We have been in NZ for a month now. It is green and tons to see. We rented a car with our friends off Slowride and enjoyed the Kauri Forests which Larry Nelson off Panta Rhei said were a 'must see'. Took a car ferry up the western side to get to Cape Reinga, a bit of a trip but worth seeing. I put some pictures in the gallery also. The sand dunes are also amazing--you feel like you're in a true desert, not NZ. Went for a nice hike to the Aria-Te-Uru Reserve looking out to the West side of the North Island. Filling the car up for $122 was a bit painful, glad we were sharing it with another couple.

The town of Russell had a tall ship race so we did a 1 hour dinghy ride to watch them and enjoyed the Russell Boating Club afterwards. Another hike to the top of hill to see the Flagstaff with quite the history when a treaty was signed in the 1800s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagstaff_Hill,_New_Zealand

We had our exhaust elbow wear out again so we waited two weeks to get a new one. Now we'll finally leave Opua to explore the Bay of Islands and go down to Whangarei.