Chris and me decided to do the Cape Brett hiking tour. Cape Brett is the most north-eastern part of the Bay of Islands and supposed to be beautiful.. As we purchased the hiking-tickets at the DOC office we were pretty shocked: Hiking fee was 30dollars(!) ..but that might have been due to the fact that the hiking track crosses sacred maori land. Normally the DOC hiking tracks are free or you pay a tiny fee. The DOC is the Department of Conservation that takes care for all famous hiking tracks in Newzealand.

Well, the track was supposed to be a 7,5hour walk – we did it in 5hours. And YES, it was pretty exhausting. (After 5 hours we reached the hut where we stayed overnight.) Actually the steep hiking fee of 30dollars was really worth it, have a look at the pictures! We enjoyed amazing views as we walked on the pinacle of the mountains. (Acutually we didnt always walk on the highes part of the mountains – the track went uphill and downhill – but when we walked on the pinacle of the mountain the views were overwhelming!) Totally tired we arrived at the hut, drank the best Heineken beer ever(man, that beer was great..maybe because we really earned it *g*) and after an lovely sunset and some tea we fell aspleep like babies.

In the morning we enjoyed the sunrise and hiked back in about 6hours. We walked past the regular hiking track to have a look at some other beautiful spots past the track. Despite of the fact that this hike was really exhausting and the hiking fee is pretty expensive – I can really recommend anybody who visits the Bay of Islands to go over to Russel (that’s where the DOC office is) purchase the tickets and walk to Cape Brett.

…It’s awesome up there!