Laetitia's blog

A winery kayak tour, as well as a winery bike tour, is a fun way to discover an area with a reduced impact on the environment and a positive effect on the local economy. You have the time to get to know the locals, their traditions and understand better the culture and the region.

Having a local guide is a big advantage. Our guide on the tour was born and bred in the Bay of Islands and could explain us a lot about what life is there. And of course our friend, who had been living in New Zealand for a couple of years and knew already the area, could tell us many more about the country and the bottleneck, erm... bottlenose dolphins.

We travelled by car to the Bay of Islands as we were under time constraints but there are also coaches linking Auckland to Paihia. Sailing is another way to reach the area. In order to reduce our flights carbon emissions, we could contribute to carbon off-setting programs as well as pay attention to reducing our carbon footprint in our daily life.

We stayed in the Beachside campsite in Paihia which is a member of the Northland Sustainable Tourism Charter.