Paihia - Bay of Islands
Whangarei Falls
Stopped on my drive from Auckland to Paihia to see these falls (I'm a sucker for waterfalls)
Traditional hangi
My first evening in Paihia I attended a Maori Hangi and Concert on the historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The hangi is a traditional meal cooked for hours in a earthen pit over rocks preheated by a fire. Surpisingly moist and delicious!!!
Greeting the visiting chief
Visiting chiefs would be greeted by Maori warriors who would determine the intention and character of the visiting chief by greeting them in this intense way.
Maori warrior greeting visiting "chief"
View the video by clicking on the image above. Quite an intense "greeting" to determine the character and intention of a visiting chief ...
Twin Leap
The next day, I took a day long cruise to follow the Cream Trip -- the path followed by the mail boat servicing the Bay of Islands as it dropped off mail and collected cream. First up were dolphins about 500ft ahead of the boat ...
Mom's and Junior
Two females watching over the adolescent in the pod ...
Mail delivery
In the old days, local farmers would separate the milk from the cream and set out the cream to be collected by the mail boat as it made its rounds.. Nowadays, the Cream Trip follows the original route and delivers mail along the way.
Noble Fir at Rangihoua Bay
As we approached Rangihoua Bay, this lone noble fir on the top of the hill reminded me the Christmas was coming ...
Lush Vegetation - Rangihoua Bay
My first real experience with the amazingly lush vegetation of NZ! Couldn't get over the variety and vibrance!
Sailboat at Anchor
Such a picturesque cove to be anchored in ...
Lush Vegetation - Urupukapuka
What an amazing variety of trees (note the non-native Noble Firs brought by the missionaries)
Remote beach camping -- not much on amenities, but what a beutiful spot!
Cape Brett Lighthouse
Crews would lower a boat from the old pier to receive supplies and then used a horse drawn tram to wheel them up to the lighthouse (until the horse got smart and would hide whenever it saw the supply boat arrive)
Motukokako Is. (Hole in the Rock)
Our final destination before heading back to Paihia. Existing hole on the right, we'll pass through. There's also a hole developing on the left ... in a few thousand years, it too will be a hole...
"Hole in the Rock" - Motukokako
Yep, we're taking our 48' wide boat through a 72' wide opening in a churning sea ...
Through the "Hole in the Rock"
Wow, it seemed like quite the tight fit, but we scooted through!
East side of Motukokako Is.
After we passed through the "Hole in the Rock"
Rainbow Falls
On the morning of my departure, I ran out to see if I could capture a shot of Rainbow Falls before the sun got too bright ... I was about 15mins late ... Beautiful falls nonetheless
MorePork Lodge Alpacas
On my way out, I got to meet the resident alpacas! Adorable!
