After a week of sailing the Bay of Islands we rented "4-wheels" for a week of land travel up and around the North Island. Gas on the island runs $6.70 a gallon! (We really don't have it too bad here). The topography on the island varies dramatically from coastal beach (note that "90 Mile Beach" is actually 90 kilometers and only 56 miles), rolling
farmland, mountainous rainforest's and miles of exotic, intensively managed pine plantations.
















We found a hotel on the coast with this sign (below) over the door.... Maybe it answers Jack Sparrow's question "Why is the rum gone"!!















The Maori culture is an important part of New Zealand and very well integrated into government and tourism. The Maori are the indigenous people of Polynesian decent who arrived from the south pacific islands long before the Europeans.





























The Kiwi, a nocturnal and flightless bird is a New Zealand icon.......We found it interesting that many "Kiwis" have never seen the Kiwi...