Northland

The kids had a two week vacation from school for Easter, so we decided to go back up north while it was still warm. We went back to Pahia at the Bay of Islands.

Adventure World:

On Friday, we spent the day at Adventure World a park with water slides, a trapeze, high wire, jousting, trails, etc. For pictures, click here.

Kayak Trip:

On Saturday, Joel, Rachel and Lexie went on a 3 hour kayak trip in the Bay of Islands. They were able to visit the Treaty Grounds where the treaty between England and the Maori was signed. They also traveled to individual islands where the girls were able to gather sea glass and cool shells. For pictures, click here.

Whangarei Falls:

On our way down the coast to Leigh, we stopped at Whangarei Falls. We were able to take a trail to the bottom of the falls and the view was spectacular. For pictures, click here.

Leigh by the Sea:

We spent three days in Leigh, a tiny fishing village in Northland. We spent one day snorkling at Goat Island. For pictures, click here.

Pakiri Beach:

On Tuesday, we spent the morning horseback riding on the beach. We spent the rest of the day at Pakiri Beach. It was probably the prettiest beach we've seen so far. For pictures, click here.

Rotorua

Rotorua is a small city on the shores of Lake Rotorua -- about an hour and a half from Hamilton. The surrounding areas are full of geothermal geysers, boiling mud pools, and steaming craters - accompanied by the stinky smell of sulpher. We went to a park to take a look at some of the geothermal activity. For pictures, click here.

Maori Village Visit

We went on an overnight trip to Lake Rotorua. We stayed at a Thermal Holiday Park (campground to us) and while there, went and visited the Mitai Maori Village. A bus came and picked us up at the campground and took us to the sacred village. The whole experience was a lot of fun. We all went down into the village to watch the canoe full of chanting warriors arrive. We then went into a theater and watched the cultural performance. After the performance, we ate a traditional Maori meal(called a Hangi). For pictures, click here.

Waihi Beach/Mount Maunganui

Since the weather was nice, we decided to take a weekend trip back to Waihi Beach and then came home via Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. Mount Maunganui, or Mauao, is also the name of the extinct volcano which rises above the town. Shrouded in history and legend, the mountain is a dominant feature of the landscape, and a climb to the summit offers amazing views of the surrounding city and ocean. We didn't get to climb to the top of the mountain because the kids hadn't packed their sneakers and were all sporting stubbed toes. For pictures, click here.