Aomotu Lodge Russell

... stunning. We found a pod of dolphins who swam alongside our boat for a while but they had a young calf with them so we were not allowed to swim with them. Later on however, we found another smaller group and we were allowed into the water. What an experience......water was FREEZING there is no other way to decribe it. We were even wearing wetsuits but it took at ...

... fun to be on the water and it was a sunny, really nice day. The water is very blue here and not that cold. On the way back, we could see lots of oysters on the sides of the rocks on the shore. Paul said that he gets his oysters right on the beach, and he grows most of his own food, too. Tonight we went to dinner in Russell and hung out at the house. In two more days, we will be on a plane back to New York - I can't believe it!

... They have a really awesome root system and they are a canopy tree that survives next to the shore of salt water supplies.  It was really awesome.  That's my favourite part of these things.  Learning about the natural elements that you would not otherwise see or experience first hand.   Once we headed back to our hostel to drop Iain off he let us use the showering facilities before heading to check our emails and then head ...

... After a bit of lunch we took in some of the main sights of Russell - starting with the old British Flagstaff Hill where a flagpole used to fly the Union Jack and caused much uproar amongst local Maoris' at one time - the mast was knocked over and re-erected 4 times. It was quite a walk up the hill to get there but it was worth it. Russell itself is very nice with a very small town feel to it - illustrated well in the ...

A whole day without a journey! After 2 full days on the road the chance to relax and do a bit of laundry was welcome. We went to the local campsite laundry. Nice and simple, buy a token, put it in the machine, add washing and everything else is automatic, soap, programme etc. Even I could do that. Went for a walk to the local beach, came back, transfered washing to drier and wandered down into the town. Booked a ...

The next day we packed our refreshingly clean clothes then caught the bus into Auckland to pick up our campervan - our home for the next month. The van seemed good - a Toyota HiAce which looked a little like the miniature builder's vans you often see but with the roof sliced off and an extension bolted on to allow you to stand up inside. With only slight trepidation then, we set off our into the Auckland traffic to pick up our bags before ...

... We arrived at our destination around 5 and by the time we were all situated and unpaked it was dark and people were hungry. The grandparents are staying in a posh hotel, while mother and me are residing in a Hostle called the mouse trap. It's very nice for a mouse trap, very inviting, warm and charming. We ate out at a see food restaurant that served meels for 30$ no more no less ...

Having got on an early bus up to Paihia we finally arrived just gone midday and were welcomed by a very excited Tony (Flis´ dad). It was lovely to have a taste of home and for Flis to catch up with her dad and after dropping the bags off in the rental car the three of us went for lunch. It was a real treat to be taken out for lunch as we had become so used to catering for ourselves in New Zealand, sandwiches being the staple lunch food. After a bowl of seafood chowder for us both, Tony ...

... is not too long before we see our first accident - a large truck carrying vegetables has been in an accident and it looked pretty serious. It really slows traffic down and we proceed slowly. It is intimidating in the drivers seat as you feel as though you are sitting on the centre line and when cars approach you it appears as though they are coming right at you. When this happens the tendency for the driver is to move further left ...

... to come by over here! <br><br>Unfortunately that proved to be a mistake, because the "3.5 hr" journey ended up taking us over 6 hours to complete, and Katie was HATING the clutch control for the manual gearstick. <br><br>Typical, when we had automatics we didn't even SEE a traffic jam, yet when we hit the tailbacks she has a manual gearbox to contend with! <br><br>Once we got over the ...