The far north!

helllo to all! Its 7:30 on Thursday night and I am in Auckland city, just on the other side of the skytower. I am exhaussssssted! Litterally could fall asleep right now. I am not much of a city person, so unlike most of the other hostel-ers who will prolly go to the bars tonight, I will prolly just go pass out. Lameeee... i know... Haha, but last nite in Paihia I had a good 7 or so beers with 4 German guys and an Israeli. It was fun. We all just shot the shit and it was just a chill night outside the hostel. All talking about whatever and enjoying some cheap beer. Nothing better! haha.... ok so i skipped a couple days... so last time i posted i was at Coopers Beach. That next morning after staying in the suite i got dropped off prolly 5 miles down the road at a holiday park on Hihi beach. Deff off the tourist path, and their wasnt even a store there, but it was really beautiful. I was just afraid that I would have to hitchhike all the way back to Coopers Beach to catch the bus the next afternoon with my like 35lb pack! Man i deff overpacked and get a killer workout everytime i walk more than like 5 minutes! And it hurts on the sunburn I managed to get.... soooo i hung around Hihi beach for a while, took a bunch of pictures and set up my tent behind a camper van. Didnt really have any food besides a couple apples and some granola bars. haha. There was like a mini little camp store at the office so i bought a loaf of bread and some salami ( i think). haha. and pretty much over the next day ate the whole loaf of bread and the like 12 slices of salami. Nutritious eh?? haha. Went swimming a bit and decided to dig for mussels, even though I had no idea what i was doing. Kind of just started digging in the mud as the tide was going out. I found prolly like 20 or so, but had no idea how to know if they were full grown or how to cook them really, or a pot to even cook them in. So i put them back in the water, hoping i didnt somehow kill them in the process. Went back to the beach at sunset, and it was beyond amazing. Took my camera down and was kind of being a beach stalker, haha, but it was worth it. Got some cool shots and then followed the sun going down as well. Went back to my tend as it was getting dark and was gonna go take a shower and the camper in front of me invited me to eat with them. They had grilled up some things and even offered me like 3 drinks out of this like bag? It was like vodka and orange juice kind of. The dad of the family kept telling me how much he liked Americans and we all talked for a bit. It was pretty funny and I was happy to have a little company and they were so nice. Seems i haven't met a kiwi who hasnt been amazingly hospitible (spelling). They even offered to drive me to Manganoui which is like 1 kilometer from Coopers Beach where i needed to be picked up. They dropped me off the next morning around 1130 or so, the wife gave me her business card and her address if i ever was in Fongaray and neeeded a place to stay! Sweet as! Called to make sure the bus would pick me up, then started the like mile or so walk to Coopers beach, decidng against hitchhiking and just go for it. It was quite hot but i made it in like an hour with a few rests on the side of the road. Sat on coopers beach for like 2 1/2 hours just reading and relaxing. Dont know why but my arms and legs are super tan, but my stomach doesnt tan much, so i look rather like i have the worst farmers tan ever. SO i had my shirt off while i was reading and well, that night realized i was soooo pink all over my stomach and chest. I had sunblock on my arms and face, but forgot to put it on my stomach, give it another day or 2 and it will brown up, but it sure makes sleeping a bit uncomfortable. Caught the bus that afternoon all well, got back into Paihia, tried like 4 hostels, they were all booked. A guy came in behind me and we offered to drive me over to the one i had stayed at previously, i was just glad not to have to walk with my pack again. haha. He was from Israel and had baught a car in Auckland. We got seperate rooms in the the hostel, but went and grabbed a bite to eat with our new German friend. And now where i started the post. We grabbed a few beers from the grocery and just sat outside the hostel. Had to wake up around 7am, which was a bit rough, to pack up and catch the magic bus back to Auckland via the west coast. Made the bus and we did some cool stops in these little villages for lunch and visited the 2nd largest tree in the world behind the Redwoods. Its called a kauri tree and it could supply enough wood for like 10 houses. It was enormous. Rode sleepily back to Auckland, hit a traffic jam and rememberd why im not a huge fan of the city. Got a bed in a much larger hostel than previous nites and here i am. Gonna wander around Auckland tomorrow, then stay another night and catch the bus to Rotorua on Saturday, which is like a geothermal wonderland that aparently reaks of sulfer but is a cool spot. I am pretty pumped so far this trip has been really great with relatively few issues, Unlike my new German friend Martin whose rented bungalow burnt down when he was in Thailand! He was charged like $5000 Euros for the damage and almost ended up in a Thai prison! haha.. makes me feel like i have had pretty smooth sailing so far! Well my wireless is running out. Until next time!