Kayaking at Bay of Islands, The Big Trees - Kuira Trees
As usual, the frantic packing to make it out of the hostel before the 10:00 am checkout time. We drove a few blocks to the beach at Paihia to a kayak rental place and rented a two person touring kayak for 2-hours. A touring kayak has a rudder which makes it a lot easier to steer and also have real back rests. John and I paddled out to three different small islands, getting off and exploring two of them and also tried to make it to a waterfall that was up a river that came into the Bay of Islands. We paddled a ways up the river. I imagine it was there somewhere, but we just didn't have time to make to it and get on the road at a reasonable time. It was still a beautiful paddle!
We decided to head back on the west side of the North Island to see the giant Kuira trees. They're really quite impressive. John has a good and accurate description of them so please check his blog to get the details.
As an added treat, we found a free park on a point of land that went out into the ocean that was quite fascinating. It had steep cliffs, sandstone trails, lots of interesting vegetation, and gorgeous views of a blue-green bay. It was quite cool!
We continued on back to Auckland to our familiar hostel, Auckland Central Backpacker. A friend I had met earlier picked me up to explore some of Auckland, including a park called "One Tree Hill" that has a great nightime view of Auckland Harbor.
As usual, the frantic packing to make it out of the hostel before the 10:00 am checkout time. We drove a few blocks to the beach at Paihia to a kayak rental place and rented a two person touring kayak for 2-hours. A touring kayak has a rudder which makes it a lot easier to steer and also have real back rests. John and I paddled out to three different small islands, getting off and exploring two of them and also tried to make it to a waterfall that was up a river that came into the Bay of Islands. We paddled a ways up the river. I imagine it was there somewhere, but we just didn't have time to make to it and get on the road at a reasonable time. It was still a beautiful paddle!
We decided to head back on the west side of the North Island to see the giant Kuira trees. They're really quite impressive. John has a good and accurate description of them so please check his blog to get the details.
As an added treat, we found a free park on a point of land that went out into the ocean that was quite fascinating. It had steep cliffs, sandstone trails, lots of interesting vegetation, and gorgeous views of a blue-green bay. It was quite cool!
We continued on back to Auckland to our familiar hostel, Auckland Central Backpacker. A friend I had met earlier picked me up to explore some of Auckland, including a park called "One Tree Hill" that has a great nightime view of Auckland Harbor.
posted by Chris at 11:00 AM
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