Leaving the River House for Paihiai

This little bridge lead from the car park to the park. The name of these trees translates to "trees that grow in the dark" since they grow all over the place like they don't know where they are going

Me at the Bay of Islands

Map of Paihia and surrounding areas, most of which I walked

Today started at 6:30 at full speed. Pack pajamas, zip up pack, tote everything up the muddy hill to the car, crap I forgot my ipod (since i packed it and then James borrowed it, he is official addicted to 'Abram and Sarah') so run back down and up again. 7:30 in Kamo to mail off my extra bags to myself so i don't have to carry them. Should have done that ages ago. Post office opens at 8:30 so an hour at McDonalds sitting out of the cold wind eating sandwiches from the bakery next door with Sylvia. Quick trip to the dairy (quick mart) for camera batteries. Ok, shipped luggage commence hitch hiking.

Yep I said hitch hiking.

Something in my right mind I would never do at home and thought I would never do in a strange country, with a german I met less than a week previous to get to a little town I never heard of. The guy that gave us a lift took us most of the way, up to Kawakawa where we managed to grab a ride with an art restaurateur woman who was very nice for the next 10 min up to Paihia. No worries mom.

We managed to find a great little hostel less than 5 min walk from the Bay of Islands. The rent here is the cheapest I've had so far plus there are free kayaks and bikes you can take out during the day for fun. There is a nice sized kitchen and good common area, much less stuffy than the ones in the cities. I suppose because this one is more like a house than an refurbished hotel. Very comfy so I may stay a while. I think Sylvia is thinking the same since the area is nice, accommodations cheep, and everything is in walking distance. If we decide to stay for a week then we can work for accommodations and save money that way too which may be a win. I know she wants to continue the journey north all the way up to Cap Reinga but I have to return to Palmerston North by the 3rd of October so I'll probably leave Paihia or some other North Land town by the first since I'll have to stay in Auckland a night because of bus scheduling.

We have already walked to the grocery store and stocked up for the next few days at least. I hope tomorrow we can take the kayaks out to one of the islands and have a little lunch which I think will be nice. The two other girls in our dorm are German too so it's nice I guess for Sylvia to have someone to talk to in German but she just seems annoyed to my amusement. "ach, i did not com to New Zealand to speak Geerman, I came to see and speak to New Zealand". hehehe. I guess if I kept running into Americans I would be ill too.