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.