So after 22 hours of flying and 8 hours of airport mooching we safely arrived in Kiwi land. The first task was to collect the car which was surprisingly nice considering the price we paid! After the most laid back handover service we were given the keys and dropped off our bags at the hotel which we booked near the airport as we knew we would be shattered. To avoid falling asleep at 10am we took a drive to Auckland and had some lunch by the harbour with some incredible views. At about 6pm the jet lag properly set in and we had to succumb to sleep and enjoyed a monumental 12 hour sleep until 6am the following morning.
On Friday morning we got straight off and drove 3 and a half hours north where the bay of islands resides. Even the drive was enjoyable, one minute you’ll be cruising through subtropical forests and the next, driving alongside the coast, every now and again passing a sleepy village. For two nights we are staying in the pickled parrot backpacker hostel in a double room, everybody has been friendly and on arrival we got chatting to a nice German guy (who will return to the story later). The bay of islands is beautiful, we explored the beaches and had lunch, after this we walked up to the rainbow falls which looked like something you see on a postcard!
So our first night in the hostel was going well, nice comfy bed, fairly quiet, not too warm, pretty ideal really. At about 3am Brogan wakes me up to inform me that somebody is trying to open our door, I initially brushed it off as noise coming from the other dorms. I soon realised that in fact yes our handle was going up and down and behind the frosty door I could indeed see the outline of a man, my heart really began to race when I realised there seemed to be a crow bar dangling from his hand. So as the man in the room, I stepped up to the challenge, testosterone was flowing, my masculinity was at serious stake here, I flung the window open ready to engage in battle and was greeted with the ‘nice German guy’ who was heavily intoxicated and trying to find his room, he also had a stray cat between his legs (it’s worth mentioning that the cat’s tail was what gave the illusion of a crow bar). Thankfully he realised the error of his ways, drunkenly apologised, and wandered off to his own room…
Today we went kayaking around the bay of islands which was surreal, we bumped into two other British kayakers and all paddled to an island where we found a completely deserted beach! Tonight we are going to join our new friends for a few drinks before our 5 hour journey to Whitianga in the morning. All in all the first few days of travelling have been unbelievable and we can’t wait to continue exploring!
Jamie & Brogan
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