Bay of islands

After a long 5 hour drive North, we arrived in Paihia located in the bay if Islands. Our hotel, the Paihia Beach Resort provided us with a 2 bedroom suite that had a patio and access to the salt water pool and hot soaking tubs.

Located across the street from the beach, we quickly dropped our bags and headed to explore the beach. It was a bit Rocky with large volcanic flow that formed a spit. We then walked into town to have dinner at a restaurant on the pier called Charlotte's. It was a yummy seafood dinner and we we're all stuffed.

We ended the evening with a soak in the hot tub and pool. It was amazing to watch the stars, hear the waves crashing and soak in the warm water.

This morning had us up at dawn again, trying to catch the sunrise. All except Colby who again elected to sleep in. While not as dramatic as Napier it was still gorgeous and once the sun popped up the warmth increased a s well. We walked into town for a coffee and then back to the hotel.

Next stop was the Waitangi Treat Grounds. This site was the location of the proclamation of  New Zealand as a country and where many native tribes signed the treaty with Brittian. It was very informative and has a well done museum as well as the largest war canoe on display. 

For lunch we hopped.on the ferry and headed to Russel, once known as Hell On Earth. Of course it has changed a lot since it was a port of pleasure for whalers and sailers. We dined on the patio of the hotel and soaked up more sunshine on the ferry back.

On our way out of town we stopped at the Kiwiti Cave to see the glow worms light up the ceiling. We were joined by a group of teenage Aussie girls who giggled a lot but weren't too annoying. The worms were neat and the cave felt like something from Guardians of the Galaxy. Headed back to Auckland now.