As I write this, I am looking out of the window of a very comfortable cabin over the small village of Paihia towards the beautiful Bay of Islands. Idyllic? - yes, but it is also raining, as it has been for the past two days and the frustration of not being able to put together two straight days of fine weather since our arrival 3 weeks ago is starting to tell. Since leaving Ruapehu, we spent a day of gale-force wind and sleeting rain in Auckland, where we stopped off at the Australian consulate to vote (so don't blame us!) before heading off in the rain up the long "finger" of the North Island. Rain has fallen on 17 days out of 21, which probably entitles us to this brief whinge, but that is enough. The Bay of Islands is a beautiful place, very quiet at the moment, and although it looks like it would be very busy in summer, it has retained its charm. The villages of the Bay have escaped the overdevelopment that is a scourge of many coastal resorts. Below are are few images taken when the rain gave us a break. |
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There are many short day or half-day walks in this area. We managed to do one along an inlet of the bay passing through a forest full of tuis, with their curious rasping call, and other birds, crossing an interesting mangrove forest for lunch alongside the Haruru Falls. I was surprised to meet up with a few other ex-pats that I did not know lived here - eastern rosellas. |
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