Rolleston Motel Thames

... the Wh on places names, its like Fangarei instead of Whangarei, according to this bloke they used a German who spoke English to translate Maori to English so he just put what he thought was right.
So we headed along the road for a while and then it just turned into a unsealed road and then a boulder track passing over fords and creeks at which point i was wondering if we should be on it with Marcel. No offense to the useless thing but it was more ...

... and have since been reading about invasive species and biological control of these pests in New Zealand, along with a little bit of Dan Brown's new book.

It's getting dark now, so I fear I must put the pen down. Tomorrow I am off to Coromandel Town to start my month at the cafe. I am optimistic about this and hope it leads to new friendships and discoveries. Who knows what can happen when surrounded by vegetarian food, young travelers, and a pseudo-hippie, peace-loving environment...

Day 16 - Coromandel Peninsular A two hour drive east from Auckland, rustic and unspoiled, the Coromandel peninsular is one of NZ's holiday destinations in the summer and has two very distinct parts. The east coast of the peninsular exposed to the Pacific has some beautiful white beaches and excellent surfing towns, whereas the west coast has stony bays ...

... wir noch im National Kauri Museum vorbei, indem es echt wahnsinnige Sachen aus Kauri Holz gab. Toni,unser Busfahrer, fuhr mit uns auf dem Weg noch am Hotwater Beach und an der cathedral Cave vorbei. Das Besondere am Hotwater Beach ist, dass man sich bei Ebbe ein Loch Buddeln konnte, aus dem dann heisses Wasser kam und man sich reinhocken konnte....die Betonung liegt auf konnte!! Denn an dem Strand war die Hoelle los, da jeder was vom heissen Wasser abhaben wollte ...

... could consider "important" (in the grand scheme of I-must-save-the-world things) I have felt content, relaxed and accomplished all the same. It was also a blessing to be surrounded by such creativity and enthusiasm for the arts. How refreshing! I owe a huge thank you to Jennifer for shaking awake my creativity and inspiring me to make it a bigger part of my life again. YAY ...

... stap ik weer dapper op de fiets en ga richting de Cathedral Cove. Op een enkele korte lichte regenbuien na houd ik het voornamelijk droog. Het laatste stuk gaat stijl omhoog en daar valt niet tegenop te fietsen. Ik loop verder naar de top toe en daar begint een wandeling van ongeveer 40 minuten naar de cove. De wandelroute loopt door wat aangeplante bossen en langs een wei met wat schapen en koeien. Uiteindelijk bij de cove aangekomen. De cove is een groot gat in de ...

... planting them! When we had planted each tree we put silver ferns around the base. This was mainly to protect them, but also to make them more visible to people looking out from the railway. After lunch, we went over to the railway as Piet had booked the three of us on an afternoon tour. We took a piece of our carrot cake for Ron, the train driver, as it's really good of them to let us go on the train for free. The train ride took about an hour ...

... was afloat but the front was aground. So I fell out and the thing flipped over, fortunately only catching me a glancing blow. Andy is just cross that he was on the other side of a rock and didn't see this; we had Christa-from-Atlanta from us, she was laughing so much she fell out of her own kayak! (apparently I do feature in her journal...) recovered, launching was a matter of timing, a big push from Andy and paddling like ...