Kiwi Kountry

Hello again and greetings from sunny New Zealand! From Sydney we flew over into Auckland, New Zealand, and after a few days there we decided we had enough of the city and it was time to head to the beach. After having difficulty finding a cheap car rental, we found Matt and Elese, two Canadians staying in our Auckland hostel were heading north as well. We hitched a ride with them in the station wagon they had just bought from another backpacker the day before and took off for Paihia, in the Bay of Islands in Northland, New Zealand. See the picture for how we expertly packed 5 people, their bags, and camping gear and food in the wagon. On the way up we stopped off and went through glowworm caves before arriving at the beach. The Canadians managed to buy a car that dings at you when you're going over the speed limit on the highway, which provides endless laughter on a 4 hour drive. We're staying at the beach now, stayed tuned to see if Mark will ever get a tan...