Chapter VII

CHAPTER VII - The Bay of Islands

With a lot of effort Nichlas, Kenny and me finally managed to create enough free time for having a week-end off from university. So we decided to spend Saturday and Sunday in the Bay of Isalnd - a region 250 km north of Auckland that is quite famous for its amazing landscape. Thus, we got into Kenny’s car on saturday morning at 11.30 am (planned was 9.00 am...) and off we were to a weekend full of fun and sun... and there we stopped after only 20 minutes besides the road because the hood of the car was covered in a huge cloud of steam! The engine had been over-heated what finally had caused a cooler-hose to burst. Great! But no worries - Nichlas was with us. Not a problem for “McGyver” - it took only 15 minutes and that thing was repaired... and it took only another 15 minutes until we had to stop again because the cooler was boiling again. So we finally switched on the car’s heating and stopped now and then to add some water - and it did work for the rest of the trip!

- Nichlas is fixing the car the first time -

- And this is what it looks like when it’s getting really hot! -

After finding the right “driving technique” we finally could go on - pretty much behind our schedule. But anyway we got to see a lot of nice places that day, however, we could not make it to the Bay of Islands as planned and had to stop for the night in Whangarei, “the capital of the north”. The Lonely Planet Travel Guide can tell us more: “It is a pleasant city with an equable climate, though its main attractions are in the surrounding area.” Yep. That’s right. The town is quite small (45,000 inhabitants) and has not much to offer. Anyway - we found a place to stay in a backpacker’s and spent a funny night out in the “night life” of Whangarei. We definetely showed that guys up there what a party is and got to know a lot of people that night. We didn’t make it home until 5.00 am (singing aloud on the street, not remembering any lyrics but who cares?). But still we managed to get up early the next morning and continue our trip...

- This is only 20 km from Auckland and quite a nice place -

- Watch out! -

- Kenny’s car - that ol’ crate! -

- Picknick in an old tree on the “Tractor Beach” -

- The so-called “Whangarei-Heads” - nice isn’t it? -

- Sunset -

- ... -

- The Wharangarei-Heads Beach”

- Do you know that sunday-morning feeling? (No, he’s not dead...) -

The next day we finally made it to the Bay of Islands - a really amazing place. We drove along the coast for long hours and had a look at all those scenic bays with heaps of small islands - the best place I have been to so far! We also got the chance to go for a swim in the Pacific Ocean - it even wasn’t that cold... After spending the whole day driving around we finally could not believe that we had seen so many incredible places in just one day - just take a look at the pics and you’ll know what I mean...