The small town of Paihia is located in the beautiful bay of islands on the north end of the north island of New Zealand. The town is pretty small but there's a ton of stuff to do. This is where the famous "hole in the rock" is and on the 14th I took a speed boat called the "Exciter" out to see it. The actual rock is impressive enough but what really got me was the amount of fish that are in that part of the ocean!!! I actually couldn't see them at first because there were so many that they just looked like waves, you could have reached over the boat with your hand and just plucked one out of the water!
After that I decided it was time to get a little culture so I opted to hike out to the site where the Treaty House was located, (this is where the treaty that united the Maroi natives and the English was signed in 1840.) When I reached the gate I learned there was a $12 admission fee. I also learned that the people who manage the national park are not the swiftest people and since the gate at the bottom of the park had been left open....I mean c'mon, I'm going to spend $12 to walk around and see a war canoe and a flagpole????
After a few days in Paihia I'd hiked up all of the hills in the surrounding area so decided to do a day trip and head up to Cape Reinga which is the northermost point in New Zealand.
