Home » New Zealand » Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, The glaciers, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Abel Tasman National Park, Wellington, Tongariro National Park, Bay of Islands, Auckland

South Pacific - part II

Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, The glaciers, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Abel Tasman National Park, Wellington, Tongariro National Park, Bay of Islands, Auckland

Hector Yague
2005-10-09 15:46:17

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the film had been shot. Felix was playing Sam and I was playing Frodo and we took stupid pictures impersonating the two of them climbing up the rocks in agony in their quest towards Mt. Doom.

Can't believe I'm telling you guys this shit. There goes my spanish macho reputation...

Bay of Islands

After a couple of days messing around at the Tongariro National Park, we drove for the whole day, spent the night over in Auckland and continued north the next morning to the very northern-most cape in New Zealand, the wonderful Bay of Islands. On the way up there, I was pleased to notice that the center-north bit of the north island offers some of the thickest and lushest pinetree forests I've seen in my life.

Alright. Bay of Islands is famed for its particular coastal landscape. There are hundreds of tiny islands and rock formations pinned all along the shore, with excellent beaches fringed by leafy vegetation. Have you ever been in the Dalmatian coast (Croatia), right across the Adriatic Sea off Italy? well, Bay of Islands is to the South Pacific what Croatia is to the Mediterranean Sea. No wonder it's become one of the favorite summer destinations for New Zealanders and an unbeatable sailing scenario.

Unfortunately, Felix was running out of time having to catch a plane to Fiji two days later in Auckland, so we got to spend only 24 hours here in Bay of Islands, which wasn't nearly enough to squeeze the best outta this place. Anyhow, we did attend to a rather interesting exhibition about Maori culture. Maori are the aboriginal people from New Zealand before the white man colonized/invaded these latitudes. Well, in fact, it is said that Maori people themselves arrived here about 800 years ago in wooden canoes from Polynesia and other South Pacific islands, hence their hawaiian look. It's great to see that, as opposed to what's ...