Tuesday, December 21, 2010

NZ #4 : whangarei & paihia

whangarei (pronounced fang-aray) wasn't a planned stop. we just wanted to refuel & happened to pass by the tourist information centre. we were told there was a waterfall & a few decent beaches nearby. the lady was really friendly - providing local maps & tips. you know NZ is serious about tourism because these centres are open 7 days a week, & up to 8pm on weekends.



this wasn't a spectacular waterfall but i took the opportunity to try out the new camera.











my untrained eyes couldn't really differentiate if this was taken with a good camera or not. maybe it's because i'm just a beginner.











at the nearby matapouri beach, the waves were moderately strong. & the kids really enjoyed running with them.










there was a little boy playing by the beach & as i was snapping away, he approached me, curious at what i was doing. i couldn't help posting this. his mother, a local resident, says the beach is awesome all through the year.












by the time we reached paihia, 200km north of auckland, it was already 6pm but the day was still bright. we checked into our pre-booked 2-bedroomed apartment with full kitchen facilities, before checking out the town to get groceries. the tourist info centre was still opened.

finally, settled in for a self-prepared dinner of pizza, garlic bread, meat pies, coleslaw & soup.

tomorrow, we go on the 90-mile beach.

10 comments:

Reanaclaire said...

hey Doc, next time when i want to go NZ on my own, hope you can furnish me with the details on the lodging and stuff.. :)

doc said...

Claire,

not a problem - just say when.

Adino said...

Really like the photo of the little boy at the beach. Next time I will try to get my kids to pose the same way.

doc said...

Adino,

will be a task to get them to pose like that. the boy in the picture was naturally curious.

Unicorn Girl said...

Hey - this are pretty interesting pictures :) !

missyc said...

nice pics .. the lil boy says GIVE ME FIVE :D

doc said...

UG,

NZ IS an interesting country.

doc said...

MissyC,

true, except that he didn't seem too thrilled about it.

CH Voon said...

exciting trip. I havent go to NZ yet. i hope one day i will travel to there as well.

doc said...

Voon,

it took some time before i actually made this decision to go to NZ.