My 2014 Adventure: Travels to Singapore, Australia & New Zealand: Paihia & the Bay of Islands

Mariel and I have just completed the first leg of our New Zealand journey to Paihia and the Bay of Islands. After a day of plotting and planning, we purchased Flexipasses through InterCity Bus. It's a great way to travel because once you pay for hours you can use them however you want, altering travel plans even up to an hour beforehand. The bus ride was a winding four hours, through beautiful, green countryside full of sheep and dairy cows. After arriving in Paihia and checking into our hostel, we rode bicycles up to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This was the location of the first signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Maori Chiefs and British Crown on February 6, 1840. Since then it has been turned into a destination for New Zealand history. We experienced the Maori culture, walked through native forests, and got an amazing view of the Bay of Islands. It was great to see some native bird species such as the fantail, tui, and pukeko. (The tui call is very beautiful and I'd highly suggest looking it up on YouTube and giving it a listen.) At the cultural show we witnessed a welcome ceremony, as well as traditional songs and dances at the marae (carved meeting house). We tried to imitate their characteristic faces after the show when taking pictures, but as you'll see below we were unsuccessful.

The next day we took a ferry to Russell, the first European settlement and sea port in New Zealand. There were many trails around the peninsula and we hiked to the Kororareka Point Scenic Reserve, Flagstaff Hill, and finally ate lunch at Long Beach. After taking the ferry back to Paihia we rented some kayaks. We kayaked in the bay to the Matauwhi Bay Reserve and Motumaire Island. Growing up in the landlocked Midwest, it was very cool for me to see the sea life during low tide along the beaches. I saw snails, mussels, crabs, sea stars, and so many other creatures. On our way to Motumaire Island I swear I saw a fin in the water, but it may have just been because I saw the movie "Jaws" repeatedly at a very young age...thanks to Alyson for doing that SOAR project on Steven Spielberg.

Today was a half day in Paihia before our bus left, so we rented bicycles and rode up to Haruru Falls and Mount Bledisloe. It was an amazing view of the Bay of Islands and the weather was sunny and warm. If anyone's heading to the Paihia area I would highly recommend staying at the Pickled Parrot hostel and talking to Dan at Bay of Islands Kayaking (always down to negotiate a deal for Pickled Parrot goers). Mariel and I are back in Auckland for the night, and tomorrow afternoon we set off for Tauranga!