Scenic Circle Bay Of Islands Paihia

... weather not being great... then guess what, as soon as I hand my notice in the sun comes out and summer starts to kick in! Working at the hostel was good too and has saved me so much money in accommodation - its definitely the way forward for saving money! I managed to time my days off so that I could make good use of my time and hired a kayak to view some maori carvings that are only reached by boat. I also went mountain biking with my new roomy ...

... there with views of the bay of islands. At 1:30pm Karen and me boarded the ferry ride to the "Hole in the Rock/Cape Brett/Dolphin Cruise". The views were great and we were blessed with good weather, which had looked in doubt earlier. The islands were quite impressive, with the blue sky and clouds making for nice viewing. We passed Russell on the way and other islands. However without a doubt the highlight of the day was SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS. Karen and ...

... us through the hole in the rock. Thrilling stuff! We were let off on an island somewhere, to be picked up in an hour or so. I decided to go for a swim. A few people tried, but decided that they didn't like the squidgy sand/soil stuff on the way in. They said the water didn't look very clean. I had gone to the effort of changing into my swimming costume, I was going to use it. The water really wasn't that bad. The view was certainly great. Unfortunately, forward planning would have ...

... a glass of wine (started a new tradition). Before beeing able to switch off the lights in our van, we had a fight with a few mosquitos. Imagine sitting in the van, a small place and as soon as you killed one mosquito there was another one. We couldn't imagine where they all came from because we really switched off the lights before opening a door or window. We almost drove crazy with them when we moved the curtin and saw, that we had forgotten to close one window at the door and with ...

... up today, my ankle had mysteriously healed, whatever had been afflicting it yesterday disappeared as swiftly as it had come. Yet by the end of today, my other ankle was hurting - how can my muscles have forgotten how to press an accelerator in a week?? Anyway, after I picked up Cher (I find it unbearably twee to name my actual car, but every holiday vehicle has to have a name - see Bessie the Big Rig), I began the drive up to the Bay of Islands ...

... There were certainly pleasant views across the bay and the visitors' book in NZ's oldest church provided some quality entertainment, particularly from the bloke who was having a rant about Charles Darwin and his evolutionary theories (Darwin had given a donation for the construction of the church)! Other than that Russell didn't quite float my boat, but it is certainly an undeniably beautiful part of the world though perhaps best appreciated with a little bit of sun!

... the warmth and sunshine when we got here made up for it. We've bought a car a Mitsubishi magna station wagon and I'm hoping that with a bigger car I'll actually fit all my luggage. Met up with Amy and traveled up to the Bay of Islands a few days ago. We're now quite comfortably settled back on Shambala planning our trip down to the Hauraki Gulf. Can't wait. Love Rebecca

... of Auckland to a campground in Red Beach to get better organized and to do a mittle great service at the bike. Afterwards I faced a (Zwickmuehle): As it was weekend I left Auckland without replacing the gone tires. Now in Whangarei I reckognize that the back one doen't do it until back to Auckland. But where to get one? A member of a bike shop helps me and orders a tire to be replaced at Kaitaia.