Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands was my favorite part of the trip. It is a 3-4 hour drive north of Auckland. We spent the night in the Bay of Islands in this beautiful little seaside village called Paihia. Paihia is considered the "Jewel of the Bay of Islands". Across the bay is a village called Russell, which used to be called the "Hell Hole of the Pacific". Russell is actually beautiful as well, but it was originally the home of sailors, traders and whalers that had very bad manners.

While in the Bay of Islands we took a 4 hour boat cruise that took us around the 150 islands. The highlight of the cruise was going through the "Hole in the Rock". This is a spectacular arch made of rock that boats can sail through. The cruise also made stops at some of the islands so we could get out and explore. The view was incredible from the top of the islands looking out over the ocean and seeing all the other islands. Harper loved just playing on the grass on the top of the island.