NZ- week 2

Arrived at the Kauri Coast - a part of Northland with the last remaining Kauri forests. We've been there last year, but did not see all the giants which survived the onslaught by mankind. One of the trees has a girth of 18 meters and stands for over a thousand years; very impressive! Just look how small we look comparing to that tree...
We decided to stay at a motor-camp where you can do a guided night walk. We also did that last year, but this time it wasn't a private tour.....there were nine other tourist besides us and the guide.....this time we only heard the kiwi instead of actually seeing it. The impressive night-sky made up for it though.

We continue our journey to the east coast again, Pakiri Beach. We are staying in a nice cabin which provides all you need: good bed, kitchen and bathroom. It' s a bit expensive, but very nice for a change. Weather is still great, so we are staying for 2 nights. Eating breakfast on the deck watching the birds and the rabbits, listening to the waves, enjoying the sun....not too bad!

Did you know that Goat island isn't an actual name but more a designated one? It is a type of small island where the sailors of old times dropped some goats on to, before sailing further up the coast. On the way back, they came to the island(s) to capture the goat(s) again to have same fresh meat to eat on the return-journey. We found that out while doing a glass-bottom boat tour at Leigh. Very touristic but interesting. During the trip we even saw a 2m long stingray; they can swim (fleeing from you) at around 30 km/h!

Back in North Shore City (Takapuna, a suburb of Auckland) it is time to get rid of the rental car and buy a car of our own. We both know nothing about cars except that they have to drive well and require low maintenance. After 2 days of looking for the damn car, it was time to make a decision: We bought a Nissan Pulsar, secondhand, from 1996 and only 46000 kilometers!! As almost all the cars in NZ, this one is also imported from Japan. Apparently Japanese people don't drive much in their cars and like to buy a new one every other year. It's amazing, in the Netherlands you would have driven 46000 km in about 2 years....