paddles, wings and feet

yes, I did do a wee bit more but I'll try not to wrie too much incase my epistle becomes too long again!! And I'll just try writing more frequently :-)

In Whitianga I did do at least one interesting thing - I went sea kayaking! This involved being in a tandam kayak (something of a change) and paddling gainst some pretty strong currents out around the cliffs of the area. However with the trip I did I did not get to see the main attractions that everyone else goes to see, those being Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. Cathedral Cove you can gusee is a stone archway (yawn) and Hot Water Beach you can only go to after the tide has gone out and then dig a hole down to the water level which comes up hot so you have an individual spa to yourself. I wasn't that intrigued by it all. The kayaking around the bays was very good as the cliffs above us were once volcanos that blew themselves to pieces. Blowholes as well could chill you to the bone as you heard the suck and smack as the water tried to push out again. Wow! Now I know why explorers used to be in awe as they found new land; being at the base of a large cliff face that you could find yourself smashed against if the waves were in the wrong direction, shocked me. Sitting on a ship or looking down off the cliff into the water and waves below looks nice and you're always careful about going to near the edge to look down but being tiny and insignifiacnt in a kayak looking up at the towering cliffs and sky above you struck me a little powerfully. Then we hid in one of the inlets and had juice in champagne flutes and cookies (or at least everyone else did and I pretended to not be hungry or thirsty after the workout). Then paddling back along the water line back to the beach. That really was the excitment that I found in Whitianga (other than meeting up with people again that I'd met on my travels).

On friday I got a flight (luckily enough as there had been a number of powercuts to the Coromandel area over the week and again on friday morning so there was trouble filling up the aircraft with fuel) from Whitianga to Great Barrier Island and then onto Whangarei. Seeing the coastline and land from the air at about 2000 feet (I think after trying to read the altmeter) was very good. Blue sea, blue sky except where it was white with the sun, down onto dark and green hills of the islands. It was very nice from the air. Leaving Whitianga there was only me and the pilot in the 6 person plane (I had to jump and walk over the wing to get to the door and inside the plane). On Great Barrier Island we picked up 4 other passengers (one of whom had to sit in the co-pilots seat) before going onto Whangarei. The pilot showed his deftness at flying (and his boredom) by flying one-handed on both 1/2 hour flights and sometimes even no hands while he scratched his head and the other hand rested on the window ledge :-s

Whangarei was quite nice (I am now in Paihia) but busy. The first day I walked around town and worked out what I wanted to visit and do the next day. Then on saturday (yesterday) I walked up one of the mounts surrounding the town and up to the war memorial. Then I went to the clock museum and had a look around before joining a tour. It was very good and I thourghly enjoyed it (even if I can't thourghly spell). The best thing about the hostel that I stayed in there was that it had a well tuned piano. So my fingers have been getting a good dusting down as the hostel had sheet music as well so I got to play rather frequntly (every night and afternoon - and even this morning waking those up that should have already been up [they were leaving but had slept in])

Now I am as far north as I am able to go in this trip to NZ as I don't have time to go any farther north. However no matter how nearer the equater I am here it has not increased the temperature too greatly.