Bay of Islands

Up early for our bus ride up north to the bay of islands. Lee almost missed the bus waiting in line for an egg McMuffin (you know he loves his breakfast!) We took Stray bus company up there and our bus driver Sue was new to the job...and boy you could tell. Was a little annoying to hear her chatting the entire time but the views were amazing. And people are right about NZ, there are TONS of sheep!!

McKinney Tree

We stopped off first to see the Mckinney Tree which is one of the largest trees in the country. The myth is if you hug and kiss the tree you will bring good weather. Courtney had to give it a try because the weather has been quite rainy since we started our trip in LA. I think it worked because the weather has been great since that afternoon! We made our way to Goat Island where we took a free glass bottom boat tour (no snorkling...that was not free...someone lied). Courtney learned that all snappers are born female and then half the population turn male around three years of age!!! We were both extremely impressed with our tour guide Ian. Ask for him if you are ever thinking about doing the tour, he has been there for 13 years.

Our last stop of the day was to the Bay of Islands where we spent our first night in the Pipi Patch Hostel which is more like Cancun Mexico during spring break. Again, a lot of 90 pop music, boys with their shirts off in the bar, and 1/2 naked dorm mates (i wont go into more detail). We made our way to the grocery store in town which was about a 1/2 hour walk along the water. Decided to buy some groceries so we can pack our lunches and make our own dinner. We decided to go simple for our first dinner (cup of noodles) but when we got into the kitchen people were making three course meals with breaded chicken and fresh veggies. I think there is some hope for us when we learn the ropes a bit more.

We were lucky our second evening we had a 8 person dorm to ourselves because the hostel emptied out after the weekend. We got some much needed sleep.