Christmas in the NZ

Was Christmas in New Zealand strange? Yes, but the good type of strange I suppose. Despite Christmas Day, the weather was spectacular and daylight lasted until around 10:00PM. But it wasn't just the weather that made it a bit surreal and abnormal, it seamed all of the Kiwis were a bit off as well. Perhaps it might have been the fact that there was no eggnog anywhere in site. Anyway, it didn't really seam like the holiday season, but we got on with it anyway. We did get a few scary indications that Christmas was around the corner such as this 50 foot Santa Clause erected on Queen Street down town Auckland. The scary part is that he mechanically winks and wags his finger at you as you walk down the street looking more like a perverted and deranged Santa than Jolly Old Saint Nick.


We also ran into this ragged fellow at a home brewing guild meeting. I had debated whether or not he could be the genuine article or part of the "Santa's Revenge" conspiracy to get us all drunk that evening (notice the beer font just in front of him).


Thankfully, Don and Barb came out to visit us over the holidays to help get us into the Christmas spirit. It was awesome to see family and have them over the holidays. They got into town just before Christmas. The plan was to spend Christmas in Auckland, and then head out on the open road to explore the Norths Island.

This is a picture of Don and Barb at Cape Reinga, the Northern most tip of New Zealand. On the first part of our travels, we set up home base near Paihia. Paihia is at the mouth of the beautiful Bay of Islands.

From this tiny port, you could take charters and tour boats to go fishing, swim with dolphins, and see all the sites from the water. We jumped on a tour boat that took us out to the Whole in the Rock, a famous island in the middle of the Bay of Island that has a cavernous hole through a portion of soft rock which has weathered away over time.

The photo above shows the island as we approached. There is a sailboat just in front of the tunnel to give you some scale. As we got closer, we found out our tour boat skipper intended on driving directly through the hole to the other side....and so we did....!


On the way back from the Whole in the Rock, we jumped off the boat at Russel which is a town directly across the bay from Paihia. Russell was once known for its reputation of being home to escaped prisoners, scoundrels, prostitutes, brothels, and too many ale houses to count. It was once known as the "Hell Hole of the Pacific" by many back in the day. Luckily, times have changed, and Russell has turned into a quaint community. Small batches, cafes, and quiet beaches are now the attraction.


The next day we had arranged to take a tour bus to drive us up to Cape Reinga as I had mentioned before, and down Ninety Mile Beach. Literally, we took the bus along the whole length of the beach.


Of course, the beach is not really 90 miles long, it is more like 55 or so, and no one really knows how it got the name as it is today. Anyway, the beach itself during low tide is considered a legal highway, and is used by many tourist to drive up and down the coast. You just have to be aware of the quick sand spots that may swallow up you vehicle.


During our beach drive down Ninety Mile, we stopped off at a range of enormous sand dunes. Each person on the tour bus took a turn sliding down the dunes face first on a boogy board. It was good fun!

The bus tour was great, but a long day. Twelve hours in total. If it wasn't for our bus drivers strange and humorous stories, and frequent stops to little touristy places along the way, we might have gone crazy...

Anyway, we made it back to Paihia to rest up and tackle the next day of adventure...