And so we meet again.

Back in the ole city for a few nights after a GLORIOUS 4 days in the Bay of Islands. As for no one hearing from me for the week - it was between $6-9 per hour for internet in Pahia (the town I was staying in) vs $2 in Auckland, so you all got pushed aside. And no, I don't feel bad!

So on a nicer note, let me begin describing my past week... Saturday morning we all (the Islander count is now up to 6) got up at 6:30 (on Saturday! You'd think Drill sergeant Ramsay was here at that disgusting hour) and caught a bus out to Onehunga (which we just barely made), a 30 min ride out of the city, to pick up a rental van. And so the adventures began. We were to report to the brewery (Lion Brewery, makers of Steinlager, one of the top international lagers, or so they claim. It's all propaganda) at 9:15 am for a 9:30 tour. The tour was pretty cool (no Guinness, but I'll take it) with a cool guide. After about 2 hours of touring the facilities and seeing a backup on the production line (they produce 12,000 bottles a day, with bottles being much preferred over cans in NZ) it was into the bar to taste test. And the silly man let us have a free for all... We made them earn their $12 admission... my personal favourite moment being when the guide was showing the rest of the group something fascinating in the corner of the room so the Sellar sisters & I wisely chose to mind the bar in their absence... It was only noon and things were shaping up well...

After that we grabbed our beach stuff and headed out to Piha (taking the scenic route). Piha is a gorgeous black sand beach just west of the city. The sand is made from volcanic ash, hence the colour. The water was cccccccccold so I didn't last long. Somehow Rob & Scott managed to stay in for hours, trying desperately to figure out surfing. They tried to use the "it's not as easy as it looks excuse". Whatever guys, not buying it. We stopped for a fancy supper in celebration of Scott's old age (Pizza Hut buffet) and were homeward bound with the wimps all in bed by 10pm! I had a little packing to do...

8 am Sunday (another early weekend morning) and I was on a bus to Pihia (pronounced pie-he-a, not the beach, that was Piha, pee-ha), the tourist town on the Bay of Islands. It's beautiful. Amazing. Sunday I did a low key, plan my week day and wandered the beaches. Monday I went on an all-day cruise of the bay where we saw some of the more spectacular, tropical-paradise islands, went dolphin watching and saw the Hole in the Rock. We only saw 2 dolphins and had the chance to go swimming with them. I debated and the crew said that if we found more in the afternoon then we would have time to put on wetsuits and go swimming again. Watching the people in the water shiver and realizing they couldn't see where the dolphins were, I chose the smarter path of watching from the deck. It was cool to see how they would go around and underneath the swimmers but never too close. The they would come back under the boat and show off for the people on board. Thems smart fish.

After that we went through the Hole in the Rock. This is like a giant (500ft) Elephant rock and the boat (small cruise ship) goes right through the hole (between the trunk and the body). It's way bigger than it looks but I couldn't even try to estimate how big it is. The whole boat was in it for probably 2 mins. It's not actually referred to as elephant rock, that's just what I call it. I'm silly like that. After that we had an hour stop over on one of these tropical islands that was so remote and beautiful. All week I kept thinking how unspoiled and natural everything looked until I realized that there were tourists swarming it all.

My typing skills are severely limited due to exhaustion right now, stay tuned tomorrow for Cape Reinga, Waitangi and Russell.