Australia: Tasmania's Lyell Highway from Hobart to Strahan

Travel Date: 24 April 2013

Back in early April, while everyone in Australia was taking their Easter Friday and Monday off of work, I was grading assignments and in my lab working, being the diligent PhD student I am! But I needed a getaway, and part of my excuse for working over Easter was that I'd previously purchased a round-trip flight down to Tasmania for five days in late April.

I needed a break. After four solid months of slogging through lab work, research, writing, reading, and teaching, I needed to step off the Sydney merry-go-round or go insane. Having moved to Glasgow in winter of 2012, then to Sydney in August, I pretty much had a year of winter immediately followed by the Australian summer with no change of seasons to speak of and definitely no Fall, which is my favourite. Sure I got a little taste of Michigan Football last September-November, but no pumpkin spiced lattes, no leaves changing colour, nothing. But the nice thing about Tasmania is that it is as far south  from the Equator as Michigan and Vermont are north of it, and April in Tassie would be the same as October in the northern hemisphere. In other words, it was Fall!

Fall colours along the River Derwent in New Norfolk

I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania's capital, at 8am, picked up my rental car - a wee Suzuki Swift which I really ended up liking! - and started off down the Lyell Highway. My goal was to get to the small town of Strahan on the western coast of Tasmania, but I also wanted to see as much as possible. My initial plan was to drive north toward Launceston and then west to Cradle Mountain before arriving late in Strahan, but took the advice of locals on the r/tasmania subreddit who thought I might be better off taking the shorter route and actually experience it. They were right.

My first stop wasn't planned until Lake St. Clair in the Tasmanian central highlands, but after picking up coffee in New Norfolk - a town originally set up as a new homebase for Australian convicts stationed out at the soon to be abandoned Norfolk Island camp in the Tasman Sea - I crossed the River Derwent and had to stop because the trees along the riverbanks were on fire with autumnal colours! It was beautiful! From what I'd heard about Tasmania and the Tasmanian culture of environmental awareness and power of purchasing locally, I imagined it to be much like Vermont in the US. The similarities, I would find out, were uncanny, and the trees along the river were just the beginning. I do have to say, though, that this is the only time I've been happy seeing invasive species; you see, no native Australian trees change colour with the seasons, only the imported species from Europe and North America!

Continuing along through pastoral farming/grazing communities, the Lyell Hwy suddenly started its ascent into mountains and the roads became narrow, steep, and windy (and windy)! I passed some of Tasmania's many hydroelectric facilities in Terraleah and the road then spit me out onto the highland plateaus just east of the central Highlands.

Tasmania's central highlands and the entire southwest quadrant of the island are all preserved as National Parks, most of which make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, and while you can access many places in those parks, the majority of it is left as a natural wilderness for your experienced outdoor exploration! The famed Overland Track is one of the World's best wilderness walks right through Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park,and something I hope to do before leaving Australia.

My first planned stop, though, was at an artistic site just east of Lake St. Clair called The Wall in the Wilderness. I'd heard about this artist who is carving out scenes from Tasmania's varied industrial, cultural, and environmental histories in huge panels of wood. In my mind I imagined it to be like a huge detailed collage of various moments that I could learn a lot from. Surely I wouldn't be disappointed. But when I walked up to the door there was a big sign saying something along the lines of:

No cameras allowed! Personal photographs do not capture the essence of my artistic vision when taken in the wrong light. When I have people throwing punches at me for not allowing them to take photos it gives me the right ban all cameras. My art is self-funded and I will decide what I will and will not allow.

Well, that kind of made me stop in my tracks and think, "Wow, what an ass." But not knowing what this guy has gone through, I returned my camera to my car. I thought the $10 admission fee was a bit steep, especially with no student discounts, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. The building was cold and dimly-lit and in the central hall was the Wall. It was impressive to look at. Dozens of wooden panels of Huon Pine were hanging from a central wall, the majority of which had images of Tassie history hand-carved into the wood: hydro power, convict history, the extinct Tasmanian tiger, and natural scenery - and those that weren't yet carved had the pencil marks on them showing what they would eventually be. It was neat, and the artist is obviously a talented wood-carver, but was it comparable to Michelangelo's painting of the Sistene Chapel (as the Wall's website claims)? No, not in the least bit! Maybe it was the sour taste left in my mouth from not being able to take my camera in, or the tone with which that message was conveyed, but I thought the wall was impressive in size only. There were no information placards describing what I was looking at, but I could buy a book for another $20 to learn about each panel. Essentially, I thought this piece of art was a waste of time and money and I do not encourage anyone to visit. You'll just be nickel-and-dimed out of $10 and with nothing given in return. It's not educational and not all that spectacular when all is said and done. And even though I paid to see the Wall - thus paying for the future work on the wall - I didn't even get to take a photo of it. Crap. Don't go.

Sitting on the ferry pier at Lake St. Clair

It was still cloudy out from morning rain showers, but I drove on to the entrance of  Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park at the southern end of Lake St. Clair, which fills a glacially carved basin and is Australia's deepest lake. I went to buy a pass from the Visitor Centre, hoping I could use it at all National Parks in Tasmania I'd go to over the next few days, but it turns out that the passes can't be transferred between cars and if you go to Cradle Mountain, you have to pay a separate, exorbitant, entrance fee - so I settled on the day-pass and went to inquire about the Lake's ferry service. Being on the south side of the park, This is the ending point for anyone doing the Overland Track and a ferry service operates between both ends of the lake taking OT walkers and day-hikers to various piers. Not having enough time to do a four-hour walk, I was just hoping to get into the wilderness via the ferry, but after inquiring about it, I found out I was 10 minutes late and that no more ferries were scheduled for the day (damn Wall in the Wilderness!). So I walked down to the lake's edge for a bit taking in the staggering mountain scenery that was constantly peeking in and out of low-hanging grey clouds. Even on a bleak afternoon it was beautiful.

Back in the car the clouds started clearing, changing to big puffy white clouds, and the sun came out! Not much further down the Lyell Hwy I started seeing huge mountain after huge mountain loom into view from road as it twisted between them and the geologist inside me took over and every time I saw something new I'd let out an, "Oh my Gaaaawwwwddd!!!!! Woooowwwwww!!!!" The National Parks of Tasmania really earn their status as being stunning and beautiful! With stops at the Great Divide and Happy Valley overlook, I parked down at the Franklin River Nature Walk.

The Franklin River rose to international recognition in the 1980s when environmentalists started protesting plans to dam the Franklin River downstream from here. It is one of Tasmania's last wilderness rivers and the environmentalists were fighting to keep it that way. The hydro company eventually lost the battle and a new era of environmentally-conscious Australians rose to national political prominence. Furthermore, a new importance was placed on wild areas of Tasmania with an effort to keep them wild and untouched as much as possible. The walk was short but goes right along the banks of the Franklin and Surprise Rivers and weaves between massive pine and gum trees - some of which are the tallest species of trees in the world!

I'm not sure what the Highway is like during peak holiday season, but the Lyell was essentially empty for my entire drive. The afternoon was getting on and I'd decided that I needed to get to Strahan before sunset so I could watch the sun go down over the Southern Ocean - which you can't really do from too many places in the world! In my rush, I almost missed one of the best views of Tasmania: Donaghy Wilderness Overlook. I actually drove past the parking lot, but turned around. Two backpackers from the UK were just finishing and when I asked if the 30-minute walk was worth it, they said, "We've been traveling around Australia for two months and this is by far the best overlook we've seen!" I was sold, parked my car, and started walking.

I was not disappointed. If you take it quickly, it only takes about 20 minutes and the walk takes you to a little knob from which you get a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains, valleys, rivers, and the ever-impressive Frenchmans Cap - a unmistakably unique mountain crag off in the distance which can be seen from miles and miles around! There was no one else out on the overlook and I had the place to myself under warm blue skies and a sun just beginning to dip below the mountains to the west. I grabbed a bunch of photos and sped back to my car. I only had about 2 hours left before sundown and it was more than 2 hours to get to Strahan.

Sunset in western Tasmania taken from the shores of Lake Burbury

I sped down the road, probably faster than I should have been going, trying to make it to Ocean Beach in Strahan before the sun hit the horizon, but I kept coming across beautiful scenery! I next had to take a quick minute at Lake Burbury because the sun's rays were shining from behind the tips of the nearby mountain peaks, casting glorious rays over the land, and I am certain I got some of the best sunset photos I will ever take in my life! And then the drive into Queenstown - famous for its regional mining operations which have all but stripped the hillsides of any and all vegetation and sediment cover. The road coming down out of the mountains to Queenstown was also beautiful, but in an industrial and destructive way. At least Mt. Owen seemed to still be forested and one massive waterfall was cascading down the hillsides.

I got to Strahan with about 15 minutes to spare, drove around the town and out to Ocean Beach where I missed the sun actually setting, though the sky was still beautifully lit up with pinks, oranges, reds, and the blues of the night. I stepped out and down to the beach where I took my shoes and socks off, rolled up my jeans and walked down to the water's edge, finally allowing myself to breathe and take in the dusky views up and down the beach - Tasmania's longest. I picked up a few pebbles as keepsakes as the ocean waters washed over my feet because after all, it's not all that often you can say you've stuck your toes in the Southern Ocean. Tasmania and the southern tips of South Africa, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand are really the only places you can do this (and Antarctica, too), and it's quite a surreal experience when you consider its vastness.

Happy with everything I was able to accomplish along the Lyell Highway, I drove back to Strahan in the dark, found my hostel - the Strahan Backpackers YHA - and got great advice from the owner for delicious fish 'n' chips, Schwoch's, in the town's centre. A delicious ending to a busy, productive, and beautiful day!

Australia: Waterfalls and Lighthouses - A Day Trip South of Sydney

Trip Date:

Back in January a group of friends and I took a day-trip south of Sydney to Wollongong, Morton National Park, and Kiama. I think we all just needed a day to get out of the city and wanted to see some cool sites along the way. Well, it was successful, I'd say. We left early in the day and drove the hour it took to get to Wollongong where we stopped along the coast to check out the lighthouse and the sea rocks before grabbing an early lunch at Le Vendi along the harbour which boasts Wollongong's best fish 'n' chips, which were good, but I'm beginning to think that a chippy is going to have to really step it up in order to get that title in my books. The rock platforms beneath the lighthouse were pretty impressive! Deep salt weathering pits, widened by wave action, were filled with water and all sorts of seaweeds, crabs, and little fish. Some were big enough to fit a few people into, like a wee jacuzzi! The waves were big too, and I soon learned I should have brought an extra pair of socks... Wollongong is a University town but also has quite a lot of industrial activity along the coast. Not sure if it's a place I'd prefer to live.

The double-cascades of Belmore Falls. Only a
trickle now, it's easy to imagine them in full force!

After lunch, we drove the Illawarra Highway west through Macquarie Pass National Park - which is one of the coolest windiest roads I've ever been on, rivaling those I took through Mangamuka Gorge on New Zealand's North Island - to the small town of Robertson for a photo-op with the Big Potato, and finally to our first waterfall destination: Belmore Falls. Belmore falls, and all the other nearby waterfalls, cascades from the highlands to the deep valleys below over spectacular sandstone cliffs of the Hawkesbury Sandstone. We stopped at a view point looking down to the Kangaroo River Valley before heading over to the waterfall where we hopped a few large pools of water to get as close as we could to the waterfall's edge, which was only possible because the waterfall was nothing more than a little trickle at this time of the year. As anyone would, we tried our luck throwing some small boulders into the pool at the base of the waterfall to see how big of a splash or sound we could get. Lucky for us, the splash was big, but the sound - a big CRACKING noise - was loud and echoed off the walls. Awesome!

Continuing on we stopped at Fitzroy Falls for a little nature walk and waterfall viewing and also at Carrington Falls in Budderoo National Park. Carrington Falls spilled down into a tall, vertical chute and my friend Paul and I thought it would be a hoot to throw a few rocks down into the chute, which was difficult because the closest viewing platform was still so far away that we only managed to get little rocks into the falls, but they still made a satisfying sound!

The bright blue ocean swells entering
Kiama's famous Blowhole

Back in the cars, we drove to Kiama and it's famous Blowhole! A blowhole starts out its life as a sea-cave, eroded into the rocks by wave action. Eventually, this cave tunnels its way into the rocks and the roof of the cave collapses so that now, when large ocean waves and swells are forced into the sea-tunnel, they speed up and slam into the back of the cave, erupting the water upwards. The Blowhole was really active when we were there and the water erupted a good 10 metres up into the air! We ventured down to the edge of the sea cliffs, and then I alone crept my way down to the rock platform near the mouth of the blowhole where I watched the huge ocean swells flow in and out of the Blowhole entrance. It was hypnotic and the bright turquoise blue water was just mesmerising! As the sun set, we headed up the street to a pork-roast dinner at the RSL (a kind of club for members of Australia's armed services and their families).

It was just a day trip, but we sure covered a lot of ground and I always think it's nice to get off the merry-go-round that can be city life!

New Zealand: Bay of Islands

Travel Date: 04-05 January 2013

My last post from my trip to New Zealand over New Year's this year picks back up on the same day I visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds near Paihia. Back in Paihia, however, I was about to embark on one of the coolest experiences of my travels. Traveling alone is not always the most fun, I don't think. As much fun as it is to meet new people and fellow travelers, it often feels like a broken record because you're always telling people the same things: where you're from, what you do, where you've traveled, what you've done on those travels - and then it starts all over. I'd much rather have someone to travel with, either friends or family, to be able to have an ever-continuing travel narrative that carries through the rest of the journeys. With that in mind, I booked myself a room in a YHA. But this was no ordinary YHA because Paihia is the gateway to the Bay of Islands which is no ordinary travel destination!

The Bay of Islands is a fantastic region on North Island, New Zealand and as its name suggests it is a bay - a picturesque beautiful bay - with islands in it - hundred of islands!! I'd been seeing travel posters for New Zealand advertising the Bay of Islands (BoI from now on) and the posters of course make the green islands stand out starkly from the crystal clear turquoise waters of the bay and the cobalt blue skies and little white yachts and tiny yellow kayaks appear to be floating on air. Obviously this photo was used to make it seem like the idyllic place to holiday, but could the BoI really be this perfect? I found out that the answer was and emphatic, "YES!"

The Rock houseboat/hostel I stayed on while touring the Bay of Islands
on New Zealand's North Island

I said the YHA I booked was no ordinary hostel and that is because this YHA is in fact a car-ferry turned houseboat capable of hosting 36 passenters. Rock, The Boat was an ideal way to spend 24 hours on the water - and as the New Zealand Lonely Planet guide says, you can't truly see the BoI unless you're on the bay! The way I justified was this: if I'd booked a hostel, eaten out or even cooked my own food, rented a kayak for a few hours, chartered a fishing guide, and booked a snorkeling outing, I would have spent well over NZ$300! By booking a room on The Rock I could get all of this for a measly NZ$188! Sometimes I think touristy packages like this are overhyped, but I decided to go for it and I was not disappointed in the least bit!

I parked my car at the Paihia YHA (for the land-lubber backpackers) - for free, which they let me do since I'd be spending my money with YHA anyway - and headed down to the dock where I waited in line with a hoard of girls speaking German, a couple of couples, and one chatty South Korean girl from Auckland who was taking the weekend off. No one was really interacting with anyone outside their group, which didn't really bother me; I figured if people weren't social on the boat at least I'd get some relaxation. We were shortly greeted by two guys in their mid-20s who introduced themselves as part of the crew. They put our bags in a boat, gave us some life-jackets and brought us out to a two-level brown houseboat in the harbour. Being an old car-ferry, the boat's back was the former ramp and was kept in the down position as a kind of landing-deck. There was a rack of kayaks on the back and a spiral stairway up to the back deck on the second floor with a New Zealand flag attached. The inside of the boat was amazingly cozy! On the back was a small ring of benches surrounding a wood-burning stove. A large bar occupied the middle of the boat and was where drinks were served and the crew cooked the meals. Bathrooms were small and off to the side and the rest of the main floor was lined by various seats and tables. There was a piano, a foosball table, racks of magazines, and the open rafters were decorated with various antique nautical instruments, tackles, lures, fish, bottles, and so on! The upstairs was where all the rooms were. The four crew members had their rooms up near the front of the boat and the guest rooms took up the rest of the space and were either double rooms, or bunk rooms with six-beds each. The boat could host 36 passengers at once, but luckily there were only 13 of us so it was much more relaxed and much less crowded!

As our captain started bringing us out to the centre of the bay, the crew started the daunting task of making sure everyone knew everyone else and felt part of the family! To get things started they had a wooden duck on a small raft tied to the houseboat with a piece of string. Each of us were then to take turns, introduce ourself, say one unique thing about us, and then take a turn shooting at the duck with a paintball gun! Whichever guy and girl shot the duck first received a free drink from the bar. So it was pretty quickly that we all met each other, started sharing stories, and realised how bad of shots we were with a paintball gun! The crew was amazing at their jobs. I can't imagine the cruise being as fun as it was if the crew had just let us do our own things, but they encouraged us to socialise and though we didn't really get to know each other that much better by the end than we were at the beginning, that first activity broke down those initial barriers and at least got us talking to each other and having a laugh.

The Purerua Peninsula making the northern boundary of the Bay of Islands

The weather was perfect and the water nearly perfectly flat on the bay, just like in the photos! The distant hills were beautifully green and the water sparkling blue. We all socialised a bit on the boat watching other watercraft lazily wander around the bay until we got to our resting spot for the night, a small bay off of one of the mainland peninsulas which twist their way into the BoI. We dropped anchor and were told we would be fishing for our dinner. One of the crew cut up a fish for bait and gave each of us some fishing rods and we all stood off the back, or on the adjoining small boat and tried our luck. I wasn't lucky at all, but one of the guys caught two or three red snappers which we were able to keep and another crew member started to prepare it for dinner. After a few drinks and more chatting while waiting for the rest of dinner to be prepared we had one of the best meals I've had on a boat: steaks, fish, salads, potatoes, and beer. Delicious!

It started to rain a little bit, but the few clouds quickly passed and then the stars came out. There was no moon, so it was especially dark, and I couldn't believe the number of stars I could see! With the sun down and the stars out, our next activity began. We split into two groups and were going to do some nighttime kayaking around the bay which was special because at night, especially on clear nights, you could see bioluminescent algae phosphoresce and light up as you disturbed them by paddling through the water. In the eddies of water spinning around the kayak paddles little specks of light would twinkle and flash and then die out as water returned to a calm normal. If your eyes were keen, you could also see fish swimming around beneath your kayak by the traces of light left behind in its wake as it swam through and stirred up the algae. I was a little nervous I'd see a big fish (or shark) swim under me, but it seemed to mostly be smaller fish. We paddled around a bit and could even just lay back on the flat water looking up at the stars! Off in the distance the lights on the boat were all turned off and a warm glow was coming from the wood burner and a number of candles and Christmas lights. It was a beautiful scene that you can only take my word for because I didn't feel the need to potentially drop my camera or phone in the ocean.

Back on the boat some folks went to bed, but I stayed up and chatted with the Germans and a few others for a while over a few beers, but mostly tea. They were all such a friendly bunch, and I have to give it to the groups of friends and couples on the boat, they all did a great job of branching out and chatting with those of us traveling alone. I can only imagine how awkward it could have been if no one was as friendly or social as they (we) were. But soon we were all off to bed.

Morning sunrise over Electric Bay

It's amazing how well you can find sleep on a boat gently rocking under the influence of little waves. Morning came early though and I was one of maybe five people up before sunrise, which is very unusual for me, but I am so glad I did. The sunrise was just as beautiful as the sunset and the morning air was so calm and quiet it was nice to peacefully be able to take it all in. A few of the other guests who were up early then decided it was time for a morning swim and jumped in and swam around the boat. Now, I should probably explain here that I have an almost crippling fear of being in the ocean. I don't know what it is, really, but I just am afraid to swim in it. I tell people that my brother made me watch Jaws at a very impressionable age and it just stuck with me that if I went in the ocean I would be eaten by a shark. Being on a boat is fine, as is wading or paddling near the shore, but fully submerging myself in the water not near any shore is beyond my limits. Part of being on this trip, though, was going to be testing those limits and I have to admit that the morning swim looked like an ideal way to do it. So before long, and without thinking, I jumped in. The water was cold and it took my breath away, along with the crippling anxiety that came along with the fact that I was in the ocean, not knowing what sort of sea-monsters were swimming beneath my feet! But I was in and did a nice lap around the boat before calling it good and pulling myself out, wrapping myself in a towel, and having my morning coffee. It was exhilirating (yes, even that simple morning swim) and I was ready to take on the rest of the water tasks that lay ahead of us in the day. 

After breakfast, the captain started the boat, brought us past Motukaori and Motuarohia Islands and dropped anchor in Mangahawea Bay off Moturua Island. It was time for the next water-based adventure: snorkeling. The crew pointed to where we'd be going and I saw nothing but two large rocks sticking out of the water (Rangiatea and Motuoi Islands) and some shoals of smaller rocks between them. It did not look safe to me and my anxiety crept back in, starkly contrasting with the excitement of everyone around me. Even the Korean girl, who didn't know how to swim, was excited, tightly strapped in to her personal flotation device! It's amazing what a little bit of peer pressure can do, because not wanting to be the only person to no go snorkeling and not wanting to show how scared I was (which was dumb because I told them all how terrified I was!), I didn't have a choice but to grab some flippers, a snorkel, and mask and jump in with the rest. Again the cold water got me, but my adrenaline helped push me through as we all flipped our way over to the rocks. We had two goals here. Firstly, we were there to explore the rocks and snorkel around. But secondly, we were also there to catch kina (sea urchins) for a snack later on. I now fully admit that I had an amazing time snorkeling! It was so cool to just dive around watching all the fish swim around, some in large schools like the blue maomao and some solitary ones like the sandager's wrasse (easily as big as two feet in length!) or the small demoiselle. The blue maomao were really extraordinary because you could just swim into their small schools as they congregated by the rocks. The other swimmers were either exploring or trying their hand at diving down to the rocks and picking up the kina, putting them in a small net the snorkeling crewmember had with us. I had a great time and was determined not to be in the first group of people to head back to the boat, though I also have to admit I never quite got the hang of breathing normally through a snorkel. It's such a weird feeling to breathe through a tube and I kept taking short quick gasps of air which didn't do me much good when I wanted to dive down. But soon the chilly water got to me and hoisted myself onto the small zodiac that took me back to the houseboat.

On top of Waewaetorea Island

With snorkeling done for the day we all dried off and had our packed lunches in the sun as the boat went around some more islands and anchored in the little harbour between Okahu and Waewaetorea Islands. We all hopped back into the kayaks and paddled toward the shore of Waewaetorea Island where some of us took a little walk to the top of the tall grassy hill to get a better view of the BoI, and really, we could not have asked for more perfect weather! It was warm, sunny, and only a few whisps of clouds in the sky! Back down at the beach we played some beach games with a cricket set and rugby ball - cricket I was surprisingly good at, but not the game we played with the rugby ball. But then we were told the afternoon was getting on and we needed to start heading back to Paihia Harbour so they could take the next group of passengers out. So we kayaked back to the houseboat, and before we pulled up anchor for the last time I took one more dive and swim off the back as a personal way of saying to myself, "See? You can do this!"

The cruise back to Paihia was very relaxed. Everyone just chilled out on the sofas and seats throughout the boat chatting and having a beer or two. I joined in as well, but kept being distracted by the beautiful surroundings and landscapes. There was even a large regatta in the Bay that day and a whole string of yachts were sailing around, reminding me of the Boxing Day race that started in Sydney just a few weeks earlier. We even were treated to some of the kina we caught, which were cracked open by one of the crew members. We learned that kina reproduce asexually so have both the eggs and sperm inside their bodies and that the eggs (or was it the sperm?) was considered a delicacy in many restaurants and that you could pay upwards of $50 for a small appetiser of the stuff! I don't think any of us were too keen on trying it, but the Korean girl, who turned out to be quite adventurous, volunteered to go first and we watched as the kina eggs was dabbled on her hand in a sticky yellow goo, and then she quickly stuck out her tongue and licked it clean! It was gross, but sure enough, all of us were trying it before long. Definitely not something I'd pay $50 for by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't all bad - kind of a salty, buttery, goo... 

Bay of Islands regatta in front of the Purerua Peninsula

But soon enough, we were anchored back in Paihia Harbour and with an unceremonious farewell to the fellow passengers, we were transported back to the docks and then each of us were on our own ways. It was fitting because the reality was that most of us probably wouldn't see each other again, but since there were no false pretenses (for example everyone saying, "let's keep in touch!") there were no hard feelings. We'd all gotten exactly what we expected: a fun night out on the Bay of Islands with friendly people making personal memories of fun mini-adventures!

Lonely Planet's New Zealand guide says that the Bay of Islands is overhyped, which compared to the rest of New Zealand might be the case (sure, it's no huge volcano, powerful earthquake, or glacial landscape), but if you want water-based activities, it's the bee's knees and I recommend to anyone who wants to get the most for their money, go on The Rock!! If you have the right social disposition, you will not regret it!