L0p3z and Neno's Upside-Down Adventure: On the road to some sun, sea and dolphins

One of the must see places in New Zealand is the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island. It consists of over 100 islands in a large natural harbour and is a popular destination for sailing, fishing and relaxing.

The journey up would be about 4 hours but we decided to show Carol and Boyd a few places along the way. An hour into the journey we realised that a morning coffee stop was required by Carol and Boyd, we hadn't planned this and didn't realise it was such an important part of their day. We ignored the moaning and pressed on to Whangerai Falls with the promise that we could stop for one there. Turns out the ice cream man in the car park did coffee but his machine was broken, so we headed down to the waterfalls to get some snaps.

I'm not trying to throw Janine in, promise

Putting on a brave face, the caffeine withdrawal had really kicked in at this stage

Next stop was our favourite beach up at Whale Bay. It's such a quiet spot for lunch and perfect for swimming as the bay is so sheltered. Sandwiches were devoured and everyone had a swim or a paddle. Still no coffee though, but Whale Bay is such a nice place the complaints were minimal.

Whale Bay - Janines favourite spot

The tour continued down some windy dirt track roads, I think Google maps went a little funny as we didn't seem to be knocking any time off the arrival time. Eventually we found the main road again and got the an amazing cafe and art gallery on Helena Bay Hill. Carol and Boyd got their coffee, and I got a beer. The location was stunning as you will see from the picture below. There is loads of amazing art work some of it very expensive. We got chatting to the owner who was a British sheep shearer. He had made a lot of money shearing sheep and had bought the land a few years before, he had designed the buildings and gardens and also made incredible kauri wood tables which were sold in the gallery. He showed us round his workshop but the most interesting thing was his two Bernese Mountain dogs. They were massive and still only puppies, like giant teddy bears but so friendly.

View from the Helena Bay Hill Cafe and Gallery

Say hello to my giant friend

Once we were dragged away from the dogs and Boyd was dragged from the workshop we hit the road again. The final destination was Haruru just outside Pahia, this is a main starting point for exploring the Bay of Islands and would be the base for a few days as we venture into the northland.

The next day we booked on a cruise around the bay. Its a little touristy but still a great way to see as much of the bay and in low season its not too busy. There are a few sights along the trip, the most famous being the "Hole in the Rock" which is a large natural arch a the far north eastern end of the bay. On calm days the boat will sail through the hole, not on this day though, the sea in the hole looked more like a washing machine. The other reason to see the bay is the fact that its a common area for dolphins to live. The tour companies actually offer dolphin guarantees so you get a free ticket for another day if you don't see a dolphin. Luckily we did almost as soon as we left the harbour, the boat stopped and tracked them for about half an hour before letting them be and getting on with the rest of the tour.

After a stop for a drink and a walk on Urupukapuka, one of the largest islands, we headed back to the historic town of Russell for lunch. We ate in the oldest licensed hotel in New Zealand, something that all of us recommend highly as the food is amazing, also they have loads of beers on tap if you like that sort of thing. Russell is the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand but soon gained a bad reputation and the nickname the "Hell Hole of the Pacific". It's much nicer now and worth an afternoon wandering round. There is a flagstaff up on the hill just outside of the town. If you are feeling fit or want to try and kill off a parent then take the walk up to get some awesome views of the bay.

Finally we had exhausted Carol and Boyd so we jumped back on the ferry to Pahia and settled down on the deck of our cabin for a BBQ. We had to make them the kiwi speciality of mussels wrapped in bacon for their first kiwi BBQ.