga they fly to the hole in the island, on the picture above, to be cleansed.


Me on the Ninety Mile Beach. So basically barefooted on a highway. ;)


Relaxing on the beach.


The beach.

The next day I met up with Noa and Noa (two girls from Israel) and we went to Russel. Russel was the first capital of New Zealand before they moved it to Auckland and then to Wellington. Russel was known as 'the hell hole of the Pacific' because of its lawless nature. You can hardly picture that if you walk through the quiet streets of this picturesque, little village (population 1140).


The oldest church in New Zealand in Russel.


Russel Beach.


Playing pool in the first licensed pub in all of New Zealand - the Duke of Marlborough.


One last glance on Russel from sea.


One of the many island, where the Bay of Islands gets its name from.


On our way to Opononi - my next stop.


View from the 'House of Harmony' hostel in Opononi.


The Hokianga Harbour.


The skin of a Kauri tree.




The Father of the Forest - Te Matua Ngahere. The tree is approx 4000 years old. Very impressive.


Night life - a native owl.


Our guide during the Foot Prints walk through the Waipoua Forest.




The Lord of the Forest - Tane Mahuta. This three is 2000 years old, but is taller then the Father of the Forest. Therefor he is called the Lord of the Forest.


Artwork near my hostel.

Below some flowers to end this blog. More pictures in my next. :)