Whangerai falls is a couple of km from the hostel we were staying at. It was a beautiful waterfall that, if you clambered over some slippery rocks you could go all the way behind. We spent a while there before taking a walk through the forest to some huge native Kauri trees, where on-route I found a big rope swing into the river we were following, which was very nice for cooling off! After that we had a nice big booking session and planned our way up to The Bay of Islands!
We arrived in Piahia (in the Bay of Islands) on the 4th of January and straight away booked our activities for the next few days. On the
day we arrived we went para-sailing, which went ridiculously high
(1200ft apparently) so we had a great view of the whole area. Also got some good photos as you can see!
The next day was an early start (yes half 8 is early!) We had booked ourselves onto a dolphin sailing tour and were quick to find a pod of Bottlenose dolphins. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to swim with them as they had 5 or 6 babies which we weren't allowed to disturb. The dolphins stayed with the boat for about half an hour before we moved on to get to our lunchtime stopoff at Roberton Island. A spot of snorkeling got done as well as a short walk to the highest point on the island, before swimming back to the boat for a BBQ. After
lunch we did go in search of some more dolphins to swim with but to no avail, though we did see some penguins and a small shark. It was a really good day and good value for money since every other dolphin cruise was at least as expensive and for half the time.
We drove to Whangerai - half way between The Bay of Islands and Auckland - on New Years Day.On the 2nd, since Holly's attempt to find something else to do proved unsuccessful, I convinced her to go up Mt Manaia. It was only 400m of climbing but it was ridiculously steep. Reviews on the internet said it was worth the struggle, and boy were they right! We spent about half an hour on the top before Holly said she was getting cold, so she headed down and I said I would catch her up. Instead I did the complete opposite and wanted to get to the very top. So after a bit of fighting through some bushes I came to the second picture where you can see 3 people clambering up where I was about to go. If you hadn't already guessed, that's the reason I sent Holly down first, because there is no way she would have let me go up there! Good job Mum wasn't there either! I scrambled up that bit and then reached the next obstacle, a near sheer 20m ish rock face - that's the third picture on a bit where I didn't need my hands. After a precarious climb up that I got a full 360 degree view, with every direction looking as good as the photo at the top. I spent far too long up there but just couldn't resist. The climb down was a bit worse but I didn't fall to my death so it's all good. After that I ran back down so Holly wasn't waiting too long. It was definitely worth the struggle!
Though Christmas Day was basically the same set-up as at home, boxing day certainly wasn't. We headed to 'Hot water beach', which is essentially a beach with hot springs under the sand.A couple of hours either side of low-tide, you can dig yourself a hot-tub and lay in it! It wasn't the best day but the water certainly made up for it, by the time we left the water in the pools was unbearably hot! The next day we headed to supposedly one of the top 10 beaches in the world 'New Chum Beach'. It was a 20 minute walk from the car park so that meant it wasn't very busy, we found a nice spot under a blossoming Pohutukawa tree and after a bit of sunbathing went in the sea. It was an amazing beach but I think part of the reason it was rated so highly was because of the surf. On the 28th we left Matarangi and the Coromandel to head back down to some of Holly's relatives just outside Auckland for New year. Since Karen and Martin (Holly's relatives) were off work over the Christmas period they took us to some of the nicer places around the city. First they took us to Devonport, to the top of Mt Victoria, where we got a view of the whole bay overlooking Auckland. The next day they took us to a remote beach about half an hour down a gravel road that there is no way we would have found by ourselves. Though it was so remote, it was quite busy and the waves were huge, Martin taught me how to body
surf on them, though I did get completely wiped out many a time!
For New years eve/day we drove back up Mt Victoria and watched the Auckland fireworks from afar because we had been told trying to get into the city would be a nightmare. We arrived at the top at 11pm and it was already chaos up there so its a good job we weren't any later! It was a bit chilly but we got a great view of the fireworks, unfortunately no pictures came out very well though.
Whangerai falls is a couple of km from the hostel we were staying at. It was a beautiful waterfall that, if you clambered over some slippery rocks you could go all the way behind. We spent a while there before taking a walk through the forest to some huge native Kauri trees, where on-route I found a big rope swing into the river we were following, which was very nice for cooling off! After that we had a nice big booking session and planned our way up to The Bay of Islands!
The next day was an early start (yes half 8 is early!) We had booked ourselves onto a dolphin sailing tour and were quick to find a pod of Bottlenose dolphins. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to swim with them as they had 5 or 6 babies which we weren't allowed to disturb. The dolphins stayed with the boat for about half an hour before we moved on to get to our lunchtime stopoff at Roberton Island. A spot of snorkeling got done as well as a short walk to the highest point on the island, before swimming back to the boat for a BBQ. After 
