Hi Folks!!We got off the ferry in Wellington and headed up north to try and find a campsite as it was 11pm. We pulled in at a few campsites and they were all closed so after two hours driving we eventually found a picnic site that was hidden enough from the road but not too hidden and did not look too like we might get murdered there and stopped for the night, n o tilet, no shower, no lights, what is happening to me!!The next morning we got up and headed to the nearest toilet and thens topped in a layby to have some cereal and attempt to freshen up in a portaloo, ie. Spray some deodorant and hope for the best, yes not even a change of clothes, the levels we stoop to lol! We drove up the coast still attempting to make Paihia and realised that I had already been driving for 6 hours and it looked like another 6 and we needed a proper camp that night so we called and luckily we can could change the date of our dolphin swim and then we opted to find somewhere to camp. We found a nice camp site in a wee place called Huntly lol! It was quite nice, even had a kitchen to make our mince n tatties in! We had a wee walk in town and then watched War of the Worlds on our wee mini dvd player that cmes in the camper. The next day we got up and went and called Madam K! Then got on the road again and did the drive to Paihai, with me almost running over a stray dog in a town we stopped in for petrol, I think if I had I would have felt even worse than if it was a person, it was a cute wee thing. By now the crack on our windscreen is about 8" long and we are sure we are going to get billed for it although we are hoping to get out of it. Also the camper guzzles petrol as it is so ancient, it stays on full for ages and then gets to half and just disappears, its costing a fortune! Anyhow we got to Paihai which is a lovely little seaside town in The Bay of Islands. We went to go and pick up our tickets for the boat the next day and the woman asked us for our reference number which I had seen Craig write down but we did not have the bit paper with us so I just recited a number from memory and she said is that Scott and we were like Yes and her and Craig just stared at me like I was a freak, the amazing memory strikes again lol!! We found a nice campsite with a small pool not that its warm enough to even consider going in. Its also on Hakuru Falls which are really pretty. Today we got up and headed down to the wharf for our Dolphin viewing/swimming cruise which was really good. We got to see a lot of the islands and they have some really interesting stories about the history of them for example the guy who saved Bonny Prince Charlie was the same man who discovered NZ! The only pods of dolphins we saw had young feeding so we were not allowed in to swim beside them as they get distracted from feeding and they calves need to feed constantly but it was great anyway, they come right up to the bat and scratch themselves of the hull and do twirls in the water, they were so close, it was really amazing. We stopped for lunch on an island that looked like places we were in in Fiji, they really do have everything here and then we were back on the boat. We were asked if we wanted to go netting and thought why not? This was a fun yet sore experience which involved being in a net at the side of the boat in a short wetsuit holding on for dear life while the boat pulls you around. The water was freezing and we had to jump right in, I thought I was going to die. Also the net was really sore on your wet fingers and toes when you were holding on but it was fun all the same. We saw the same pod of dolphins, the people on the boat know all the dolphins and they all have names for them. It was really good, they seemed so social and it was nice to see them in their natural habitat. The guy on the boat was saying that ones in their natural habitat can live to 60 years but that ones in captivity only live to about 12 and sometimes you can see them at the bottom of their enclosures holding their breath trying to commit suicide as they are so miserable so im not sure I want to see anymore like that, although in the Mirage they didn't make them play or anything they just did what they wanted to do. At the end of the cruise we had still not seen any that we could swim with so it was time to get back. We did see a big house on a private island that belongs to a fellow who has a well that CocaCola use for their production so he must be minted!! When we got back to the van we were just driving away and heard a big bang and realised we had started driving with the side door still open haha!! We are now back at camp and have fixed our bags for flying and are using the last of our grocery bag up as we cant take food into Australia so I had garlic bread and spaghetti in a can and Craig had cheddar cheese on pasta and tatties with gravy mmmmm!! We do still have herbal tea though which is our new favourite. No we are not becoming hippies even though we don't wash and drink herbal tea lol!!So tomorrow we drive back to Auckland and drop our campervan and then fly to Melbourne! Cant believe its that time already, although it does mean we will have to get jobs soon….NNNOOOOOO!!!! Ae have loved New Zealand it really has got so much to see but we are looking forward to getting back in the sunshine especially as half my warm clothes have disintegrated and had to be binned lol!Hope all's well at home!Lots of LoveEva and Craig xxx