I have been having grapefruit problems. There's nothing I like more than a nice fresh, juicy, summery grapefruit in the morning and right across Australia this was no problem as grapefruits were grapefruits. In New Zealand, however, grapefruits are not grapefruits. They are called NZ grapefruits and look a bit like a grapefruit but they are not grapefruits as the rest of the world knows them. I have bought lots of what I thought would be grapefruits but I have been bitterly disappointed. When cutting into them they are not yellow or red. They are orange in colour and they don't taste like a grapefruit. It appears that the good people of New Zealand do not know what a grapefruit is. After some googling this mystery was solved by Jay. Apparently due to the climate they can't grow proper grapefruits in New Zealand and grow instead what they call the NZ grapefruit which is basically a tangelo. It is also known as the poor man's orange. They taste pretty wretched and I am desperately searching for some nice juicy imported Australian grapefruit. No luck up to now though. Anyhow after brekky and my wretched poor man's orange we got ready to hit the road. There was a gorgeous deep blue sky and the temperature was warming up nicely. We first of all drove into Waipu town. We were greeted by a very friendly sign on the way in saying 'A hundred thousand welcomes to Waipu'. We have never been anywhere with such a friendly and welcoming sign. Waipu was a lovely little place and we had a mooch along it's main street. From here we drove a bit further up the coast to Ruakaka and stopped here at the beach. It was an incredibly beautiful beach with turquoise waters lapping the soft white sand. We had a fantastic walk along the sand and paddled in the sea under the clear blue sky. The sun was scorching down. After this we drove around to Whangarei Heads through the vibrant green fields and hills. The country in the north above Auckland is sub tropical and this was evident with the tropical trees dotted throughout the countryside We had some lunch at a picnic table in a lovely little bay and then we went to Ocean Beach at the Bream Head Scenic Reserve. This was yet another beautiful white beach with turquoise water. From here we carried on along the twisty and winding roads to Whangarei Heads where we went for a walk along the coastal headland at Urquharts Bay. The look and feel of this area was very British. We could have quite easily been walking through a field in the Peak District. The grass,the trees,the soil and the terrain in general looked British and the path wound it's way through cow pat dotted fields to a lookout at a second world war gun emplacement. After this we decided to go and find the camp site we hoped to stay at in Whangarei which is a pretty big town. We found the camp site with the assistance of our robotic GPS and got a spot near the amenities and just across the way from a big white bus that had been converted into a motor home. The weather was gloriously hot and we sat outside soaking up the sun. We even had our tea on our outside table. When we went to the camp kitchen to do our dishes we got talking to a couple of very friendly guys who were washing their pots. The New Zealanders we are now finding to be extremely friendly. The first guy who had emigrated here in the 60's gave us loads of good information on where to go. The second guy, Tony, lived in the big white bus. Now as some of you may know I absolutely love buses, I have done ever since I can remember, and I was really interested in his bus. Jay calls me a bus geek and she is absolutely right, I am. Tony invited us to come and have a look inside his bus and we gladly accepted. The bus was built in 1997 and had been in public service in Japan. Tony had bought it and with the help of his son had converted it into a motor home. It was amazing inside with real wood floors, a full kitchen with a maple worktop, a full bathroom, living room and a big bedroom. It was all very tastefully done. We had a long chat with Tony whilst I sat looking longingly at the steering wheel dreaming of driving this incredible beast of a vehicle. We eventually alighted and returned to our little camper. I went to sleep dreaming of buses.