Hello New Zealand

On 22nd January we felt like seasoned travellers. That day we flew from Cairns to Brisbane then boarded a flight for Auckland. Our passports actually have stamps in them rather than lots of blank pages.

Once in Auckland we picked up our hire car having been given a free upgrade to A Mazda M6 - a very posh looking model in a slinky gold colour. We stayed with our friend Sue's sister who plied us with lovely Chardonnay all evening whilst we caught up on all the family gossip.

Next day we took a leisurely drive up north to Wellsford and back in a huge loop. We fell in love with New Zealand from day one. The landscape is wonderful and you just don't tire of seeing it. It can seem very similar to the countryside in Britain, but the trees and greenery are definitely different. On the way back stopped off at a winery with ten minutes to go before they closed. The owner very kindly let us stay and told us all about their wine and how it was produced. We then tasted quite a few and came away with a very restrained total of only four bottles. The weather was beautiful and the view over the vineyard wonderful.

24th January we set off on our journey north to Paihia, which is right on the coast and in an area rich with Maori history and tradition. Found ourselves a great motel right on the sea front. You could hear the sea lapping and breaking on the sandy beach. Only had two nights plus a day and a half there so unpacking wasn't on the agenda. In fact that was a trademark thread running through our holiday. We simply lived out of our suitcases as there was no point in getting everything out.

Walked into the town and booked ourselves in for that evening for the Maori cultural evening plus an all day boat trip the following day round the Bay of Islands, dolphin watching and swimming with them.

The Maori cultural evening was wonderful. A party of us arrived and were initially challenged by warriors as was traditional. They looked pretty fierce, but appeased by our chosen leaders following the correct protocol. A small group told the story of how the Maori people first came to New Zealand, using dance and song. We were in a sacred house for this presentaion which stood near where the treaty was signed between the Maori and the English. Afterwards we were able to chat to the "cast".

The boat trip the next day was just what we both needed. A very relaxing day on board with glorious sunshine the whole time. We were fortunate to see both species of dolphin- bottle-nosed and common. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to swim with them on theis occasion as the conditions were not right and there were juveniles in the group. They were wonderful to watch though but almost impossible to photograph as they were so fast in the water.

The boat stopped off at a small deserted beach and we had our lunch there. All was peaceful and calm. From there we travelled out to the "Hole in the Rock". The Captain was able to get in pretty close even though the sea was pretty choppy there. It was most impressive. Had a great fresh fish dinner on our return.