Abilene Motel Kerikeri

... schon mal 30 kg wiegen können, wenn man schnell sein muss und drei auf einmal nimmt, so wie ich. Ab** das anstrengende war eigentlich, dass man die Kisten auf 2,20 m Höhe wuchten muss und das schm**zt in den Armen, wenn man es acht Stunden macht!<br><br>So kamen wir am Tag auf bis zu 50 Paletten, also knapp 500.000 Kiwis, unvorstellbar, w** die alle essen soll. Ich sage euch, esst nur noch Goldkiwis, d** Geschmack ist so leck**, imm** süß und nicht hart. Alle die hi** sind, sind ...

... to Kaeo 17km away and with a red light for a long time. We talked nicely to our Roy to not let us down and imagine what....he didn't! We got there with our last litre of petrol around 1pm. After we both really needed a coffee... We decided not to go back to Tauranga, it would have taken us to much time so we drove streight to Kerikeri, around 50km south. When we got there we went to see the oldest buildings of NZ, the Kemp House and the Stone ...

... that seeing the dolphins was a chance opportunity in a pretty big body of water Nonetheless, we headed out in quest of the dolphins. The crew was good, and clearly had good contacts. After radio contact, the crew beelined to an area where dolphins were rumored to have been spotted earlier. On the way, we got to enjoy the sights of the islands, which were very pretty , but lacked the white sand beaches and emerald greens that add to the ...

... else up to speed. The post delivers, I just go stuff done. I never wanted to get buy in, I just told people how it was and what I wanted to do, no money changed hands. I do not engage, maybe someday to someone special but not tot every new project, person or idea that comes along, I'm not like that. So I left, I quit, I threw in towel (except I didn't because, throwing towels around in offices is just weird) but I ...

... so I did something I have never done before... gone commando under a wetsuit (well travelling is all about new experiences)! Now I had always envisaged dolphin swimming being a beautiful and wonderful occasion where you basically splash about in clear water and they come and swim around you etc in a very playful and relaxed way. What I found to be the case, was that we were all told to get in as the skippers bellowed in a very alarming way "SWIM! SWIM!" and you ...

... more features. Still, it was impressive nonetheless. I made my way to Kerikeri down Highway 10, passing incredible sights as I drove past a huge forest with large cliff faces. Once I got to Kerikeri, I found the Hertz place, they were closed so I wrote down the number and went and found a motel for the night. The lady on reception, Sonja, was really welcoming and lovely to me. As I was checking in, an American lady came in with her laptop. She was having trouble ...

... and a brilliant day out. Dive day for H which means a little lie in for me, up for 0830 shower and a little retail therapy before my Massage Therapist session, booked for 1100. Later there was nothing for it but a little retail therapy (on my own - what luxury!) I decided to take a walk along the bay and out along the headland, taking in the beauty and looking at everything and nothing in particular, before returning to our motel by 3pm as the heat of the day ...

... pancakes they sell there. Very excited!!!! I hope to set up my first farmstay at an organic farm that sells at the farmers market while we are there. Emma WOOFed there before and is going to introduce me. After the market we are going to an island managed by the Dept of Conservation where Emma's friend works. There we will kayak, have a picnic, and look for kiwis at sundown. After a few days ...

The last 3 days of our north island tour were spent in the bay of Islands area (the name gives it away). This is a very pretty area, with many of the homes belonging to millionaires who never use them. Not bad since it was the first a lawless whaling outpost in the 1830s call the "hell hole of the Pacific". Also the Treaty that made NZ part of the British Empire was signed here by ...

... by the Smurfs and their mushroomy ilk. It wasn't pleasant, but I felt better knowing I'd got rid of the biggest of the daddy long legs.. we could live with it for a couple of weeks. (c) Avoid it completely - part of the experience of travelling is finding your strengths, weaknesses, and limits. And it was at Kerikeri Organics that Jez and I discovered our limits when it comes to dossing down! The two bedrooms in the WWOOFers cabin at ...