Birthday Bash..

To the bay of islands

It was early Saturday morning, we packed our bags and headed north on Highway 12, through the Waipoua forest until we approached Tane Mahuta (The Giant Kauri Tree) the oldest and largest tree of New Zealand! It was pretty special, but still doesn’t beat The Major Oak of Sherwood Forest.

It was early days and we still had plenty to see. So, we drove on through the huge Waipoua forest, there was something different it, kinda resembled a rainforest and seemed endless. It’s the last place you want to get lost! We eventually made it out, before reaching ‘the three w’s’ Wekaweka, Waimamaku and Waiotemarama. The sun was beginning to shine; it was perfect timing, as we approached Omapere. We stopped at Pakia Hill, the view was sensational, it overlooked the sand dunes at Te Pouahi Reserve on the North Head. We even met two Roosters here and gave them some food to nibble.

On we drove, through Opononi and Pakanae, we were approaching Whirinaki when we noticed the road was cordoned off, it had fallen away! Maybe due to an earthquake.

We got back on route towards Kaikohe, where we stopped for a short break to grab a delicious Subway. Before heading on route to Puketona towards KeriKeri where we found Pukeko Vineyard and Winery. We had free wine tasting before buying a bottle of Pinot Gris.

The best and tastiest white wine! Before we left we met Milo a lovely black Labrador, and 4 beautiful ponies.

Back on the road again, we spotted directions to Haruau waterfall, we love the waterfalls, so we had to check it out. Glad we did, it was worth our while : )

Next.…The hotel! We were staying at the Tanoa Paihia Hotel, where we had a bottle of champagne was waiting for us! With pure determination I eventually opened the bottle to celebrate my 25^th Birthday!

It was mid-afternoon so plenty of time to check out Paihia, enjoy the sun before the night life begins!

The morning after the night before…

We wake up to birthday presents…a beautiful silver watch, clothes and Robin Hood souvenir’s! But funniest of all, we both get the wonderful gift of face packs! I even found two in my new shorts! After making our skin look beautiful we had breakfast at the hotel before heading out for the day in Paihia.

Next we visit Kawakawa, south of Paihia. It’s the only place in New Zealand to have a working stream train…and the only steam train that drives amongst the traffic in the centre of town. As they started up the huge engine, I grinned with joy and excitement at this wonderful spectacle!

It was late afternoon, time to take the drive home. We got on Highway 12 towards Kaikohe, then by Ngapuhi, before reaching the Twin Bridges, a strange rope bridge and an old wooden bus stop!

 Te Pouahi Reserve

Pukeko Vineyard

Haruau waterfall

Waterfalls of Waikato

Omaru Falls

If you have been following our blog, you will have noticed we like our waterfall visits! So it was inevitable to out in the wilderness and trek to a waterfall, well two actually…

So on the way home, we stopped off on Highway 3, to see Omaru falls,

which stands at 35m tall

Not far away was scenic falls, a mere 5m or so, small but beautiful...



Time for a Holiday

Mt Ruapehu

It’s our first anniversary and we wanted to do something special. So lets go snowboarding!…Mount Ruapehu here we come!

So Friday morning we woke, and hit the road…and drove south of Dargaville on State Highway 12 towards Brynderwyn. We then joined on to Highway 1 south through Warkworth.

Two hours later we were in Pakuranga, Auckland. We had a little stretch of the legs and went to see our good friend Vaughn. Time flew like an aeroplane and before we knew it, the time was 3pm! Yikes, so we got back on route towards Manukau, through Papakura and on to Hamilton, where we took the southern Highway no. 3 towards Te Awamutu. We followed this road until we saw Highway 4, by now it was beginning to get dark, and the chances of seeing the mountain were getting slimmer by the minute.

Highway 4 was longer than we thought, will very narrow, windy roads, hill after hill, but eventually we reached National Park, and knew we wasn’t too far away, it was pretty dark so no sight of the mountain until the morning. But after a 550km drive we reached our destination; Ohukune, Ruapehu.

We met up with our friend Katie, who had managed to get a job in the Giant café at the top of the mountain! So luckily we were able to stay Kate’s. We had a few drinks that evening before having a well earned sleep.

So, we awoke at 6.30am ready and rearing to go… straight to the Hire shop. “What do you need?” The lady asked, “Everything” I replied. As quick as humanly possible I tried on boots, trousers, jacket and helmet! Then off we went up the mountain road.

“Oh no, their queuing!”

Unfortunately everyone had the same idea, so we were queuing already. The road was covered in fresh snow, which meant having chains fitted onto our tyres before we could drive any further.

Eventually we got through all the rigmarole and by 10am we were at the car park!! ‘Sigh of relief’ we got our boots, jackets and trousers on (which is a task in itself) before getting our 3 day Ski Pass and heading to the chair lifts! Yey!!!! It was even better than what you see on pictures or the TV! It was just epic! No words can actually describe what it’s like. I didn’t bother with the learner slope I just wanted to get straight in to the action! So we went half way up the Ski Field. I was loving life, my first time on a ski field and it was awesome! I started off on the green slopes, it was quite different to the Snowplanet, on the mountain you have the slight risk of falling off the side! Mikko’s a pro at snowboarding and he was my personal trainer.

As it was our anniversary, Mikko booked a table in a lovely restaurant, we were wined and dined before joining some friends in the local bars.

Sunday morning… a fine day for snowboarding and we made it by 8.30am! I was taking to the board like a duck to water, showing off my new found skills whilst Mikko took to off-roading! I was getting braver the minute,  and heading down more difficult runs, not just longer, but higher, steeper and very hard work! We found each other again near the ‘hlafway’ café, and it was time to head to the very tip of the ski slope. Oooh yes! Slightly daunting but extremely EXCITING!

By day 3 my muscles were getting quite sore, but I soldierd on for the third and final day on the mountain. What an epic day, I was turning into a pro, I could turn 360 and I even jumped a small lump of snow!  Mikko was on his own mission to the top of the mountain, which didn’t even take him too long! The epic view was worth it to see the crater of the volcano and a huge blue lake.

After the days events, we went to unwind and relax in a private sauna, complete with water fountain and sweets!

And so the journey begins...