Paihia for the weekend 2022

 What better than to nip away for the weekend to a beautiful northland destination. 

After a stormy week in Auckland we left the city and traveled the three hour drive to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Traffic was light and we arrived at the Waterfront Suites in good time. Our Ocean front 2 bedroom 2 level suite was more than adequate with kitchen facilities (that were used to store wine and to make a cuppa in the mornings and nothing more) and two bathrooms. The extra bedroom was put to use by Lance as his preferred system for the storage of his holiday attire is to dump the case on the floor and rummage. This added bonus of an extra room means that he can make supreme use of laziness by having the case on the bed and not having to bend!

                                                         Both levels open up to this view.

The extra bathroom was also put to use and my toiletries filled the cavity nicely. It was also put to use as the room for any smelly needs.

We had booked dinner at Terra after checking out local dining online. Don’t you love it when you get it just so right. Well almost … we know now that we should have booked a balcony table. But hindsight is a useless thing and we had left high winds in Auckland, who would have guessed that there would not be a breathe of air in Paihia. 

Terra presents a set menu that is creative and mouth-wateringly divine.  Here is the link to my review.

Perfectly sated we waddled the 70 meters home and fell into a food and wine blessed sleep.

Awaking to another gorgeous day with the sea right across the road we breakfasted on the jetty bar and restaurant Zane Grey’s. The food was okay, but with the superb location on the water, we would have been happy with a bowl of Weetbix.

On such a glorious day the possibility of a helicopter ride was mooted, and after a quick Google for prices, we decided it needed to be taken further. And so there we stood when the chopper landed just 50metres down from where we had breakfast; Paihia village is rather compact. At $260 per head for a twenty minute flight, this may seem extravagant. However, we have previously come to the conclusion that if we were on holiday overseas and something exciting or with magnificent scenery was on offer we would happily cough up the cash. So why not do it in our own country, particularly when so many of our tourism operators are having tough times. 

Fortunately for us, they had a gap right then and all we did was write down our first names, slap on a tinsy life jacket (just in case) and we were on board. I did take a millisecond to wonder how they would know who we were in the event of a messy landing, but maybe that was why she suggested I leave my handbag with her.

I really can not express in written form just how beautiful the Bay of Islands are by air. I found myself grinning like a fool as we took off. We have both been out in the bay by boat previously but really had no idea just how many islands are sprinkled in such proximity and many with long sandy beaches. It really was a worthwhile spend and will certainly take a wee space in our holiday fun memory banks  

Just up the road from Paihia is Waitangi. Waitangi commands great significance in our New Zealand history. Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) is a document signed by representatives of The Crown and most of the Rangatira (Māori chiefs)  however the English version when translated into Māori has very different meanings. So in short, our 1840 founding document is full of anomalies that are still causing problems in our country today.  

Waitangi is full of history and we hadn’t been for years. In fact, Lance still hasn’t been for years because after he paid $30 each for us he had to sit down and wait for me because he has a bad back that for most of the time will not allow him to walk far at all. I wandered the grounds and checked out the museums, Treaty House, the Wharenui (meeting house) called Te Whare Rūnanga (The House of Assembly) and, the Waka (large canoes). The location is breathtaking and there is a certain reverence or feeling of it being an important spiritual place when you are there. And I was there longer than expected because the little bush trail, and I mean little, managed to confuse me and I couldn’t find the exit. Story of my life. 

The weather was still glorious, a perfect temperature warm but not blistering and a few skids of clouds in the sky. Lance returned to the apartment and I scoped out the shops and managed to have a wee spend. Paihia is not really a shopping place but a practiced shopper can always sniff out something that needs to be purchased.  

Earlier we had seen a place called the Tipsy Oyster further down the road so we popped by to see if they were open for lunch. Bingo! And what a great lunch it was. I settled in with a shandy and Lance a beer. The oyster choice for us was a selection of their really crazy combination. And they did not let us down at all.  I chose some prawn croquettes and Lance went for some spicy beef taco with their own weird name.  The tacos stole the show, fortunately Lance shared with me and we actually are still thinking about them and how we can replicate them at home! Great place and we will be back!

Dinner was had on our lower balcony overlooking the bay. I picked up some Thai takeaways from Green’s Thai Restaurant. And we spent the evening in the moonlight watching the world go by. 

In the morning we were gone, back to the big smoke. This was one of those weekends when you feel like you have been away a lot longer than two nights. You know what I mean?