Mt. Bledisloe, Haruru Falls, Whangarei (pron: Fung-ar-ae)

Saturday, the Kiwi driver dropped us off at Mt. Bledisloe for a photo op of Paihia and then he took us to Haruru Falls which is roughly a 1.5 hour walk through forest. We saw a tree hiding along the path with a Maori carving of a face on it... how cool is that? Maori carving and Mt. Bledisloe


We headed back south to Auckland and I hopped off at Whangarei (again, Meagan and I part!) and stayed at Bunkdown Lodge. This has been my favorite hostel since travelling as it was a wooden house in a small town owned by a couple with a golden retriever! They greeted me at the door, walked me around the large home, and introduced me to all the visitors. There was a large sitting area with over-stuffed couches for curling up in. I watched a movie and read my book before going to bed.
This is a Silver Fern, in the Maori culture, the leaves represent family and the deal leaves on the ground represent ancestors... there is a curly thing that comes out the middle representing new beginnings.

At 6:30 am they woke me up for my New Zealand SCUBA trip...