5 reasons to visit Bay of Islands New Zealand
5 reasons to visit Bay of Islands New Zealand - My toes are dug deep into the top of a near 100-metre-high dune. I have a white-knuckle grip on the front of the boogie board I’m lying on. It’s at this point I realise I am no adrenalin junkie. Which is unfortunate, because there’s really only one way out of this – downhill, fast. Our tour group is high above Te Paki Stream, in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. Sand-boarding down the dunes is a highlight of a visit here, as is a drive along the quicksand “road” of the shallow stream. These Kiwis like to live dangerously. I lift my toes and plunge headlong towards the stream at the bottom of the dune. Only a patch of dense vegetation saves me from a drenching. It’s hardly dignified. Fortunately for the more cautious among us, there are plenty of calmer activities to pack your days in New Zealand’s “winterless north”. It’s an area rich in history and culture, and the surroundings are easy on the eyes, too.