Easter Twenty-Eleven Road Trip

Mum and I left around 10am on Tuesday 26th April and headed north to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Four hours and 300km's later we were in beautiful Paihia.
The drive up wasn't to bad. We were driving along listening to the weather report and it was telling us how very bad weather was hitting the North Island, we were both looking out the windows going "typical weather reports, always wrong." We had beautiful weather for the two days we were in Paihia.

On Tuesday afternoon we walked around Paihia and had some afternoon tea at a bar on the beach front. It was so stunning sitting there eating your food and you look out at the ocean.


Afternoon Tea View

We went back to our Hotel room for a nap and then about 7pm headed out for dinner. We went to a lovely restaurant down the road. We had a cheese platter to start and then a meal each. I had a yummy steak on mash, yum yum yum!

Wednesday, we drove up to Mangonui to go to the Mangonui Fish Shop. It is marketed as the best fish and chips in the world. There seafood is amazing. It is a must do!

On our way to Mangonui stopped in Keri-Keri and went to the Stone Store, NZ's earliest 'trading post', since 1819. Kerikeri Mission Station includes the oldest wooden house to survive. It was very cool to see. While we were there we also popped up the hill to an old church.

Stone Store

We ate our lunch at the Fish Shop and then headed back to Paihia, stopping at Hururu Falls and Waitangi on the way. Hururu falls wasn't a spectacular huge waterfall, but it was nice.

Waitangi is NZ's most famous historic site. It is where the Treaty of Waitangi, a treaty trading the land of New Zealand from the Maori tribes to the British Empire for supplies such as blankets, muskets and others. It is a very beautiful piece of land, and the views of the ocean are amazing. There is a war Waka there that is huge, it was also carved from Kauri trees and was built for the 1940 centennial. I was a bit bored, it isn't as exciting as some other countries history as it is really our only history. But at least now I can say I have been.

View from the beach, just below the Waitangi Meeting House

After Waitangi we decided to head over to Russel that afternoon, instead of doing it in the morning. So we got our walking shoes on and got the Ferry to Russel. Very pretty. Not much to do. There is a museum there, it is two rooms. One room is solely about the history of the Freemasons in New Zealand. We sat at the Duke of Cambridge Hotel Bar and had a drink while looking out at the little beach and the ocean. The ferry back was amazing as the sun was setting and the view was breathtaking.

Sun set from the wharf at Russell

Luckily we had gone to Russel that evening instead of waiting until the morning. When we woke to get ready to head home it was raining and glum outside. We headed home on Thursday morning and then off again on Friday to Palmerston North.

In Palmerston North we went to the wedding of a good friend of mine. It was such a lovely day. They got married in the afternoon in a garden at a farm estate. It was a bit chilly, but both the bride and groom looked smashing. The Wedding was followed by a reception at the local Race Track. The food was YUMMY! The music was fantastic. It was just a lovely day.

We said good bye to Palmerston North on Sunday morning and took the six hour drive home.

I had a blast that week. Mum and I did so many fun things, it was very enjoyable and driving around is so spectacular as you get to see so many amazing parts of the country.