At Our Place Bed and Breakfast Paihia

... today, and will fit in a trip to the north tip - Cape Reigna and of course some kayaking too! I will have to spend another night in auckland on my way back down, as the buses take a good chunck of a day to get places, so i might well go back to the hostel i stayed in to start with!
So we spent the day on Russel, me and a girl called Liana who I met here. It was a nice day! We climbed to the top of a lookout point, which was up a relaly steep hill, but the views were worth it ...

... that replaced Amanda and Zaine - Paul and Taylor (not Paul Taylor! are from Canada and we shared for a couple of weeks. The mountain biking round Taupo is pretty good with some good manmade trails... when I go back I want to do the 42 Traverse which is 45km... After Paul and Taylor moved on I then shared with a couple of Norwegian's called Haarvard and Lloyd who were okay but not the same as sharing with the American's or Canadians... plus they ...

Yet again another early start, we got on the bus at 8:30am and headed for Mercury Bay. On the way we stopped off at Mt Eden, where you could see the volcanic crater, which was pretty cool. We then hopped back on the bus and everyone introduced themselves. We went to Cathedral Cove, the cove was pretty huge and really beautiful. The water was reflecting the ...

... the clearest water and had a fab day. This is a lovely part of the world, most people say that when in NZ, one should give the north island a miss, as all the action is down south, but we do not regret coming here. It is pretty and peaceful and just lovely. Now we are on our way down to Auckland to stay with Jon & Robyn for the night before heading off to the volcannic center of the North island. Should be great fun. Lots of love XX L&M

... enjoying it a little bit too much. Our bus was pretty new and obviously had a good engine, and steering, our driver was demonstrating this to us now. Thankfully he never pushed it too far though! Having already walked up sand-dunes in the past, I wasn't overly excited at the prospect of the trek up, but thankfully the dunes weren't as big as some. They were certainly as steep however. Its funny, people always think that because I've done bungy jumps and skydives that I don't get ...

... nòrdica del país. És espectacularment llarga. Amb el bus conduirem al llarg de la platja on farem vàries parades. Després, hi haurà gent que farà sandboard en una duna inmensa. Tot seguit ens aturarem a una platja que està oculta, amagada, petiteta, molt bonica, amb una aigua clara i forces onades. Alguns que han fet sandboard aprofiten per fer una banyadeta. Altres, com nosaltres, aprofitem per descansar i, com que no fas sol, doncs, parem "els núvols ...

... of islands in the Caribbean or the Costa Verde of Brazil. We arrived in an area at the edge of the islands, just before it turns to open sea, and all of a sudden - dolphins! A large pod appeared first in the distance, then at our bow wave. Everyone on the boat pulled out their cameras and aimed and watched as dolphins rode the bow wave and jumped and breached. Then the crew pointed out a new baby - just a few days old. And that abruptly ended ...

... appeared. He just happened to have some wooden ramps handy, and some wire and tools. He was also enthusiastic enough to get under there and do a temporary fix! From his accent, Ian comes from somewhat further north than here but knows the local scene. "Best get down to Ant's in Paihia before he closes." So off I went, introduced myself to Ant with Ian's recommendation and an ...

... was Fiona. They were really lovely people and just the sort of welcome you need after a long day! My room was gorgeous and it was the cheapest one I'd stayed in so far! It is funny though how no place I have stayed in in NZ has had central heating, just individual heaters! Watched some TV, I find the Kiwi accent really strong and hard to understand. Their I's are pronounced like E's, so for example his would be pronounced 'hez'! They also have a lot of English programs on too!.

... Kiwi-Bus trip. The world of a back-packer is small indeed. I also ran into one o f the Dutch girls in Auckland again. She was apparently stalking me before leaving for Fiji. This stay in Auckland was short, only about 14 hours. I will be going back soon anyway, and was eager to get to the Bay of Islands. I had been starting to feel sick for a while, and my first night in Paihia (or rather the booze) was the ignition point the little buggers infesting me had been waiting for. I've ...