Pacific Rendezvous Whangarei

... road with a whole host of wildlife... around one corner we were confronted by huge black turkey, around another corner we found a flock of sheep. The next day it was cows and hawk!

We stopped for lunch by a beautiful beach with a large rock shaped like a lion. This was the first time we had tested the 'cooker' (one gas ring) in our camper van. I managed to heat up some soup but it took forever. While we were cooking we attracted the ...

... od** nicht dreimal taeglich abzuwaschen, od** weshalb sie sonst p**manent das Wass** in d** Kueche laufen haben, ab** manch** Menschen Logik kann ich einfach nicht toppen. (Zumal uns**e Gastgeb** nur Regenwass** nutzen.)
Und dann hat mich auch noch d** grosse schwarze Hund angeknurrt als ich ihn in die Garage schicken musste. Die Hunde waren ziemlich schlecht bis gar nicht **zogen und mussten deshalb imm** in die Garage, wenn niemand im Haus war (und auch ...

... waited till nightfall, figuring that the glow worms could only be seen in the dark of night...not really taking into account dat da caves would be dark anyway and the glowworms probably didn't keen da diference between night and day. We were directed up the mountain on a windy road by wir hostel owner, he said it is difficult to find as the signpost is not good......he wis right. Eventually after much backing and foreing we found da start of da trek ...

... about leaving the bus even though I've only been on it for the morning. At the tourist info centre at Whangarei I somehow wangle a lift from the owners of the Little Earth Lodge the hostel I am staying at, even though its 7km out of town. Spend the evening chatting to some other travellers. The night sky is fantastically clear, loads of stars. 22/01/2009 Head to the Abbey Caves with another chap staying at the ...

... as I'm on my own here. I turned down the invitation to join in this social/ environmental/conservation event being held not too far away from here by someone with a new pizza oven - it's no longer enough to have a BQQ, or a chimera, now you need your own special pizza oven and you invite guests who in turn bring along their own toppings. (It's customary here in NZ to take a 'plate' when you're invited round to a friend's for a meal, which is a great ...

... later. The sea on the east of the islands was encouragingly smooth. We stopped and anchored at Cave Bay, had the briefing and kitted up. There were I think nine of us doing "straight" diving as opposed to training or snorkelling; we were all going in a gaggle, but loosely buddied-up. My buddy was Aaron (I guess that's how he spells it; pronounced "Oren"), who had about 30 dives. Aaron and I went ...

... have taken about a hundred with her hand over the lens hehehe! But some of the photos she took were actually very good, she must take after her father! We got ready then made our way over to Urquaharts Bay to help out with the community replanting. The girls wanted to go in my car,so we put the car seats in the back. They were so excited. Muriel joined us in the front. It wasn't far. We walked up to where they were planting and helped ...

... diver from Israel who got cocky while feeding the fish. He put a sardine in his mouth and invited this old snapper to come and feast - the fish did, taking not only the proffered sardine but half of the diver's upper lip with him! (As Lalitha points out, now we know why they call the fish a 'snapper'!) So after Leigh (and another bout of 'scenic driving' (= getting lost on really bad, steep, winding gravel roads!) we went on ...

... kuigivõrd alla. Siin on kõik lopsakam ja rohelisem. Mäed küll pisut madalamad, aga lõbusat kuppelmaastikku (ehk nagu Gerli ütleb - Navitrolla maali) leidub siin kõvasti. Ka siin on põlde ääristamas suured puuhekid ja teed on üsna mägised ja kruttivad. Erinevalt põhjasaarest on siin aeg-ajalt randasid, kus võimalik ujuda ja lõõgastuda. Tee peale jäi esimene peatus Warkworth'is, kus võtsime korraliku hommikusöögi või siis varase lõuna ...

... egyedul a kesztyut hianyoltam. Az elso nap ugyan moka merules volt, csak ki akartuk probalni, de a kovetkezo ket nap a buvarkodas masodik szintjenek elsajatitasaval telt. A tenger rendesen probara tett mindenkit a hajon, hatalmas - legalabbis szerintem hatalmas - hullamokon dobalozott a hajo, a szemelyzet nagyon kedvesen es professzionalisan osztogatta a ...