A Jewel in the Heart of the Bay of Islands

Up on Selwyn Street, off the centre of the town, there's a couple of restaurants - a fish place and an Italian place - set up above the street that are a little hard to spot. If you can find them though it's worth stopping into this family run Italian eatery.

When you get up the stairs, you go through the door and are greeted with wooden interiors, pleasant lighting and family charm that runs through the whole place.

We sat by the window on a rainy afternoon and had some carbonara and some meatballs and spaghetti. Both were excellent and came to less than $30 for both meals, but the piece de resistance was the dessert. It was a rich, thick, kahlua chocolate cheesecake that melted in the mouth. Not cheap, at about $7 for a slice, we figured it was worth splashing out just this once and we did not regret it.

The Bay of Islands is regarded by many hardline fishermen as the best place to fish in the world. That's a sizeable accolade, and we figured that it would be foolish to stay there and not sample some of this world beating fish ourselves. It wasn't the right weather to go out there and catch some ourselves, but there was a fish and chip shop overlooking the shore that came highly recommended to us so we thought that would be a pretty good substitute.

Easy to spot, on Marsden Road, Twilight Zone is an open fronted fish and chip takeaway with a big specials board that should grab your attention as you wander past. Do pay attention to what's on offer, because the fish here is very good quality for the very reasonable price that you'll pay. We got a pair of Mahi Mahi and a large bag of chips and it came to $14 between us. For New Zealand that's pretty good.

We took our food and a can of Fanta down to the beach, fended off some rather bold seagulls and set into it with gusto. This was undoubtedly the best takeaway fish and chips we had the whole time we were in New Zealand. Given that this is something the country is well known for, Lance's is somewhere that is well worth checking out while you're staying in Paihia. Ask Lance which of the fish option he recommends and don't be afraid to pay a little extra for one of the more exotic options. He doesn't grease them to death, so you can taste the difference in the higher quality fishmeat.

Set directly overlooking the historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the Copthorne Bay of Islands hotel is easy to find. The entryway is beautifully put together, with big wooden archways leading you up to the very smart front door and a spacious lobby staffed by very helpful staff.

There have been times when our online reservations have required a little bit of looking up and sorting out when we show up at our hotels, but there were no such issues here. They were extremely efficient and we found our room in no time. Once we got there we were very pleasantly surprised.

We found a pretty good deal online for this room - $90 per night rather than the usual $120 - but either way you'll get your money's worth from this establishment. We had a King size bed, a great little balcony, very clean, up to date room, very shiny and spacious bathroom with sky TV and plenty of space to move around and keep our stuff.

The outdoor pools are obviously seasonal things, but the outdoor hot spa is open year round and - on a cold autumn night - we thoroughly enjoyed using it. It was low season, but the spa was quiet and a good size, so when other people did show up there was still plenty of room for us all to comfortably use it.

The best part of staying at this hotel was the breakfast though. Included in the price, breakfast was an all you can eat buffet with a wide array of cooked options, loads of continental options, three different types of fresh fruit juice, coffee, tea ... Normally priced at $15 per person, this was absolutely wonderful and if it's not included in the price of your stay then at the very least spring for the extra $15 at least one of the mornings you're there.

Overall then: a very comfortable, beautifully situated, well run hotel with friendly and efficient staff and a breakfast to die for. Highly recommended, particularly if you catch one of their offseason specials. Keep an eye out for them on websites like hotelclub.com.

If you're visiting New Zealand then this is a very good place to buy a few souvenirs. If you're looking for something spectacular to decorate your living room - and you have the means - then it's also a very good spot to pick up some one of a kind artwork by Kiwi woodcarvers. Either way, it's well worth a browse around, even if you don't plan on spending a lot of cash.

One of the best of the shops is the Cabbage Tree, which is located on Williams Road. This place has a little bit of everything, though it is certainly at the higher end of the pricing scale. Their large wooden pieces are breathtaking, though the price reflects the quality of handiwork. Carved largely from Jarra, there are bowls in there that are older than the country itself and all of them expertly worked. There's an array of smaller items on offer too - foods and scented items, along with the usual clothing and jewellery options.

A cheaper place to try is Classique Souvenirs in the Mall on Marsden Road, which is a great place to pick up some paua shell stuff. You can buy a nice looking ring in there for $6 (or at least you could when we visited), or a bracelet for $8. They sell the standard $10 T-shirt range that can be found in every souvenir shop in the country as well as an impressive range of inexpensive but very nice trinkets to send home to the family.

Other places to check are Enz of the Earth on Marsden Road and Flying Fish in Selwyn Mall. Both have a decent range, including some really interesting glassware, but again they're worth checking out for the woordarvings displayed at intervals throughout. If I had the money and the means to transport them I would have bought four or five of those pieces. Given the age and the craftsmanship, they're a piece of Kiwi history in the most decorative form imaginable. Well worth the investment.

There are many destinations to choose from up in the Bay Islands. The landscape changes considerably as you head north and hills and forest give way to palm trees, dense foliage and sharply winding roads. We left out of Auckland on a day which was bucketing rain and it was a couple of hours north that the skies cleared a little and the sunnier part of the North Island started to show its true nature.

There are lots of little towns to stop at and grab a bite to eat, all of which have options if you want to stay the night. My recommendation is to plough through all of these until you reach the Bay of Islands itself. They have a very different atmosphere to their northern neighbours and this - coupled with the stark change in scenery - make the extra travelling time well worth it.

I've heard it said that the Bay of Islands - along with the sounds to the far south - is what people think of when they think about beautiful New Zealand. It feels very separate to the parts of the North Island that are just a little further south.

There are plenty of sights to see, there's lots of seafood to eat and loads of activities - particularly those based out on the water. Definitely check out the Waitangi Treaty grounds for a bit of Kiwi history, take the time to grab some fish and chips from the many takeaways as their fish is fresh and very nicely cooked and browse through the craft shops filled with some truly breathtaking woodcarving. If you have the means, try to get out and do some sea fishing too as this is arguably the best place in the world to do so.

Timing is tricky here, as it fills up during the peak season but the place is best experienced at a nice slow pace without having to deal with the inevitable summertime crowds. Having said that though the Bay of Islands is without a doubt a very different place when the sun is shining. If you can make it there just before or just after the summer rush then do so. The temperature is far more agreeable and you have far more room to manouevre.

The Waitangi Treaty was signed back in 1840 on this spot. It was a landmark achievment for the local Maoris and the European settlers that still bears relevance today and if you're looking to take in some New Zealand history then this is one of the most fundamental chapters.

There's two options for exploring the treaty grounds. You are welcome to walk around the parklands along the shore and up along the hill beside. There's a reasonably clearly marked path for this free option, and if it's a nice day then this is a very pleasant way to while away an hour or two. You still get a sense of the history of the place as you're standing on the ground where the treaty was signed.

If you want to delve a little deeper and learn something while you're there though, it's quite expensive. Free to New Zealand citizens, but charged to tourists. There are tours you can take, which will set you back $25, but I think this is unnecessary. For a few dollars less ($20 to be precise, at the time of writing) you can walk in amongst the buildings, see the beautifully crafted ceremonial canoe and marae, and you can read up on what actually happened on the day of the signing and what relevance it bears today.