After seeing a pretty rough sea, Cape Regina Lighthouse, and the big tree which stands at the entrance to the Maori spiritual underworld, we cruised back to some huge sand dunes and tried some 'sandboarding'! This involves shooting down some huge dunes on a body-board, hopefully avoiding random bits of sandstone...and trees!
The afternoon was spent sampling 'the finest fish & chips in NZ' (they were damn good!), before the long slog to the Bay of Islands. We got there just before sundown and randomly ended up playing Guess Who in a hostel that we'd tried to find internet access in!
The Bay of Islands is a huge bay with about 100 little islands just off shore. We did a little boat cruise round them and stopped off on one, before cruising over to the 'hole in the rock'. This is the most pictured of the islands and has a huge cliff with a hole going right through, which we cruised through to see the other side. The Maori people say that if a drop of water falls on your head when you pass through the hole you will be granted with the gift of eternal youth...one landed on my t-shirt, so close damnit!
Beautiful views from Cape Regina
The Northern-most tip on NZ!
Can you spot the gateway to the Maori spirit world?
The huge dunes...perfect for boarding!
Hanging on for dear life as i slide down a huge sand dune!
I even managed to stand up!
What a whopper!
The lighthouse at The Bay of Islands...a nice steep walk for the lighthouse keeper every morning...at least the neighbours wouldn't give you any trouble!
The hole in the rock
Just before we shot through...with only 6ft clearance on each side of the boat!
Inside the cave
The lighthouse again, wouldn't wanna fall off that cliff
As we came out the other side the captain said 'look at that woman'...can you spot her?
Views of the islands from the lookout on our island stopover
Somebody's private beach, the guy had a space to park his helicopter!
1 comment:
Dude, you're finally in NZ!! Welcome.
Btw it's called Cape Reinga, not Cape Regina! It's a Maori name, not a British one.
Isn't the Bay of Islands beautiful? Looks like you struck it on a fairly windy day, but still amazing scenery up there.
I hope you're going to the south island some time, that's where the best scenery is - the mountains, the remote little villages, it's all just amazing.
Enjoy :)
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