Sunday 21/11/2010

We had set our alarms set early so we that we could watch the New Zealand Vs Ireland game. Rich and Michelle had invited us to sleep in the lounge due to it raining slightly which was nice. Once again Michelle came up trumps with a cup of tea in bed for each of us followed by yet another Restaurant/Hotel standard breakfast. This consisted of a full English, which had not a single grease mark on any of the plates it was actually perfectly presented. Our plans were to meet up with Sophie to go on a surprise adventure so we packed our stuff and just before heading over to Sophie’s, Michelle presented us with a packed lunch for that day and a huge quiche for dinner that evening. Now that is hospitality folks! We then met up with Sophie and she took us to an adventure park, which her boyfriend (Dave) works in. All we had to do to get in was buy a crate of beer for the boss of the park and then we were free to wonder around freely. The park was based on a river, which you jump into or slide into or even swing into. The highlight of the park however is called the Blob, which was a inflated tube which you sit on the front whilst someone else jumps on the back which you then fly up into the air. When you have one at the front and have two jumping on the rear you begin to get some serious height. We then headed over to Sophie’s house before setting off to Okere Falls, which is where you go white water rafting. We parked in a car park and found a patch of grass, which would accommodate our tent before heading into the local pub and sampling some German beer. This led to us not setting up the tent and camping in the car.

Saturday 20/11/2010

We awoke to the smell of hot coffee/Tea followed by a breakfast, which wouldn’t be out of place in any fine restaurant or hotel. Michelle made us pancakes/crepes with strawberry’s and maple syrup topped with icing sugar. Not a bad way to start the day. I had got in contact with Sophie and had arranged to meet her in the shop she worked in before heading off to the hot baths which are situated at the bottom of the Mount followed by an Ice cream and a conversation some weirdo about how the world is coming to an end as well as President Barrack Obama being replaced with a Douglas Wilder.

We then headed back to Richard and Michelles house and sat out in the back garden with an endless supply of Tui beers whilst messing about with their son Jack and boxer dog Jay. Whilst playing in the back garden, Michelle was again putting on a feast for us. This feast consisted of a Fijian style curry followed by one of the nicest deserts I have had in a long time. She made us chocolate brownie’s with maple syrup and hokey pokey ice cream. We had planned to meet Sophie in town but decided we were all to tired or rather to comfortable where we were. 

Friday 19/11/2010

So we left the Bay of plenty and headed south towards Mount Maunganui and Tauranga. I knew a friend of mine and of the family’s (Sophie Irving) lived in Tauranga so I was looking forward to seeing her again. Edd also had relatives near the mount so we were all in a good mood looking forward to what this new destination may have installed for us.

Upon arriving in Tauranga we wondered around the park before edd text his uncle to see if he wanted to meet up. Edd received a phone call shortly after sending the text to his uncle asking if we fancied meeting up. We met Edds uncle (Richard) at the bottom of Mount Maunganui and then headed up the Mountain chatting about the local area and how New Zealand compares to England. Richard then invited us back to his house for a BBQ, which we more than obliged. Richards wife Michelle put on the most amazing BBQ for us, it was actually insane the amount of food we had. Crisps followed by Sausages, Bacon, Burgers, Chicken, rice, peppers, beans, bread, rolls, onions and salad. Followed by marshmallows, chocolates, a chocolate log and then more crisps to follow which was all watered down with some Tui beer which Michelle kindly did a beer run for us once we finished the first crate. They then kindly invited us to set up our tent in their back garden. 

Thursday 18/11/2010

So we woke up in our car park situated on the beach and after a quick bite to eat we headed up the coast to a beach called “Hot water beach”. As the name suggests the beach consists of sand and water, however when you dig a hole in the sand the hole fills up with hot water due to something to something volcanic. When I say hot I don’t just mean warm I mean boil some eggs hot, its incredible. Once we were finished with the “Hot water beach” we headed over to another local beach called “Cathedral Cove”. “Cathedral Cove” is famous due to it being similar looking to an entrance to a cathedral and was also featured in the film “Narnia”. This I wasn’t aware of until Rowe recognised it and swore it was from the film. He later googled it and was so happy to have been right, his little face lit up with joy.

After visiting the local attractions we headed back to our car park to the proceed to jump off a small bridge before returning for a spot of tea and our nightly ritual of a film in the car on one of the laptop’s. As we were just about to settle down for the film we got talking to a local couple that were walking their American pit-bull. They were really entertaining and he even gave us like four bourbon and cola’s (Woodstock). The sunset was incredible that night and it was a nice way to spend our final night in the bay of plenty.

Wednesday 17/11/2010

We once again left Rowe’s auntie’s house to start our journey down the east coast of New Zealand with the first stop being the Bay of Plenty. The journey didn’t take too long and we were excited to begin taking our time in each place as we had felt we had previously rushed each destination. Once we arrived at the bay of plenty we found a nice car park which was situated on the beach and although it said ‘No Camping’ we felt it would make an ideal spot to spend a couple of nights. We proceeded to walk around the small town of Tairua and even went for another run. We had bought a gas stove so had around 5 cups of teas within a half an hour period as well as some noodles.

Tuesday 16/11/2010

So we awoke from camping in the $7 campsite and all proceeded to start the day in a healthy manner with a morning run along the beach before retreating back to the campsite for a shower and some breakfast. Once we had packed up the tent we knew the drive down to Auckland would take a little while so decided to get on the road as soon as possible, however wanted to go to a shop in dargeville called the BIG red warehouse which apparently sold cheap clothes, CDs, toys etc. I was in the market for a beater (Vest) off course and was pleased to get one their in order for me to start my work on my beater tan. We also stopped off en-route in Wellsford to visit a huge kauri tree, which had a diameter of something like 7.5 metres. 

Monday 15/11/2010

We then headed south (obviously) to a town called Dargaville so we could set up camp for the night. This trip had meant we had covered a fair distance driving and we were all tired from this not to mention tired of this. We eventually found a small campsite on the outskirts of Dargaville which did camping for $7pp, which although was reasonable it was a very basic campsite. This didn’t matter due to it being around 50 metres away from a beach, which was cool.