Drunken Sailors

After a very long driving day out of Auckland we arrived at our hostel in Whanarua Bay. I loved this hostel when I stayed there several years ago. I made a reservation while we were still several hours away but when we arrived well after dark, the already inebriated owner was startled to see us. He didn't remember speaking to me though he had taken the reservation and copied down my name and credit card number. They didn't have a room for us, but the campervan was available which turned out to be a comfortable and comical place to sleep. The door didn't lock, or even fully close, but the window did look out onto the bay so that when we woke the water greeted us first. The owner, who is a very friendly Maori fellow, decided he would awkwardly attempt to engage Jessica and at one point came into the campervan while I was in bed with my pajamas on while heavily intoxicated. The high point of this hostel, besides the fact it is basically a treehouse that looks like it's out of Swiss Family Robinson, is that they let you use their sea kayaks for free. We enjoyed several hours of paddling about the bay once the sun began to shine. This is an extremely relaxing stop on a long drive around the cape.


From here we are heading further east and on towards Hawke's Bay.

Thanks for Visiting Pokeno: Home of Pokeno Bacon!

It didn't stop raining for the three days we were in Wellington but I was exceedingly happy to be in New Zealand. We rented a car and began to head out of the city. The clouds cleared and the sun started to illuminate the harbor. So beautiful!

We ventured through the gorgeous Tongariro Crossing and on to Lake Taupo for the night. Sitting by the lake we witnessed a breathtaking sunset.



Today we pushed on, unintentionally, through to Auckland. It's a small country and sometimes you're there before you can blink. The hostel we had booked for tomorrow night was full when we called to switch dates but the owner put us up in his sweet B&B in Ponsonby for the same rate. While here we'll be visiting Will and Iona, who we met in Irkutsk, Russia and doing little else. I will attempt to make Jessica bungy jump from the Auckland Sky Tower but I do not anticipate being successful.