Bay of Islands 2016

30 November

This was a long drive and involved driving through Auckland, albeit staying on State Highway 1. The traffic through Auckland was heavy but did mostly keep moving. It lightened after Auckland but it was still much busier than the rest of the island for most of the journey. The satnav did not recognise Opua so I programmed in Kawakawa, the last town on the map before Opua. The next problem was finding the hotel as we did not have a street address. However, having phoned them two days before because of my medication having been left in Wellington, we did have the name of a nearby road and that got us to the hotel. The Sanctuary at the Bay of Islands.

The hotel is owned and run by Glennis and Yogi, a lovely couple who ensured our stay would be looked back on with the name firmly in mind, The Sanctuary. It is a small hotel with a handful of rooms that are very comortable and a nice lounge area. The views from the lounge, the dining room and our room were just stunning. To the right trees sweep down to the bay and straight ahead and to the left there is a magnificent view of the bay.

As our arrival was late afternoon we stayed in until we were picked up for dinner by a local restaurant who pick up and return. When we arrived at the hotel we were going to be the only people staying here but later two Canadians, Dwight and Maureen checked in so we were joined by them for dinner. Dinner was at Alfresco's.

1 December

Yogi had recommended the Cape Reinga Scenic Tours run by Salt Air. We were picked up at 7.35. Two others were picked up on the way and two more people joined the group at the airport. The flight north towards Cape Reinga took about 45 minutes in a Gippspeed Aeronautical GA8 Airvan. A people carrier had been left at the landng strip and our pilot Daniel then drove us to Cape Reinga. After that we were driven to sand dunes at Te Paki where some people were sandboarding. We then went on to Tapotupotu Bay for coffee before returning to the flight. This time the route followed the east coast and took about an hour. The tour may have seem expensive at first, when you took in the pick up and return, a good flight and a couple of hours on the ground in the north, it was in fact good value. In addition the weather could not have been better with the sun shining all day.

During the flight we flew over Kerikeri vineyards and orchards, Whangoaroa Harbour, Rangauna Harbour, Ninety Mile Beach, Parengarenga Harbour, Great Exhibition Bay, Houhara Harbour, Cavalli Islands and, of course, Bay of Islands. Ninety Mile Beach is so called as that is the distance a farming family estimated it to be when they drove their cattle to market. Normally they would drive cattle thirty miles in a day and this journey took three days. However, later it was measured properly and found to be "only" fifty five miles but the name stuck.

Pretty much as soon as we got back to the hotel we headed off to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the first priority was lunch at the Whare Waka Cafe! At 3 pm we were at The Carved Meeting House for a Maori presention. This was included in the entry and proved to be as good if not better than the Mitai presentation at Rotarua, albeit shorter. We also visited the Treaty House and walked down to the war canoes passing the flagstaff that marks the spot where the treaty was signed.

In the evening we dined at our hotel where we had a lovely meal. Again we were joined by Dwight and Maureen as well as Claude, someone who had stayed for a week or so and who now drops in for a night from time to time.

2 December

Again the weather was perfect, this time for a boat cruise around the Bay of Islands.

The boat first crossed to Russell to pick up more passengers before we started the journey out to Motukokako (Hole in the Rock). On the way between the islands of Moturoa and Motuarohia lots of bottle nosed dolphins swam alongside the boat for quite a while enabling Gill to get some good pictures. After viewing the hole in the rock for some time, we were surprised to be taken through it as it did not seem wide enough for the boat. Fortunately the sea today was calm enough to enable this. On the way back we saw the much smaller Common Dolphins and were told that don't often come into land as close as this so we were fortunate.

We left the boat at Russell for an enjoyable lunch at the Duke of Marlborough, New Zealand's first licensed house with the license being granted in 1827. After a walk around Russell we caught the ordinary ferry back for Gill's massage at the hotel.

We dined in again as the view is superb and last night's food was also very good. After dinner Yogi returned from his fishing trip with his brother and they had an almost unbelievable catch. It was all snapper but the quantity was more than they had ever caught before.

We have had two wonderful days at Opua. We had stayed at some wonderful hotels and guesthouses but this was our favourite. The place itself is wonderful and Glennis and Yogi were wonderful hosts making it something really special. Throw in a stunning location and you have it.

Photos

	From our room
Cape Reinga, the northernmost point
Russell

Previous Stop / Next Stop

Back to ANZ 2016 Itinerary.