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Today we set off on an overnight trip to the Bay of Islands, Pahia and Russell in particular. As well as being just another trip it was also Dales Birthday! (Happy Birthday Dale)
First thing in the morning we all got up and as is the usual practise for such occasions went to say Happy Brithday to Dale who was still in bed, so the four of us popped our heads around the door and watched Dale open his presents and cards - main present was a home brew kit - NICE! Not sure he will get round to brewing any in time for us to try before we all leave but I'm sure it will be lovely.
After that we headed off in the cars to Whangarei - where there is a waterfall known as the Paris Hilton of waterfalls as it is one of the most photographed but not necessarily the prettiest.... Turns out it was pretty, well, er pretty(?) and we spent quite a bit of time there taking pictures etc - Darren and I tried to climb around to get underneath it but didnt have much luck, Darren getting much further than me but still not quite managing it!
The journey from there to Paihia was fairly uneventful (for once) but I did manage to grab a bit of a bargain at one of the local hostels that would give us a form room for 7 to ourselves and a little bit of a discount, so after some car to car phone calls, we booked our stay at the Mousetrap…
On arrival we dumped the cars and went for a bit of a walk around the place before deciding on a Thai restaurant to go out for Dales Birthday Meal. Back to the hostel and a quick change later and we were back at the restaurant ordering food, which in itself was eventful…the waitress at the restaurant asked Darren how hot he wanted his Thai curry, he said "Hot" to which she replied," Kiwi Hot or Thai Hot?"
A few puzzled looks later, and she explained that not many people can handle the Thai Hot, so after more clarification on exactly what the differences were (Kiwi Hot is like Thai Medium, apparently…) Darren ordered the Thai Hot.
Next thing we know, one of the women on the table behind us is giving Darren and extra napkin and wishing him 'Good Luck'. Good Times.
After the meal (Darren survived) we walked back to the hostel but let ourselves be led into a Pool Bar (Sandpit Pool) where the beers were $5 a handle and the pool was free- say no more - off we go! Once inside we stayed there until we got kicked out at 1am just playing pool in circuits swapping tables with winner stays on (to give him credit, Chris pretty much thrashed everyone!) When we got back, we had to be quiet because Jac and Dale and gone back about an hour before us so they would probably be asleep, however, all the best laid plans etc. Being slightly drunk (not me) we decided it would be a good idea to do a Quiz… lots of loud hushing later we completed the quiz and went to bed.
Dale told us the next morning that we weren't quite at all. Oops.
Breakfast was lovely at a restaurant called Tito's, I had pancakes (yum) as I felt I had earned a treat after kayaking first thing, which, although brilliant fun - was also a lot of effort! The guy we hired the equipment from had told us that we should try and get round to the bridge around the bay and go through the mangrove trees, and not to worry if we were 20 minutes late or so as it was a great thing to see.
So off we paddled (Dale stayed behind to take photos and drove along the route so that he could 'snap' us at various points - not entirely the most flattering of things especially when like me, you end up paddling up stream against a flow of water through the middle of a bridge - talk about determination!
One thing we had in our favour was that as we had paddled up stream on the way in we surely must have the current on our side on the way back in, right?
No. No is the answer, in fact it changed so suddenly we weren't only going against it, but it was coming in at an angle behind us so that we were paddling harder to try and stay off the rocks - not fun when you have already been paddling for 45 minutes in one direction. Still, all good fun and I'd definitely do it again!
No time to waste we got straight in the car and headed out to catch the ferry over to Russell. When we got there we had a little look about and drove to some nice viewpoints but other than that there wasn't an awful lot to do so we decided to head home. Unfortunately for us, we went the twisty turny way and Michelle and I ended up feeling a wee bit car sick in the back…due to the constant turns. A little nap later and all was well again.
Home sweet home.
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