pictures of far north

                                                      Dwarfed by the Giant Kauri

                                                                Start of the Ninety Mile Beach

                                                                            Tane Mahuta                     

                                                                                 Joyous!

                                                                   Where two Oceans collide

                                                                              Cape Reinga

                                                                          Haruru Falls

                                                                        Baaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Far North and more

So far the North Island of New Zealand has been full of winding roads, lots of sheep and cow, tons of islands, and incredible views around every corner.  We have been on the go.  From Raglan we went to the Far North on a long journey to the tip, Cape Regina.  Along the way we saw some ancient giant Kauri trees that were anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 years old!!!  They are huge!!  At Trunson Kauri Park we went on a night hike and spotted two endangered kiwi birds with our low beam lights. We also saw glow worms, a three foot long freshwater eel and an invasive possum that Eugene threw rocks at and it yelled at him from up a tree for few hours.  

After we stopped at a healing natural Hot Spring called Ngawha.  We were told not to rinse off after for three days to allow the minerals to soak in for healing purposes, and we did it!!  We smelt like sulphur all three days and Eugene still kinda smells like it.

 At the cape we experienced a great wind  and rain storm, little Frenchy was cozy.  In the Bay of Islands we left our van lights on over breakfast and had to get a jump by a guy named Smity, who reminded us of Sherlock Holmes.   After, we went to Whangaruru Headlands and hiked and then saw some more glow worms at the Abbey Caves.  The last stop in the North Land was Goat Island Marine Reserve where we snorkeled and saw a few sting rays and big snapper.

We zipped through Auckland and headed to Thames, the first town on the west side of the Cormandel Pennisula.  We stayed at a Funky motor camp where you check in with Bruce at the bar across the street.  There we walked the beach and found chunks of agate.  We later went to the final cape of the Cormandel  Peninsula  and picked up a hitchhiker. We dropped him off at Fantail Bay and drove to the end of Jackson Bay Road and camped at Fletcher’s Bay. The next day we hiked around the North Eastern side of the Peninsula to Stony Bay and back. 

After hiking we drove Frenchy to the other side of the Pennisula to hit up the famous Hot Water Beach.  You have to time it with the low tide in order to get the hot water because you have to dig your own hole.  We hired a spade and got to work.  We could have used the Gohegan gang from the Beach to dig.  But we managed to dig out a pretty good sandy hot tub by the end of the tide. The next day we walked to Cathedral Cove Beach, where the sand has a rosy hue.   We left the Cormandel peninsula and now we are figuring out which way to go.  Back to the beach or to the mountains and the hot springs?  Stay tuned...

Kiwi pictures

                                                           Auckland City early Morning

                                                                   Chillin in the Van

                                                                   Te Toto Gorge Hike

                                                       View from Lookout of Raglan

                                                                 Sunset Manu Bay

                                                                 New Zealand Surf

Arrival to Kiwi Land

We made it to New Zealand!!!  We got to Auckland at 8am went through customs that were very serious about seeds and other hitchhikers affecting the flora and fauna of the country.  They examined our boots and our tent and the guy told Eugene we passed and he liked the tent!! We had just enough money to catch the Airbus shuttle to our hostel.  We were feeling energized and we couldn't check in until later so we got down to business.  We found a cheap phone, found some vans to check out and made a call to look at one.  The next two days we got a bank account, an IRD number for our visa, and finalized the van purchase.   We bought a Toyota Town Ace from a nice French couple who were clean and honest and had been traveling around and living out of the van for the past 8 months.   So we call our van Frenchy!!!    Auckland is a nice city, bustling with young people , filled with energy and nothing compared to Bangkok.  It was a nice change; however we were ready to hit the open road after we got the van set up.

Eugene wanted to hit the surf town of Raglan since Thailand had no surf, and he was ready to paddle out.  Raglan is about 2 hours south west of Auckland, a good first road trip in the van driving on the opposite side of the vehicle and the road with a manual transmission.  We arrived in the very tiny town of Raglan and went straight to the surf shop to get Eugene a board.  He was successful.  The next day he hit the waves and they were good.  The following day we noticed busloads of high school surfer groms buzzing around.  Turned out there was a surf competition for the next two days and the surf spot would be off limits!!!  He was disappointed.  On the bright side the sun came out and we went for a grueling hike up the Te Toto Gorge to a wonderful lookout over the valley and Raglan town. It was awesome! 

We know two people from the states who live in this town, and it’s so small that we ran into both of them on the street!!   We have a dinner date and then after we are heading to the next destination.  We plan on heading to the Cormandel Pennisula where we are told it is like Hawaii, but colder!!!!  

Gulf Pictures

                                                            Viewpoint on Ko Phangan

                                                                 Sunset Ko Samui

                                                                   Man's Best Friend

                                                            Viewpoint at Ko Nangyuan

                                                                       Boat Travel

                                                                     Coconut Orchid

Railay Pictures

                                                                     The Lagoon

                                                               The Cave of Offerings

                                                                    Longtail Mate

Railay Viewpoint

                                                            Longtail Boats at Ao Nang

Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand

     From the jungle we headed to the ocean on the East Coast of Thailand where the green topped limestone carsts meet the warm turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea.  Vertical walled islands dot the horizon just like from the movie the Beach.  Here we took a longtail boat taxi in the pouring rain over to the peninsula Railay surrounded by limestone cliffs.  It's a popular climbing spot.  At the climbing spot there was an entire cave dedicated to a princess where fisherman leave offerings of the penis to please her in hopes of good luck fishing!  We didn't leave any offerings but I got a great picture.  We hiked around the peninsula on muddy trails with ropes and monkeys around to a viewpoint and a wonderful secluded lagoon.  Covered in mud we made it down to the lagoon in the center of the peninsula which was well worth it because we were the only crazy people who attempted it.  We decided that the monsoon season was forcing us away from the Andaman Sea and the dry Gulf of Thailand was calling us.   
      We were successful in finding the sun!!! The first of the islands, Ko Samui, is the largest and busiest.  We searched for a place and many were full until we found this cute old Thai lady who took Eugene by the arm and showed him the bungalow.  It wasn't the greatest room but the beach was peaceful and she was the cutest.  There we hit up a great night market and rented a motorbike to check out the island.  It had many beautiful beaches, but was a little overwhelming so we decided to head to the next island of Ko Phangan!!
      Ko Phangan is known as the wild step sister of Ko Samui.  It's famous for its Full Moon parties.  Right off the boat we rented ourselves a brand new motorbike with a full tank of gas for three days!  This island was my favorite place in all of Thailand.  Very mellow and not overrun by development right on the beach.  The island was filled with coconut palms, snakes, sea eagles, and wild roads.  We rallied the motorbike all over the island checking out snorkeling spots and hiking spots and stopping at all the beaches for a swim.  After three days of fun and an empty tank of gas we headed to the next island of Ko Tao. 
      Ko Tao the smallest of the three was a little more hustle and bustle than Ko Phangan but not as much as Ko Samui.  It's a popular dive and snorkel island, where they pump out divers daily.  There we took an old-school wooden barge to a tiny island called Ko Nangyuan where the clear waters were filled with numerous vibrant fish.  We spent the whole day there checking out the islands' nooks and crannies and then climbed to the viewpoint before it was time to head back.  The next two days we checked out four unique bays for snorkeling scattered around the island.  The steep roads and our ghetto motorbike left me walking up the hills to meet Eugene at the top.  I guess I've had too many spring rolls!! One bay had a giant rock in the middle that everyone was jumping off, and another was an underwater boulder field filled with awesome corals.  I saw a massive Puffer fish that shot me the stink eye, while Eugene spotted a black tip reef shark.  The next day we caught our boat-bus combo to Bangkok where we'll eat our last Pad Thai, have our last cheap Thai message, and do some shopping before heading to New Zealand.