Bay of Islands and Paihia

Soon it was time to hit the road again. Having tried the car/hostel routine, and a minivan for occasional sleeping in, we thought we could pull off actual camping. This time around we rented a camper van of sorts. It's a little Mazda minivan with a pop top that the kids can sleep in and seats that recline to a bed in back. A little butane stove and some dishware and blankets from an op shop and we were set. So we drove all the way to Paihia and checked into the MouseTrap hostel. This is the week after Thanksgiving, it was pretty amazing we found any place at all, but the Mousetrap turned out to be just right. We stayed a night in a room, then into the camper. With the hostel facilities right there it was an easy transition to "camping".

There were lots of young beautiful backpackers, and backpacker places in Piahai. Also bars. In fact the one across the street seemed to have a pretty good party almost every night until 1AM or so. But that's life on the tourist circuit.

We enjoyed good weather the first couple days, then decided to do some boat tours, which we booked a day in advance. Of course the next day dawned blustery with rain threatening. This did not bode well for Francie and the kids planned dolphin chasing/tour of Bay of Islands on a power boat trip.














But I booked a trip on the very racy looking "On the Edge", a 70' catamaran with no center cabin, so blustery was just what I wanted, although I could have done without the rain. Well I had a great time, and I think my crew mates did too.































The kids and Francie did indeed see and swim with dolphins,













but the rest of the trip was a little rocky.