Harbour bridge from 'Sky Tower'.
Maori Monument, Auckland.
Street scene, Auckland..
13th March - 29th March 2005.
In March 2005 we travelled to New Zealand to experience some of the most awesome scenery that we have seen for a long time. Our tour took us from the busy cosmopolitan city of Auckland to the Bay of Island and then south to Christchurch. We travelled by coach and experienced great weather for the duration of our stay.
Our journey started in Alice Springs from where we travelled to our first overnight stop Sydney. From there we flew to Auckland where we stayed one night before joining our coach tour.
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Harbour bridge from 'Sky Tower'. |
Maori Monument, Auckland. |
Street scene, Auckland.. |
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Auckland City and harbour |
Street scene, Auckland. |
The Sky Tower |
Our coach departed Auckland 7:30am the next morning and travelling north across the harbour bridge we picked up the Twin Coast Highway en route visiting the Kauri Museum and the Waipoua Kauri Forest where we saw giant kauri trees some of which were over a 1000 years old. We stopped at Paihia for two nights so that we could experience a picturesque cruise through the sheltered Bay waters. Heading out to Cape Brett where the boat would attempt to sail through the famous 'Hole in the Rock', a natural formation, we saw numerous smaller islands that were either Nature Parks or private property. We stopped at Urupukapuka island for lunch and a walk up to the highest point on the island to look at the Bay. After lunch we headed for Russell.
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Waitangi Treaty House |
Hole in the Rock. |
Bay of Islands. |
Also on the itinerary was the Waitangi Treaty House where the British and Maori people signed one of New Zealand's most important documents in 1840. We visited the historic town of Russell a small seaside village that had a reputation in the 1830s of being 'The Hell Hole of the Pacific' and 'The Devils playground'. Today its a picturesque village with its historic buildings and white picket fences. Christ Church, New Zealand's oldest church still carries the bullet holes of the 'Maori Wars'.
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The foreshore at Russell |
Russell harbour |
Russell Police Station |
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Bay of Islands |
Christ Church, Russell. |
We left the Bay of Islands and headed back towards Auckland via Whangarei and the scenic Kiapara Coast. On arrival there was time for a quick tour of Downtown Auckland before proceeding to our overnight accommodation.
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Visitors since 19th Sept. 2006
