Wellington - Bay of islands - ,
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We had a lovely evening with Sue and Simon again! Lydia sues niece from England was also there who I know from home to so it was lovely to catch up and hear of all her travels! We went out for dinner and got fed very well again! The next morning we had to leave very early so we didn't stay out to late. It was a shame it was such a short visit and such a short time to see Lydia but this was the only way our buses worked out! At 6 the next morning sue vey very very kindly drove us to where our bus was leaving from and we had a dreaded day of driving ahead. We were driving from Wellington to Auckland and in the end it took 10 hours. So not much to report from this day except it wasn't the nicest of days out legs and back killed even though we did stop lots to stretch. We arrived in Auckland and went back to the same hostel jucy where we first stayed. Of course we didn't lay in but had a lazy morning. Robin went for a hair cut in the city. In the afternoon we went a walk around the city and in the evening we headed out for drinks with our friends who were leaving for Australia the next day. In the morning of the 21st we had to catch the stray bus to go up north to the bay of islands at 7. On the way we stopped at goat island where robin swam out to the island the water and the temperature were getting warmer and warmer! We hoped of at whangarei to see family friends Murry and Margaret. They picked us up and took us to their beach house which was the most amazing house ever! It was a beautiful brand new build and it had its own private beach and was surrounded by tropical fruit trees. These included pineapple, banana, avocado and everything else tropical we got to pick it and eat it! Margaret had baked so much yummy treats such as mince pies and snowdrops out whole stay it felt like Christmas! After having a tour of all the fruit trees we went out for a tour of the villages near by and all the amazing houses over looking the sea. We then went out for fish and chips on the sea front and came back for some more yummy deserts. The next morning we had the best fruit salad ever for breakfast and got out the kayaks and paddle board and went for a paddle down the sea. Me and robin went in the kayaks and Murray went on the paddle board (it was his first Time using his new board!) it was so peaceful and amazing! We also saw a sting ray it was so cool! We then tried out the paddle board which was great fun and then went for a swim. Geraldine (their daughter) and her family came round for lunch. It was so lovely because it felt like Christmas lunch roast ham and the most amazing deserts. Having 3 little girls around oldest 8 years old it really felt like Christmas and they were all so excited! In the afternoon we went to Murray and Margaret's farm house and saw all the baby calves and then went to Peter and Geraldine's for drinks before the carol service. He carols service was very strange not to be cold or dark! The whole day felt very Christmassy! The next Morning we had an amazing breakfast again and took the kayaks out which was even beautiful as the sun was properly shinning. We then had to pack up and they dropped us into town. It was very sad saying good bye to them as I was not sure when I would see them again and they had looked after us so well. They also reminded me of my grandparents who they had been such good friends with so i was quite sad. Once we jumped back on the stray bus we went and cuddled a kiwi!! It was crazy that was the thing me and robin really wanted to see and we got to even stroke it which is so crazy as lots of people who live in nz don't get to even see one! The stray bus took us to a bird sanitary which isn't open to the public. The kiwi only had one leg and had been there 13yrs we then saw a baby owl which was so cute! We headed up to paihai where we were staying at the pickled parrot for Christmas. We had a cabin to ourselves surrounded by tropical trees. The hostel owners were so friendly and they were from England so Christmas was going to be Christmassy!