WHANGAROA BIRTHDAY

I really enjoyed having a car to explore many of the places off the beaten track in my own time. I visited the Haruru falls
The Mangawhai heads
And many other fantastic beaches along the route to Whangaroa.

It was my birthday and Sammie and Ryan called first thing to sing me happy birthday, which made me very happy! And thanks to everyone who sent me birthday greetings. It is nice to know that I am on the other side of the planet to most of you and you still remember to message me on my birthday. I wanted to spend the day with no fuss so I made a packed lunch and drove along the north East coast.

I parked up at Tauranga Bay and enjoyed the amazing view as I had my lunch.
Then I had a long walk along the deserted beach and felt very happy. Afterwards I headed off to book into my hostel. I discovered it the previous day when I was driving around. It is called Sunseekers and it is in Whangaroa. My bed is in a dorm for eight people but luckily I am the only person booked in because it is their winter season now. There is another English guy called Danny who lives here all year, in a room around the side of the hostel. But apart from that I was alone and I loved it. From my bed I had a great view of the Bay.
(VIEW OVER THE BAY FROM MY BEDROOM WINDOW)
(VIEW OF THE HOT TUB FROM MY BEDROOM WINDOW)
And it only costs me eighteen dollars a night,which is about seven pounds!! Needless to say I have booked in for four nights to really relax. The owner was there when I booked in and he asked if I wanted to have a trip in his little boat around the harbour. First I went for a walk to the top of St Pauls hill which overlooks the Bay. It was pretty hard going because there had been a lot of rain in the previous days and it was very slippy. I got a bit scared near the very top when it got very steep and slippery, so I turn around and came down again.But it was worth it to see over the Bay. (ST PAUL'S HILL)
Once I was safely down the hill I went out with Linsey and his dog Ben for a trip in the boat around the bay.


It was so kind of him and it was a nice birthday treat. And to top it all off the hostel has an amazing hot tub !!!!!! Things could not get any better. So I got myself a bottle of bubbly and watched the sunset from the comfort of the hot tub.

Danny came back from work later and he joined me and we had a good natter. He is originally from Cornwall, but has been over here for about ten years.

I was glad he was around because he lit the open fire in the kitchen and we stayed up chatting until late. A prefect Birthday!!

KATI KATI

Jason and Stephanie invited me to travel again with them for a few days and to stay in their campervan.We left Rotorua and headed up to Kiti Kiti in The Bay of Plenty to visit a New Zealand couple, Christine and Tony, who had befriended Stephanie's Aunty and Uncle on a holiday in Scotland. They were so welcoming to us all.I was a bit nervous because I had tagged along, but they made me feel so welcome.They even invited us all to stay the night at their house! Tony took us for a scenic drive around the area. There were lots of fabulous murals all around the town depicting the various wars and moments in history.

We also checked out the local beaches at Waihi while Christine stayed at home and cooked us a lovely hot meal.
The next day they took us on another sightseeing trip which included seeing an open cast gold mine not far from their house.
It was so lovely the way they welcomed us into their home when we had not met them before. I hope that I can repay their kindness one day when they visit England again.

They gave us lots of fruit from the trees in their garden and we went on our way. We booked into a prize winning campsite with a thermal pool en-route to Auckland.
The next day we headed for Auckland and I hired a car for the last two weeks of my stay in New Zealand to explore the Top of the North Island. Jason, Stephanie and I went to the comedy club because I told them what a good time I had had there last time I was in the city. But we had a hidious time, I have never seen so many bad comediennes in one place. It turned out that Wednesday nights are new material nights. They try out new gags and if they do not work they do not use them again. Well there were a lot of gags that did not work and it was rubbish!!!. But we had to laugh because they were so bad. I stayed in the campervan for another night with Stephanie and Jason before saying my goodbyes to them.
They flew to Melbourne to begin their year in Australia. I will miss them, we have had such a good time together and I loved staying in the campervan. I booked into the YHA in Auckland for a night.
In the morning I drove from Auckland, along the breathtakingly beautiful coastline, to Paihia, on the North East coast. It is a beautifull place near the sea. Europeans first settled here in 1823.
It is one of the main tourist spots on the north end of New Zealand. Adjoining Paihia to the north is Waitangi, the site of the historic signing on February 6th, 1840 of the treaty between mainly local Maori chiefs and the representatives of Queen Victoria's government.
The treaty then toured the country and many other chiefs added their signatures.