Jul 2006

After having breakfast in the campervan by thwe water we headed into the main street of Paihia to prepare for our "Excitor" jet boat ride. After suiting up in ridiculous red pants and jackets, we boarded the massive million dollar jet boat. Courtney dragged me to the front "extreme" seats. Where we had a very bumpy ride. The trip took us out to the tip of the mainland where we say the "Hole in the Rock" and the jet boat was taken through it. Lucky me, sitting on the side, I managed to end up getting my leg and shoe drenched. The boat was family run by 3 siblings, who had 6 more back on shore running local businesses. After arriving back on dry land we had tea and coffee at one of the sisters cafes.

Then it was back to the campervan for the long trip south. We stopped every now and then to take photographs, even running out to Uretiti beach to take photos of the 'Hen and Chicken Islands'.

Despite hearing so much about NZ sheep, all we seemed to see were cows. Lots of cows. And rolling green hills of course.

We managed to end up south of Auckland by the evening and pulled over to sleep at Te Kauwhata.

Well, after waking up in the motel we picked up the campervan and headed north. We stopped for brekky at a macca's where mum had to deal with 'funny money' for the first time. Did a bit of shopping for groceries and visited the Whangarei Falls (26m high, the most photographed falls in NZ). Dinner that night was fish and chips at our destination town, Paihia. Followed by an early bedtime of 8:30...we blam jet lag