Ending on a high

Hello,

I'm back in the UK but thought I ought to finish off my blog, even if it is from rainy old Britain!

The last few days in NZ were really great. I finished off my holiday in the North in an attempt to catch some last minute sun (it's hotter up North in NZ).

As I mentioned, I did a pretty crazy trip to Cape Regina from the Bay of Islands. Basically most of the tours up there involve a twelve hour bus trip, which was highly unappealing. I hunted around until I came across Cape Regina Adventures who promised a personalised trip with camping; perfect, I thought. That night I met a bit of character called Marty. I mentioned said trip and he announced that he was running it. By the end of the conversation I'd got a cut price deal and he was picking me up at nine the next morning. Eventually he trundled up in an old Toyota camper van (the tour bus). Just one other punter and myself "piled" into the back and we were on our way. I was slightly concerned at this point but it was a bit late.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time. That day we went sea kayaking, caught some (big) fish and had a nice camp fire. Another character "Bushman Pete" as he called himself told some very tall stories about catching wild pigs, sharks etc. First thing in the morning we were woken up, fed some pancakes and told to jump off the harbour into the freezing water! Which we did and it certainly woke us up! After that Marty drove us to the 90 mile beach (which is actually 67 miles long) and then to the most northerly part of NZ. On the way back we went sandboarding. This time I actually managed to stand up! I don't have any photographic evidence of this as my memory card was full and replacing it on a sand dune was asking for trouble. You will just have to believe me!


After recovering from my little adventure, I decided to go on a trip called "The Rock". The Rock is the name of a big ship which a bloke called Pete made into accommodation, a boat and a bar rolled into one. I wasn't too sure what to expect but it turned out to be one of the best days yet. We (there were about 35 passengers) set off on the Monday and sailed out to some islands (in the Bay of Islands). Soon after boarding, we were told that there would be a shooting competition. The vegetarians out there needn't worry as we were shooting at a plastic duck bobbing around on the back of the boat. Anyway, I am only telling you about it so I can show off because I won - beating all the men too! Hooray!

After the shooting competition, we did some fishing. After my previous fishing lessons my technique had certainly improved and I caught eight! Admittedly, eight tiddlers but still not bad. The crew kindly cooked up our fresh fish, along with a few steaks for a nice big dinner.

Later on, we went night kayaking. Being on the sea at night is a little disconcerting, especially when the area you are in is a known Killer Whale spot! Luckily, we didn't get eaten by sharks etc but we did see some really cool algae which glowed in the dark when we paddled - it looked like thousands of little stars. Yes, I know algae doesn't sound that great but believe me, shiny glowing algae is ace.

The next day (we slept on the boat) we were graced with the presence of dolphins!! Again, I don't have the pictures as my camera battery ran out (who said digital was better than film?). These dolphins were different to the ones I'd seen before as they were bottle nosed dolphins – the largest you can get (minus Killer Whales if you are being pernickety). They were very beautiful.

Later on, we went snorkelling in a reef which was pretty cool, although I did have Steve Erwin's fate firmly in my mind when we were told about the many stingrays that lived there! After snorkelling, we swam to an island, where we relaxed on the nice white sandy beach, until it was time to head home.

To see pics of "The Rock" click here

After a fantastic time in the Bay of Islands, it was time to go back to Auckland and get ready to catch my flight home. I really didn't want to leave New Zealand. It was a brilliant trip and I met many wonderful people. I couldn't have wished for more.

It will be great to catch up with everyone in the UK in the next few days (I'm back in Cardiff on Monday), so I look forward to speaking to you all soon!