Travels of a Zen Dog "He knows not where he's going For the ocean will decide - It's not the destination......It's the glory of the ride" - quote by Edward Monkton

The bus journey from Auckland to Paihia in the Bay of Islands passed through some stunning scenery. The YHA in Paihia is a really nice hostel and is one of many on Kings Rd. I'm in an 8 bed mixed dorm. On my first night I went to a bar at another backpackers which seems to be where everybody goes to. The next day I took a cruise around the Islands. We were fortunate to see 2 pods of dolphins (see photos). A new girl, Sian from Wales, has joined the dorm today. Up early for an 11 hour round trip to Cape Reinga which is right at the top of the island. We were on a funky 4WD bus - and there are only 9 in our group. The trip involved doing some sand-dune boarding, which was as they say in NZ "Awesome". At night 7 of our group went out to another local bar which involved a large consumption of alcohol - but a good night was had by all.