hey, Was pretty tired all day yesterday and went for a quiet pizza with the girls on my kiwi bus then watched a film and bed. Got up early again today and checked out hoping to get on the morning cruise around the bay. I went to book but the woman said there was no cruise going out til the next day. I was gutted coz I'd purposely not signed up for any other activities. Did however use a bit of walton initiative and strolled around town where I found a small tour operator who managed to fit me on a different, even better, even cheaper ride so I was dead chuffed. Doing the bay cruise on their boat did mean I was sat amongst a lot of OAPs and it wasnt exactly an adrenallin rush, but they did pass around bags of boiled sweets so I was happy. The trip was about 3 hours and took us all around the bay to see where James Cook first anchored to discover the place and the famous Hole in the Rock which was amazing. Did get very rough out in the sea but I think I may have finally grown my sea legs coz I felt dandy. Which is a good job coz I don't think the full english I ate this morning would have survived. Met some waitresses this morning on year long travelling visas and really got me dreaming. I've decided I almost definately want to live in the Paihia when I retire, it really is so so pretty. Off on the bus back to Auckland in a couple of hours, staying at Base again til the real adventures start tommorrow and I can't wait.