Landing Cottage Kerikeri

... besond**en Geschaeften - hoch edel). Mann, die Arbeit - so stupide sie klingen mag - hat mit echt total viel Spass gemacht! Und dafu** auch noch Geld kriegen!

Samstag war sightseeing angesagt: Das aelteste Haus Neuseelands steht hi** in K**ik**i (wenn man mal in Luebeck gelebt hat ist das ab** jetzt nicht so das Ereignis) und schoene Wass**faelle gab es auch nochmal. Achja und dann sind wir in eine tolle Bucht gefahren, in d** man einen wund**schoenen Sonnenunt ...

... no. Interesting start! (But to cut Gisele some slack I have done nothing productive in the way of organising anything so its thanks to her I have anywhere to go at all!) A few minutes late and just as Gisele disappears off momentarily distracted possibly by food or perhaps simply her own reflection, a slightly hassled looking woman approaches me and finally our new WWOOF host is found! Our new host - Nicole was a slightly all over the place mother of 2 teenagers, teacher ...

... t quite shut. He he. We are also told about some interesting Kiwi driving rules which to be honest I just don't understand. So for now, we're just muggling along. The drive up from Auckland is wonderful. We stop in a beautiful little bay that actually has shops and people in it. It's a bit of a shock to see somewhere so consistently built up. The contrast between ...

... to the lady without a proper job. Its been good to relax, I've met some great people but I can't help feeling I've been screwed over by somebody. The main contender for this is the lady hostel owner, who seems nice but appearances can be deceptive and she is the only one to have gained from the situation. I don't know whether it's her fault but no harm has been done, I have ...

... with the tap (a sign of things to come unfortunately!) and an abortive drive down to the Treaty Grounds to try to find a bonfire (which resulted in a cab full of spilt red wine), we settled in for the night, ignoring the teenagers who'd parked up nearby for an intimate encounter. Unfortuately, the bed wasn't quite as straightforward as we'd been led to believe at the depot and so we agonised for a good fifteen minuted onn the physical ...

After not being able to secure a place on the Kiwi Bus up to auckland and running out of time before i had to leave the country, i caught an intercity bus to auckland under my own steam. I only spent the night there before continuing with the kiwi experience up to the Bay of Islands for the day. Paihia welcomed with clear blue, sunny skies which ...

... huge waves at one end. During some wave sets there were easily 4 meter waves coming off that break. Although it was a pretty scary place to park we dropped anchor about 50 meters from the really huge break area...I was nervous because if our anchor came loose and the boat wouldn't start we'd have surely been screwed. I was first in the water and soon realized we had found one of the 'Pins' at 10 meters was the top of a structure with steep cliffs around it ...

... Kerikeri we explore the local attractions, the Stone Store and the Kemp House, the two oldest European constructed buildings in NZ. It is a beautiful setting with lovely gardens overlooking a small waterfall. Just up the hill from the Stone Store is a very old Church so we hike up the hill and are rewarded with lovely views. Kerikeri is an artisan community with lots of art galleries, small boutiques, woodcarving shops and a ...

... the end of my second week! I cannot believe that I have only been on the road two weeks, feels like two months! Anyways, bloody hitchers where still hanging around so I dropped them off and made my way to Kawakawa to view the public toilets designed by the reclusive Austrian emigre Friedrich Hundertwasser. They were very pretty all made out of broken tiles, coloured bottles and stuff he found lying around! After that I went to Waitangi and ...

... far. I have a splitting headache at the moment, from the previous 2 nights drinking no doubt. The weather has been really good yet again and I am watching a brilliant sunset. I had my McDonalds which was a welcome treat but I think I am spending too much money at the moment. I am going to have to start budgeting again. I need to be up early tomorrow to get my bus back to Paihia.