Nicks Big Adventure

I left the bay of islands on Saturday and found a hostel in Kerikeri. The next stop on my little adventure. I had been warned by a local that it was "Going to rain like pain". This is not an encouraging thing for me. I got to the Hone Heke hostel around 3 and met all the germans in the place. The only non germans were the people who ran the place and one other guy from the UK. He an I were in the same dorm and got along well. I read cooked supper and watched a few movies with the germans as it started to rain. I chose Kerikeri because it has some history and there is a farmers market every sunday. I was determined to attend. So when I woke up on sunday to the pitter patter of rain I did not care and pushed through to market with backpack in tow. I got lots of local vege, bread and got some honey. I was quite soaked so I went to the library, which was open, to dry and use the wireless internet. I watched the second half of the BU vs UT game, Sic Em Bears! The rest of the day it rained like I have not seen since I left Texas. I trained all day and that night. Monday most of the people who were staying there went to work on a manderin orange farm. Another dude and I went to the Ngawha hot Springs (pronounced Na-fa). Like everywhere tourists go and park, there is the threat of people breaking into your car. I was prepared, and had good directions. When we got there it smelled like rotten eggs which is normal, but the place looked horraible. There were large holes in the fence and the "office" was a shack with 2 small changing rooms. The pools had names and were lined with 2x4's. It was pretty low rent but it matched the low $4 rent. I hopped from the hot pools to murky cold ones. After an hour I lost intrest and we left. I must admit I did feel very good from the baths. I wore a sarong home in the rain and read most of the day. I had fun at that hostel. Brent who ran the lace could find me work if I wanted to stay for a few weeks but I wanted to get a move on. I was determined to get to cape Reinga on Tuesday. When I was a few miles outside of Manganui my van started to sound funny so I pulled over to discover I was having a flat tire develop. I was met by the stares of a lady selling strawberrys and telling me I had a flat. I popped the hood to get my spare and find my jack missing. Huge bummer. Thats why I have AA and roadside. Paul came out from his shop to change the tire, only to find out that my spare tyre does not match the van. Major bummer. $290 later I had two new tyres on the van and I knew where I could find a spare tyre for my nissan. I also asked the guy if there was anything to do around there or a place to camp. He suggested the Kerikeri peninsula, and a place called Whanuwhiwhi (pronounced Fanu-fi-fi). He also told me that there was a tavern before the turnoff that was briliant and I should go. So I did, after "world famous" fish and chips. It was a normal place, people playing the lotto and slot machines. I ordered another beer and told the bartender my story. It turns out that the guy plays golf with paul and paul was going to by me a round. He even called paul and they had a good laugh. I stayed the nigh at a DOC campsite. I met some guys that I had seen at Cape Brett. They were going to start their 8 hour hike at 5pm. They had not booked the hut and hike through anybody which is a must. That night we laughed that they would get lost and not be able to stay in the hut. Somehow they survived and I spoke to them at the campsite. Wednesday I was going to do Cape Reinga. It is the northern tip of New Zealand. It is also where the Tasman Sea, The Indian Ocean And the Pacific Ocean all collide. It was 109 km one way with no gas stops along the way. I got there and it was amazing. The blue/green tasman/indian met the deep blue pacific. There was a line of demakration of sorts. The amazing part was the waves that broke in a cross-hatched pattern as they crashed into each other. I tried to capture it on camera but it will never do it justice. I drove south to Ahipara beach which is at the southern end of 90 mile beach. I will stay here a bit and try surfing and fishing. I wish everybody a good Wednesday. Have a good week and weekend and be happy! Namaste