March 30 - 9:45 pm

Interesting fact- in Maori, if the word begins with wh it has a f sound. So the city I'm in tonight, Whangarei, is pronounced "fongaray". Same with Whitianga (fitianga) where I was last week.
So pulling into town today, I wasn't super stoked to be here. It was raining, the bus stop area was not impressive, and my hostel was located way out of town, so the hostel people came and picked me up. But my attitude changed when I went out to see the Whangarei Falls. Just about a 2 minute walk from my hostel, I went with a German girl I met at the hostel, Katalina. Gorgeous, lush greenery. Incredible waterfalls. Right then I was glad I stopped here in this town. And from there we walked around, down around the falls, through the Kauri tree forest, on countryside roads, to the Abbey Caves. Took about an hour to walk there, but a very pretty rural walk. Prepared with our "torches", we headed into the caves - barefoot, because we heard there was knee deep water to walk through. The caves are in their natural state, so no lights, handrails, walkways, etc. so lots of climbing, ducking, wading, and exploring! And there really was a section of water that I walked through that was crotch-deep. All for fun though. It wasn't too bad going barefoot either. All part of the fun. And the glow worms were neat. And the stalagmites, tites, limestone, all that cave stuff. Very cool.
Didn't get a chance to walk around town, because the local buses weren't running today, so that's a bummer, but oh well, I'm off to Orewa tomorrow. Spending Easter on my own in a strange and distant land. And get this- New Zealand, home of Cadbury chocolate, does not have the Cadbury eggs that you can get around Easter in the states that I love so much. What's up with that? Lame.

March 29 - 9:05 pm

Well I have roommates tonight, but it's fine. I talked to the Dutch couple and German girl for a while. Like others I've met, the Dutch are on a yearlong adventure traveling through NZ, Australia, and Thailand. I think it's really cool, but I couldn't be away from home that long. They said it gets easier after 2 or 3 months though, so we'll see if that's true with me. I think I'll be ready to come home in 4 weeks.
It was a gloomy day in Paihia. Well, for the most part. It started out cloudy, so I took my time getting up and ready for the day. I went on a close hike about 10km to the Haruru Falls. The falls were less impressive than the actual trail. It was a beautiful walk through more rainforesty vegetation. And the cloud cover was nice. For lunch I got good fish and chips at a place called Shippey's, which is in an actual ship, docked up on shore, but right by the water. Neat. And yummy.
I spent the rest of the day reading on the beach and hanging around the hostel. I should get some more beach time in on Sunday in Orewa. Hopefully.
Easter weekend here. It's a much bigger deal here than in the US. They observe Good Friday and Easter Monday, so the whole working world gets those days off work. And a lot of people go out of town, so the bay of islands is a popular holiday spot for kiwis. Lots more people in town today I noticed. Good thing I booked all my hostels for this weekend in advance. Worry free until I get to the South Island. Which is next Wednesday.. I'm excited to go back down south! I was thinking today where my favorite places have been, and where I would like to return someday, and almost all of them were on the South Island. Not to say I haven't loved my time and adventures up north. I have. Especially Wellington and the coromandel peninsula! But yeah, Queenstown, Wanaka, Kaiteriteri, Abel Tasman.. I wanna go back!
Leaving the BOI tomorrow. Heading south to Whangarei. Goody.

March 28 - 9:10 pm

Looks like I get this room to myself again tonight! Seabeds wins best hostel ever, just for that. My own room, my own bathroom, clean, new, almost like being home. Almost. I'm still wearing the same thing everyday and getting around on foot and eating the same three meals everyday. But I also wake up to the sound of waves crashing, and get to spend all day at the beach everyday. You win some, you lose some.
So today I went on a dolphin watching bay of islands cruise. It was really pleasant. We did see dolphins! Bottle nose. Quite a few, jumping in the water. It was pretty amazing. Not sure if I liked seeing dolphins or seal pups better. But it was fun to see more of the islands here too. A lot like what I imagined New Zealand to look like before I came here. Green rocky islands jutting out of the sea. Beautiful. Oh and another cool thing on the boat was meeting a whole family of Utahns! I spotted a red U on the back of a baseball cap, and then saw the dad's U of U sweatshirt and the daughter's. I asked the son if they were from Utah, and he said yes, so I told him that I had been here 2 months and they were the first fellow Utahns I had met! From Bountiful, they had come because the son had just returned from his mission to NZ in January. Pretty cool.
After the cruise, which was a whole 4 hours, I got off in the town of Russell to check it out. Not much there, but a few shops and the oldest church in New Zealand. But there was a beach, so I went there for a while. More secluded than the beach in Paihia, so I liked that. Too windy and cloudy though. Back to Paihia, ran into that Utah boy on the beach again. He sat and talked to me for a while and then we got icecream. Oh, and I finally gave in and bought some nail clippers because it's been three weeks and they were just way too long. I thought I could hold out, but I couldn't take it. $5 for nail clippers. But I feel much better now.

March 27 - 10:15 pm

Spectacular day. Called home and talked to mom this morning. That was nice. And then I took off for the beach, where I basked in the sun for pretty much the rest of the day. There were periods of cloud cover, and even a sprinkling of rain, so I just took my lunch break then. Had some delicious red curry at a Thai place on the waterfront. By the time I finished eating it had cleared up, so back to the beach I went. Ran into Eva again! We hung out for a while, until the clouds drove her away. I explored the other side of the shore. I decided I liked the beach closest to my hostel best, so that's where I'll go back tomorrow. More spaghetti for dinner. Ice cream for dessert! And then joined some Swiss guests in watching an Australian cooking competition reality show. Lazy and wonderful day. I have the entire 6 bed dorm to myself tonight. Luxury! Still loving Paihia!

March 26 (cont.) - 10:15 pm

In Paihia, in the hostel called Seabeds. Four nights in this hostel, in this town, is going to be heaven. I love everything about it already! Everything. The hostel is a former motel, recently updated, and done quite well. I'm paying just $23 per night to be in a comfy, newly furnished, apartment-style dorm room, with TWO ensuite bathrooms for the six of us. Oh and tonight I'm in a room BY MYSELF. Two girls in each of the other two rooms in this dorm. And these are the kinds of things that I get excited about these days.. Kitchen is dreamy- upstairs, with a balcony that looks out over the sea. I ate my dinner tonight out on the balcony, salivating over the gorgeous sunset. After dinner I walked into town. It was getting dark, but the city was still very much alive. More so than any other of the small towns I've stopped in. I just really like it.. I got myself an ice cream cone and wandered back to the hostel. Big plans for the days ahead.