FEB. 22rd 2009

We arrived in New Zealand and landed in the metro city of Auckland.. We were told by many Kiwi's to not stay in Auckland very long because it is just like any other big city. So with that information we rented a small car at the airport and started our journey with a map in hand. We stopped for a beer so we could find out what direction we should go. Cody and I decided to go ahead and try to see the southern part of the northern New Zealand island. I took the pleasure of driving first, and guys let me tell you that everything is ass-backwards but its all good. We only got the car for a week and we decided to drop it of in Wellington which is the capital of New Zealand. It is located 8 hours from Auckland and is at the southern tip of the northern island.

We hit the road going north and find out that the town Whangarei is a good place to stop and stay for the night. The drive was three hours and we enjoyed the ride. Good tunes on the radio and the country side is jaw dropping. If some people are struggling with religion and their belief in God, they just need to drive New Zealand. It's freaking incredible.

After a glass of wine and some conversation with some local Kiwis we hit the hay.

We talked to the owner of the hotel and she suggested that we go to Peikhi. It is right next the the Bay of Islands and Russell. She swears that the Striped Marlin are jumping into the boats this time of season. That sold me. So we drove to the town of Peikhi where we have a little hostel room for 70NZ which is about $35 American. we have our own bed and bathroom and that's all this kid needs. We are about to go see if we can get on one of these boats tomorrow. More to come.....

 

Later on that day We went to the information center and booked a Marlin trip it would be leaving the next day at 7:30am out of the Bay of Islands. It cost us 360NZ which is around $170. WOW! We also got a ticket to ride the ferry to Russell for some food and drank.We went to a hotel their called The Duke of Ellington and had a glass of wine with a couple from Colorado who, "Believe it or Not." were huge Bush supporters. We really liked them. They had been in NZ for six months and had all sorts of tips to give us guys. They were big trekkers and had just done the Milford Sounds trek of 5 days 34miles. Another good trek that they shared with us was the Tongariro crossing. This trek was a 10 hour day hike on a volcanic mountain which was claimed to be top ten day hikes in the world. We made sure that that was our next destination. We invited them to meet us at the pub down the way for some live music
and a bite to eat. It was a good night in Russell with the locals and a couple of Americans thrown in the mix.