A trip to Kerikeri via Whangarei is on the cards and my plan it to complete the first leg (to Whangarei) by bike as part of my training for the New Zealand Half Ironman in March. So I leave Auckland (crossing the Waitamata by ferry as, to my knowledge, there is no way of getting across by bike) to begin the 200km ride to Whangerei where the plan is to stay withy ex-Uni mate Clive before meeting up with with Ruth and the children who will travel up the next day by car (from where I’ll get a lift to Kerikeri…. I don’t want to over do it after all I’m on holidays).

I made it as far as Waipu 140km north of Auckland and 60 km short of Whangerie. I had not anticipated the hills I encountered and was done for by the ironically named Brynderwyn hills where the road relentlessly climbs steeply in switchback fashion and with 30 degree temperatures, blazing sun, an inadequate supply of water and not enough training miles in my legs I was cooked.

At the top of the ‘Bryderwyns’ I decided enough is enough and that I would book a room for the night a the next place I came to. Which happened to be Waipu in which I found the slightly dodgy (think Once Were Warriors) Waipu Hotel which offered rooms for £12 for the night night and, with only lycra cycling gear to wear, I booked a room and made myself scarce.

Anyway, Ruth arrived in Waipu mid-morning the next day and we headed on to Paihia, the main town of the Bay of Islands, where we had lunch and spent the afternoon on the beach. We arrived at Darren’s house at about in the evening.

Darren, a serial house builder and his current project has progressed significantly since we were last there – it now has a kitchen, the garden has been levelled in preparation for the laying of the lawn and the stone work features on the house (a signature feature of the houses Darren builds / renovates) is a week away from completion.

The following day we’re up at 07.00 for breakfast so that we could catch the 09.00 boat trip around the Bay of Islands (we had taken the ‘guaranteed to see dolphins’ boat trip 18 months ago but had not seen any and had been given complimentary tickets to use again).

The boat departed ay 09.00 and the weather was fantastic. We saw a huge pod of bottle-nosed dolphins which played in the boat’s bow wave. Part-way around we were dropped off on a beautiful sandy island with two multi-million dollar water front houses (tourist turning up everyday must be very annoying for the owners I am sure) and spent half an hour on the beach and swimming in the sea before re-boarding the boat.

The time went incredibly quickly and at 13.00 we were dropped off again at Paihia. In the afternoon we had lunch in Kerikeri before heading back to Darren’s where we all went for a walk with his dog and then had supper.

Darren makes a lot of use of Trade Me which is the NZ equivalent of eBay (online auction site). Most recently he has bought a large (seriously large – probably a four-man-lift) Hammond Organ for £35 which sits a little incongruously in the study of his modern, sleekly designed house.

We left Darren’s this morning and headed onto Whangerei to stay with Clive Lang (who I was in University with) and his family. We stopped on the way at Kawaka where the railway runs down the middle of the high street – naturally with no safety provision (after all if you get run over by a slow moving train surely its your own fault ?) – and which has a public toilet designed and built by the Austrian and former resident of the Bay of Islands, Friedenseich Hunderwasser our second or possibly third visit to these epic toilets.

Anyway we arrived at Clive’s at lunch time and headed off with Clive and his children Aiden (9) and Keeley (6) and his boat to a sheltered bay where we pulled the children around on an inflatable ‘biscuit’ behind the boat. Needless to say a good time was had by all. In the evening we had a barbecued snapper caught by Clive the previous day.

The following day we headed out to a tree climbing / rope course / high wire / flying fox place in the middle of a woods where we spent a couple of hours harnessed-up following the high wire course around the various obstacles and challenges. Back to Clive’s for lunch and then off to a beach for a swim (as it was very warm).

Friday has arrived faster than expected and its time to leave Clive’s and headed back to Auckland down State Highway 1 (a grand name for relatively small road). We took a detour to Waipu Cove for a coffee and body-board in the sea (Waipu cove has become our regular stop on the way back to Auckland it is a beautiful bay with a nice cafe and we wryly contrast it to Leigh Delamere which plays a similar function for our journeys back to Brecon from the South East of England in the UK).

Ellie, Meg and Cari breaking the journey up at Waipu Cove.

We were back in Auckland mid-afternoon and in the evening we meet up with a load of St Heliers parents (and children) at St Heliers beach for fish and chips and a glass of wine.