The Northland

23/10

This morning we woke up really early—6:10am local time. After breakfast, Ian picked us up and we made our way over to the boat dock where we got on a Fuller’s Tour of the Bay of Islands.

We went from Paihia to Russell and then out to Cape Brett and Hole in the Rock. It was a very rocky ride, and I got seasick. Because of the sea state, we couldn ‘t go through Hole in the Rock (and Dada and I really didn’t see how the boat could fit anyway) so the girl-captain backed into it, much to our relief!

We had an hour’s stop on Urupukapuka Island so Dad bought me a Coke and a "pummet of chips’’ of fries (called an order of fries in American) which cured my seasickness. (I was sick in spite of having taken Meclizine! And we made sure to sit outside facing forward. No fair!)

We climbed up a hill and found Garion’s Tree!

Aunt Brigitte ran up a mountain with Dad and Uncle Mike chasing her. She finally got to see sheep which she was very excited about.

After we were booted off the Island, we returned to Russell and had lunch at a cute little café where Dad had a pear salad and I had my first-ever Pannini (YUM!). And we saw an amazing knarly tree called a "Morton's Bay Fig." (Garion's Tree is a Pahutakawa Tree.)

After lunch, we went to the museum in Russell that has a 1/5 replica of the Endeavour. It was AMAZING—at least to me. Everyone else was nice about my obsession. (During the Bay of Islands tour, we saw the Cove where Cook and the Endeavour spent a week. He came into the Bay of Islands to take shelter from a storm. It was a beautiful cove.)

After seeing the views from Flagstaff Hill, we then took the ferry to Opua. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a car on a boat before. It was kind of freaky!

Then we went to Kawiti Glowworm caves. They were AMAZING! There weren't as many glowworms as were in the Waitomo Caves, but we got a personal tour and were able to see the worms close up. We liked Kawiti Glowworms better in every way than Waitomo.

On our way back to Paihia, we stopped at Kawakawa to see the public toilets there. I am not kidding. Frederick Hundertwasser is a famous Austrian artist who adopted New Zealand as his home. In 1998 when the town of Kawakawa was undertaking renovations of the public toilets, he submitted a plan to make them a piece of modern art. The city accepted his plan, art students implemented it, and now it is an ENORMOUS tourist attraction and economic boost to the town. Incredible.

Ian took us to dinner at a local club for veterans. It was good, plain food.

We then went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to see a Maori Cultural Show. Uncle Mike was chosen to be one of the 'chiefs' from our group. He had to do a 'hongi'-a traditional Maori greeting where the chiefs press noses. It was very funny. Even funnier was when our 'chief', sitting in front of everyone, DOZED OFF during the show. (I am sooooooooo glad Dad wasn't chosen as chief!) We got back to our hotel about 10pm, and we were all completely desperate to get in bed. Jet-lag continues!