Paihia

We left our hosts in Whangarei this morning, and we are taking a couple days to explore the north before heading to our next HelpX assignment.

Things are expensive here.  Even after calculating the exchange rate, things are still expensive, especially food.  A 2L bottle of coke goes for $4.00NZD, or about $3.20CAD.  So, we have started shopping at Pak n' Save, an extremely budget grocery store.  We picked up some snacks, and enough food for two days, and it came to $47!

Before leaving Whangarei we visited the Quarry Gardens.  

Local volunteers have transformed an old quarry into beautiful sub-tropical gardens.

We are heading to Paihia, about an hour north, but we are taking the long way there.  We are doing a big loop, taking us across to the west coast, through some forest sanctuaries, and then back over to the east coast.  This was the first stretch of straight road we've seen since arriving!

The Kaiwi Lakes.  Crystal clear, rain-fed lakes, with fine white sand beaches.

A Kauri store. The wood is beautiful, but expensive!

Next door they were selling slabs of Kauri.

If you thought food was expensive, you should see the gas.  I think we're paying around $2.27 a litre!  Half a tank for our little car is almost $50.

Finally, some trees.  I was beginning to think this whole country was pasture land for sheep.

A viewpoint over the Waipoua Forest, a huge section of land protected from logging, and home to the largest Kauri trees still standing.

This is the base of Tane Mahuta, the 'Lord of the Forest'.  It is said to be 2000 years old, and is the largest Kauri tree in the world.  No photo can do it justice.  Above, Chris is standing about 20 feet from the base of the tree, so it would appear even larger if he were able to stand close to its trunk.

That's me at the bottom.  The tree is over 50m tall, and it's base has a circumference of 13.7m.

After leaving the forest reserve we saw some land for sale.  It's $175,000 for this garage...

...but this is the view.  So gorgeous.

There are large sand dunes in the left of this photo, and the town of Omapere is in the cove on the right.

Beach at Omapere.

Finally arriving in Paihia.  A very nice little resort town, with lots of shops, restaurants, boat tours, etc.  Too bad we're here basically just to sleep!

We did have time for a quick bite at a chinese takeaway.  After eating so well with our hosts, our bodies are craving deep fried goodness.

Chris having a beer in our room.  I swear it's not a prison.  It's quite nice!  They have places called 'Backpackers' which can be anything from a dorm in a hostel, to a room in a private home, to a hotel-type room.  In Paihia we're staying at a "holiday park" which we'd normally think of as a campground... but these holiday parks not only have spots for tenting and RVs, but also cabins and motel rooms.  They area great option, because of all the amenities like laundry, kitchens, internet, etc.