New
Zealand (02Dec08 - 11Jan09)
We spend 6 weeks in Northland, visiting family, fishing, eating, drinking...oh how soon that waistline gets away from you :)
Flight details:
Brisbane to Auckland PacificBlue Flt DJ186
Depart Tuesday 2Dec08 0915hrs arrive Auckland Tuesday 2Dec08 1520hrs
Auckland to Brisbane Emirates Flt EK433
Depart Sunday 11Jan09 1800hrs arrive Brisbane Sunday 11Jan09 1830hrs
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Whangarei
What could be better than to round the year out with family and friends in New Zealand. We arrive early December just in time for Janette's Sister's 40th birthday. This was also a good time to catch up with some friends who were also invited to the party. We certainly made good use of the "duty free" that we purchased on arrival.
This holiday was all about catching up with family, but we still managed quite a few trips to the beach. Ruakaka is probably the closest and is a good beach to collect pipis so it didn't take us long to gather a bucket full for dinner. On another outing we caught up with some friends at Ngungaru. Although we had a very late night we managed an early morning swim (very refreshing in chilly NZ waters) and then to my surprise we were taken to a spot where we could chip oysters straight off the rocks. I was in absolute heaven.
One of our final outings was the Ruakaka Races. It was a fun day going to a country race meet. Jan and I did our normal big gambling thing and put a dollar or two on each race. The end of the day saw us coming home with about $5 extra in our pockets so that made it an exceptional day LoL.
Whangarei Fishing Trip
With
fond memories of previous fishing trips in New Zealand the "Boys" had a great day out
with Noel Cronin Fishing Charters. Noel really knows the area and we were
never waiting long between bites. There was plenty of excitement
throughout the day, particularly when we we spotted a school of kingfish.
We quickly changed to heavier gear but we were still out classed on the day.
We returned that afternoon with a nice bag of snapper and enjoyed the day so
much that we booked Noel for a second charter a week later. If your ever
over that way and want a great day out on the water look Noel up. At $400
for 4 pax it is a very economical day on the water.
Cape Reinga
One thing that I wanted to do on this trip was to go to the furthest point
North. We headed off early morning and took in the Eastern coastline
through Russell and the Bay of Islands. The scenery around this area was
absolutely spectacular. After stopping for lunch at the world
famous Mangonui Fish and Chip shop we continued our way North past Doubtless
Bay and on to Spirits Bay. Just prior to taking the turn-off we stopped to
get an ice-cream. Now this thing was huge. It looked like a full tub
of ice-cream on top of a cone and was one of the nicest I have ever had.
Spirits Bay is located at the northern end of the Aupouri Peninsula and according to Maori legend the spirits of the dead leave for their journey to the afterlife from here. We had a good look around the bay before continuing the drive up to the Cape. Unfortunately the road was quite rough for the last 20Ks, but certainly worth the effort. Work has commenced on sealing this stretch so hopefully in the near future it will be a good road.
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As you stand at the Cape, you can watch the clash of two seas meeting, namely the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean. It is quite a spectacle watching waves unite as the approach the shore.
We were going to stay to watch sunset however we wanted to make it back to the Te Paki sand hills. The sand is blown inland from winds coming off the Tasman Sea and can reach heights of 100mtrs. After a quick romp in the sand, and Jan doing her "Sand Angel" impression, we headed back to Whangarei. It was a long drive to do in one day but we certainly had fun, even if I had to listen to Jan's singing late into the evening.....bloody singing star!!!
For our final night in Whangarei we cooked a nice dinner for our hosts, Caro and Glenn. To our surprise they disappeared as dinner was nearly ready to be served and re-appeared dressed in their wedding outfits. What a crazy fun pair they are. We had a lovely dinner, with wines and a bottle of Moet. True to my word Caro, I have not posted any pictures of your wedding dress, in particular the rear view where the zipper should have done up . Married life has been kind to you ;)
Our flight home this time was with Emirate Airlines and we would be more than happy to
fly with
them again. Great meals, free drinks and inflight seat back movies made the
flight go super quick. We will be looking for future special deals through
them as their pricing was the same as PacificBlue's elcheapo flight over.
