Lack of wi-fi in some places, generally being busy and blogspot playing silly buggers have been the reasons behind the big gap in blogs!
So after Waipu we went up to Paithia and the Bay of Islands, staying in the amusingly named hostel "Cap'n Bob's Beachhouse". Our room opened out onto the balcony with a superb sea view. Not exactly convenient for the loos but well worth it for the view! We went on a boat trip through the bay, but despite it being a lovely day, the swell was quite big so it was a tad rough at times! The aim was to go through a rock with a very large hole in it (the official name for it we think came from ancient Moari and was "The Hole in the Rock"), but the conditions meant we couldn't, but we did get to see a large school of dolphins mucking about which was great. A stop for lunch and a lovely BBQ'd steak and we headed back. The boat stopped at a town across the harbour from ours on the way, so for a change of scene we hopped off for a look around, and happy days, found a pub selling some very nice ale. We couldn't possibly pass by without sampling, so a very fine couple of ales were supped before heading to the ferry and back to base.
There was a very nice woodland walk up to a waterfall which we both went for runs along 2 of the days we were there. Well, Andy ran to the waterfall the 2nd time, Chris didn't *quite* make it that far..... It was very hot, but we had to work off the beers somehow!
Next we headed to the far North (which, in this hemisphere, has a very different meaning to Scotland!) and stayed in Ahipara, on a hostel right beside a lovely beach. And what a fabulous hostel. We had a massive room with a very comfy bed - in fact we have definitely stayed in hotels with vastly inferior rooms. There was also two resident dogs and one cat, which made Chris happy when she had it on her lap for some of the evening. We decided to walk to the nearest grocers store to stretch our legs after a long drive. However, someone had definitely lengthened the road between the hostel and the shop after we'd arrived and it was a touch longer than we'd anticipated..... Rather than walk back along the road, we headed for the beach and walked back on the sand. This beach (called 90 Mile Beach, although it isn't, but more on that later) is also a highway - honestly! So we had to avoid the odd passing vehicle, sometimes at speed, which was a bit bizarre.
The next day we went on a bus tour to Cape Reinga at the very top of the island. Our bus driver was a very nice guy called Allen, who is half Moari and half Scottish - great mixture! It was well worth taking a tour rather than driving ourselves, as we got to see a lot more and learnt a fair bit of history. We also went tobogganing down a sand dune, which was a hoot. The climb up was fairly hard work but well worth it. We had a laugh at the thought of tour operators in the UK trying to get away with sending their clients haring downhill on sledges - health and safety would have a fit! The additional bonus to going on the bus trip was the bus driving most of the way back along the beach! A bizarre experience.
So, 90 mile beach. Apparently, it was originally measured during horse and cart days. They knew the horse and cart could cover 30 miles per day, so as the journey took 3 days, they concluded the beach was 90 miles long. Fairly logical. However, this did not take into account the fact that, during high tide, the horses had to ride through soft sand, slowing them down considerably. Many years later, the beach was measured using more accurate techniques, and it turns out it is 64 miles long instead. Oh well, they thought, 90 miles sounds better, let's just leave it at that!
We then headed back south, stopping for an evening in Queensville. Not somewhere we would recommend staying, it's a little quiet to say the least. And the hostel we staying in was, well, different. The bedroom was lovely, the bed was exceptionally comfortable, the kitchen was great, but the quotes from the bible on the walls, and the bible in the bedroom, were a little offputting! The notice on the wall about a zero tolerance towards intoxication made us feel obliged to go out for a beer, Chris wearing a t-shirt with a Benjamin Franklin quote "Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy", after we'd had dinner! We went to a bar very close by and were quite glad we did, because we were the poor guys' only customers all evening. Earlier on in the day we went out to see a gannet colony nearby with a few wee cute chicks in the nests which made the stop off worthwhile, but we weren't distraught to be leaving the next day.
We then headed south of Auckland to Taupo. We'd booked to stay for two nights but very quickly extended that stay to 4 days! We could easily stay longer - it's a really nice area and there is plenty to do. And the hostel which overlooks the lake onto the mountains behind is brilliant. We think it was probably a motel previously, and our room is huge and has a fridge and an ensuite - ultimate luxury! Which for approx £32 a night for the two of us is going to be hard to beat. We went on a good walk up to a waterfall nearby and stopped for a dip in a thermal stream on the way back. Why pay loads of money for a spa when you can sit in a naturally heated (and it was very hot in places) stream??
The next day we went for a pre-breakfast run then wandered around the town in the morning then went kayaking down the river in the afternoon, stopping again (on the way past in the kayaks this time) at the thermal stream. What a hard life!
12,000 kilometers into our jaunt around New Zealand and we really are loving it.
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