NZ Honeymoon: Kauri Cliffs

The TOP thing on Blane's "NZ To-Do List" was to play golf at one of the top courses in the world: Cape Kidnappers. Unfortunately, we tried and tried and it was just too expensive and way too far for us to even attempt to visit. (insert Blane sad face here) The news gets better though, as there is another top golf course in New Zealand, and it was just three hours north of Auckland. Kauri Cliffs is also ranked as one of the top 100 courses in the world and is a sister course of Cape. Bingo! We had our course AND it was doable-just three hours north of Auckland in the Bay of Islands region. 

It rained and was overcast the day before when we were driving up to Paihia and the forecast for "Golf Day" weren't that promising either. So I did what any respectable person would do and I prayed that God would make the weather perfect because we only had one day to golf, and rain or shine, Blane was going to golf. I just wanted it to be a nice day for him. :) God totally answered my prayer (isn't it amazing that He cares about even the smallest things that we care about? :) and we woke up to an absolutely beautiful clear blue Golf Day! Praise the Lord!!!

 Why are all the hoity-toity (i.e. rich) places so far from civilization? We drove for an hour and a half way into the boonies of the Bay of Islands until we came to this little silver box. Phew! We were relieved that we went the right way. I mean, so obscure-sheesh! Who are they hiding from? 

We drove in and around the bend and then we saw this beautiful structure. Hello Kauri Cliffs Clubhouse. What a beaut! Sidenote: See what a beautiful day it was? God is so good :).

 This is my elated hubby standing right in front of the Clubhouse. Do you spy the ocean in the background?

Everything about this place was incredible: the view, the five different types of grass they use on their course, the golf pros, the carts (They came equipped with an ice chest complete with personalized "Kauri Cliffs" water bottles!), even the way they stacked their golf balls at each spot on their driving range! It was all so well thought our and executed to a tee. No pun intended, heehee. 

Here we are at the driving range. See all the neat little golf balls stacked in a pyramid?

Here's a more comprehensive shot. The entire time we were there Blane kept saying, "The view looks fake!" because it was so incredible.

 These are the clubs Blane rented for the day. My husband is really incredible at asking for, and getting, deals. Today, he asked if he could play at the "local" rate (vs. the visitor rate which is always higher). He also asked if they'd throw in his club, shoe and cart rental because, well, we were "on our honeymoon." I wouldn't have the gall to ask for even one of these but it didn't phase Blane. Not only did they give him everything that he asked for, but they also threw in some congratulatory bubbly for us to celebrate after we were done with the course. Blane was already excited but all of this put him over the top. He saved $270!!! And if you know my hubby, saving moolah is one of the keys to his heart for sure! ;)

 This was the view off one of the holes. There was a sign by a little path leading to "Pink Sand Beach." Of course we didn't have time to go down there to see if the sand was really pink because we had golfing to do! :)

He's so happy :). It made me happy too :).

Blane played 18 holes and I got to drive the golf cart! He scored an 80 which was pretty good considering how tough the course was (it's a par 72 for any of you golfers out there). The front nine were better for Blane than the back. I think he got tired and was a little distracted by all the vistas :).

Here's what I was doing for the majority of the day...except I was driving, not riding! Haha

Just a few more shots before I wrap up this post, I promise. Hey-it was hard paring down 771 pics into one little blog post! We took a lot of pics that day with all three of our cameras. :)

 I love this pic-it's B's "Tiger-Woods-shot-well-done" stance. He does this after every good shot :).

This was the meal waiting for us after we finished the round. I didn't swing one club but I was ready to sit down and eat and relax! What made everything even better was that the staff at Kauri was so nice and down to earth. Sometimes at places like these you encounter snooty people and it really puts a damper on the experience. Not so here...it was the exact opposite and it made the day all the more better. If we could have afforded to stay the night, we probably would have! But that was $1,500 that we didn't have to spend on ONE NIGHT at Kauri. Hah!

 All in all it was a fantastic day. I don't think it could've gone better! The excitement on Blane's face was worth coming up to the Bay of Islands alone. Trip accomplished!

 It was hard to say goodbye but eventually we said adieu to head back to our hotel in Paihia. We had one more evening there before we had to head back to Auckland to catch a plane to our next New Zealand destination: Nelson+Golden Bay.

South Island here we come!

Aim