NZ - Northland...chasing sunsets

So, back in the green machine with clean clothes and heading off up North!!

1st stop - Paihia for the Bay of Islands
I headed on up to Waitangi to the Treaty Grounds to find out a bit more about the 1840 Treaty - really intereting. It seems as always with these things that the French were trying to claim NZ for themselves until the Maoris and Queen signed on the dotted line and lobbed the Frogs (again!)
So a little the wiser after my history lesson, I got on the ferry over to Russell - a quaint harbour village with a colonial feel, but very little to see! Got on the bike up to Flagpole Hill for a view of the harbour - worth the climb, stunning views!
So back to the Green Machine for a night on the seafront...cosy!

A cruise around the Bay of Islands is something that most people I've spoken to have insisted is a ''must do'', and it was very cool. The only downside that we spend the vast majority of the morning searching for dolphins to swim with...but it was worth the wait!! 40 or so tourists were tossed into the water off boom nets and told to chase the dolphins and ''éntertain them'' by singing to them....dubious!! Glad it wasn't my $30 I wasted to get nowhere near the dolphins and to end up looking like a tit as I fruilessly chased these graceful fish around a very big harbour!!! Sucked in!!
The Bay itself was beautiful and had made a friend - Danika, who was on the last part of her trip around NZ and heading over to South America...all good to get some travel tips!!

So I waved Danika goodbye as she contemplated her skydive the next day, and headed NOrth via Matauri Bay (not worth the detour), Taupo Bay (a cute little surf beach) and onto the Karikari Penninsula in the far NOrth-East of the Island. I ended up chasing the sunset to Rangiputa Beach where I saw the sun set over a lovely bay and joined a couple of other camper vans who'd had the same idea of staying there for the night...happy days!

So onto Matai Bay in the morning and definitely the prettiest beach (and the most remote) I'd come across...it seemed to stretch on for miles of white sand and I was the only person there!
Left here to visit Karikari Winery - the most Northerly in NZ. A beautful spot to take in the scenery, but the wines were a let down.. onwards!!
The obligatory visit to 90 Mile Beach (although allegedly it's not 90 miles long) - OK, but a bit dull. YEs, it's long, but how many times has the phrase 'size isn't everything' been used?? (and how many times will people continue to lie to make things sound bigger??!!)

Further south to Hokianga Harbour for some sandboarding and I came across a rather impressive bus-come-camper. Now, Priscilla she aint, but her owners had an ''ádults only'' sign up and it was the number 69. I got talking to Earl and Shaz and they invited me to join them for dinner in the beast...classic!! A BBQ, a bourbon and coke and a game of cards - loving the travellers (it transpired that they only lived 40 mins away, so even more random!)

The sand dunes of Hokianga were the destination for the morning's activities - fairly knackering and the inevitable competition to see who could reach the water from the dunes....the light skinny kid won (some things never change!)
But a job offer from Trevor who works one of the ski resorts, so I'm set if I'm still around in May!!
Back on the road in the green machine I headed back to Auckland via Tane Mahuta - the biggest tree in NZ and something of a celebrity in the horticultural world...with a girth of 13.8m and at the grand old age of over 2000, I'm not surprised!!
A brief stop off for lunch at the Kai -Iwi Lakes I got bitten to shreds by a random bug that only comes out 1 week of the year and eats everything in sight....sounds like Blonde!!! ;-)