Paihia

Trip Start Sep 11, 2008
1
43
87
Trip End Jun 05, 2009


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Flag of New Zealand  , North Island,
Saturday, January 24, 2009

We spent the day hung over sitting in a tiny park, or rather a piece of grass by the river in Whangarei after checking out by 10 and waiting til 4.30 for a bus to Paihia.We bumped into Hannah who was feeling much better than us and was getting a later bus to Paihia too. We slept all the way there, luckily waking up just before we had to get off. We checked into Cap'n Bobs Beach House hostel just round a headland from the main touristy bit of Paihia which is the gateway to the Bay of Islands. We had a nice room with a little balcony at the front and went straight for a quick swim in the bay. Hannah joined us later at the hostel and we got fish and chips and ate them by the lovely beach at sunset.
Next day we went to Waitangi just up the road where the treaty was signed which declared joint rule between the Maori and the Brits. We watched a Haka show with lots of singing and dancing and checked out the Maori meeting house and the grounds. We went back to town to meet Stuart and Anne's other son Alistair and his wife Fran who is originally from Suffolk too! After a nice lunch they took us all to Kawakawa where they live. The small town is famous for its public toilets designed by Hundertwasser in a Gaudi style. We met up with Stuart and Anne as they returned from their road trip and they kindly loaned us a camera for the remainder of the trip. We saw the steam train which the town is also famous for and a chap let us get in the cab and showed us round it which was great after our initial "just wanting to have a quick look". Alistair is a volunteer in the local Fire Brigade and took us into the station where Lucy put on all his gear and we all piled into the fire engine. Lucy got to sit in the front with Alistair and turn on the engine, playing with the sirens which she loved while Hannah and I sat in the back laughing.
We went back to Paihia and caught the ferry across the bay to Russell which is the first British settlement I think with some cool old colonial houses. We had an ice cream and a quick swim as it was really hot but we didn't stay long as I was desperate to go fishing. The girls grabbed some beers and I got the gear and went fishing off the rocks near our hostel. It was great fishing, I caught loads of small snapper and a few fish I didn't recognise which all went back then a couple of good sized snapper which I kept. Then the bites stopped, nothing for ages and I kept thinking I can't go home with just two fish for three of us. The sun was going down and the girls must have been wondering where the hell I was but I waited and waited. Then the fish started biting and I reeled in a few more too small to keep before catching the best one yet. I ran home down the beach dropping beer bottles and stuff as the fish were in the little coolbag, the last one still flapping around a bit as I hadn't whacked it properly. When I got back we BBQ'd our three snapper, less than an hour after they were caught, getting jealous looks as everyone else ate their pasta.
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loggy
loggy on Feb 9, 2009 at 01:59AM

Fish Dinner
The Snapper was sublime

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