Friday 23rd February 2007. Auckland to Hahei.

So that was Auckland. The City of Sails and the City of Volcanoes, shaped as it is by 49 volcanoes and caught as it is between two harbours and surrounded by more than 50 islands. Yet around 150,000 years ago this region was as flat as a pancake. Over succeeding millennia geological activity created one volcano after another. Among the first to burst forth is now no more than a central city hill on which Albert Park now stands. The most recent eruption was around 600 years ago and it created Rangitoto, the iconic cone-shaped island that sits in the Hauraki Gulf.

Today's city is home to a multicultural population of almost a third of New Zealand's 4.1 million people, contributing to making the North Island the most populated of the country's two main islands.


Our first stop this morning is at Kopu Hikuai hill at Kaitarakihi where we take a bush walk to the summit at 852m.

After checking into the Hahei Holiday Park and having a quick lunch we head off sea kayaking. Here I am in Te Whanganuia Hei Marine Reserve and the best way to explore is by kayak on the open sea allowing you to get to geological formations where land and sea collide that simply cannot be accessed from shore.

Corinna was my partner in crime as we headed off along to Gemstone Bay with its stunning volcanic reef and into Stingray Bay before reaching Cathedral Cove where I had my strangest but nicest afternoon tea yet right there on the beach. The highlight of any visit to the cove has got to be the gigantic limestone arch.

Out into Mercury Bay and we explore the islands kayaking through a majestic cove before all meeting up in open waters where the request goes up for a volunteer or nutter to climb onto the front and run along the six kayaks without falling in…naturally I obliged…and no I didn’t fall in!

Tonight we enjoy a team BBQ here in the holiday park.