Bay of Plenty & Firth of Thames

 Backyard of the Miranda bird sanctuary field station where we stayed.

 Bird sanctuary in the Firth of Thames. There are so many different types of shorebirds in NZ- significantly more than forest birds.

 Karangaheke gorge

 Waihi beach. It was so calm and warm- for moment you might think it was a tropical island. (In the summer- yes- but not quite in the winter)

 View from the top of Mount Manganui (the 200 m high hill that the town is named after). The beach there is gorgeous!

Kelly & I  at the top of Mount Manganui

 Waterfall near Lake Tarawera

 The cute bach we stayed in at Ohiwa

Chantal & I at Ohiwa beach

For the long weekend (Queen's birthday) I went to the North Island to visit a friend who is living there at the moment (in Mount Manganui). We picked the right place to be and had fantastic weather. I forgot how much warmer the North island is than the south- especially at night. We travelled from the Auckland airport to the Miranda bird sanctuary at the Firth of Thames, then to Mount Manganui, and then to Ohiwa beach- going on some lovely 1-2 hour walks at some beautiful places along the way.