Paihia

I spent my final day in NZ in Paihia, up the coast of the North Island. Originally, I wanted to head all the way to Cape Reinga, but it was just too costly and I settled on something half way.

The drive up was quite nice however I somehow managed to lose my sunnies on the bus. Not entirely sure how it happened, but it happened. Paihia was underwhelming. Thankfully I had booked a cruise to the Hole in the Rock the night before.








At some point on the cruise, we spotted dolphins and I was a little apathetic. Nothing can beat the experience I had at Hilton Head Island where I kayaked with dolphins however the dolphins soon swam next to the boat which was incredibly cool.










And finally we reached the famous Hole in the Rock. Usually, the boat would go through the hole however there were large swells which made it impossible that day.







Back on shore, I purchased a maple and walnut gelato (ice cream?) which tasted alright. In hindsight, I should have purchased another flavour.




And that concludes all my NZ posts.

Overall Thoughts
New Zealand was a country that I had always wanted to visit and it exceeded my expectations mostly. As everyone says, the South Island is the island to be as the landscape is just incredible. That being said, my main issue with the North Island was that it was so similar to Sydney/ the country that I was used to so it didn't really feel very special or enjoyable. In honest fact, I didn't enjoy any of my days in the North Island and in hindsight, I should have left early. However, I did want to give the North Island a chance so I guess it didn't all go to waste.

Would I re-visit?
No. Unless I was to travel with my future children for a holiday, which wouldn't be happening for another decade or so.