Paihia, Bay of IslandsThursday 20th NovemberWe'd looked into camper vans and cars and came to the same conclusion for each, that they were too expensive to hire. I was really disappointed as I would have loved to hire a camper van but hopefully we will in Oz at some point. I was very apprehensive about the Kiwi Experience bus, which is basically a big green bus that takes you from place to place and can guarantee accommodation for you in hostels along the way. You can hop on and hop off when you want as there is more or less a bus every one or two days. I didn't really know what to expect but had heard reports that it was quite a young crowd and the coach had become known as the Big Green Sex Machine…hmmmm. However, the way we looked at it, it was the cheapest option and budget travellers can't be choosers so we didn't really have a choice. In fact I was pretty surprised that the public transport system wasn't better than it was since everything else in New Zealand is so good. Even South American buses are more frequent and run a better service than here. We left Hope's at 6.30am and she dropped us off at the Base Hostel in the centre, which was the pick up point for the bus. We said our goodbyes and promised not to leave it for another fives years until we saw each other next. We then waited with the rest of the people there and after a quick scan of the other Kiwi Experiencers became even more worried as the average age was about 18. Eventually a mass of green appeared in sight and we all piled on. It was already pretty full by the time we had got our bags on the bottom and checked tickets. After a fairly long drive from Auckland, we arrived in the north of the north island in Paihia, Bay of Islands at around lunchtime. I was still on my antibiotics and codeine and Kate was still jetlagged so we'd spent pretty much the entire journey there asleep. However, on the way we managed to keep our eyes open long enough to enjoy a stop at the Honey Centre for a free tasting of locally made Manuka honey. Kate was dismayed to see that it was pretty much the same price as at home, I don't really like honey so I wasn;t that bothered. In Pahia, we checked into our hostel called the Pipi Patch and went for a wonder around Paihia. This took about five minutes. It was a lovely place but reminded me of a seaside town come retirement village in the UK. We looked around the shops (yes there was more than one!) and walked along the coast for a bit, booked our dolphin trip and then came back to the hostel. Apparently Charles Darwin was on my level too but was a bit harsher when he described Bay of Islands as the 'Hell-hole of the South Pacific.' Lovely. It can't have been that bad, as Russel one of the towns very close by used to be the capital of New Zealand. So once back at the hostel we made tea, had a glass of wine and then both went to the room at about 7pm. We were staying in the 'Sanctuary' which is Base Hostels name for rooms for girls only. They cost the same but you get free shampoo, tea and coffee, towels and use of a hairdryer! It's a bit like a hotel actually except still a dorm room. This one was great though as we had a tv and so we just got in bed and put Shortland Street on (it always seems to be on in NZ no matter what time you put the telly on!) and within seconds we were both fast asleep. The other people came into the dorm and had to turn the tv off as we had both literally passed out! Kate still had her shoes and sunglasses on! So after a 12 hour sleep(!) we got up early to go and see the dolphins on the half day cruise we'd paid for. There were quite a few others on the boat and the skipper told us that even though we probably would see dolphins, there was no guarantee that we would and even if we did there was no guarantee we could swim with them. She also told us that if there were babies with the pack (or school or whatever they're called) we wouldn't be able to stop as they apparently need feeding something ridiculous like 30 times an hour and so if the dolphin gets distracted from feeding her young by humans the babies could die. One final thing we were told was that if we did get to swim with the dolphins we weren't allowed to touch them as they have very sensitive skin. We set off in the boat and cruised around for a bit. There were quite a few other boats around who were also looking for dolphins and the skipper got a call to tell her there were some not far from where we were so we went off in search of them. Once we had got to the spot and found the dolphins we hung around for a bit to see if they were in the mood to interact with us. Apparently they were and couldn't be bothered to hang around and swam off! Off we went again and eventually found some more (Kate and I in the meantime were taking nana naps! I couldn't keep my eyes open I don't know what was wrong with me!) . We took it in turns to lie flat at the front of the boat and were really close to them, closer than we would have been if we were swimming with them as they keep their distance. The dolphins had enough of us after about 10 minutes and left us to it so we went off again but unfortunately didn't see any more and even though we didn't get to swim with them I was happy to just see them (plus I think the water was just a bit too cold for swimming!).Once back on dry land, we went for lunch in a little café where we'd been recommended the seafood chowder but it never appeals to me so I left that to Kate. Then I went to look around the same shops whilst Kate went to the doctors (ear infection -we're always in the wars us two) and was pleasantly surprised to stumble across a lovely jewellery shop that wasn't full of the tourist rubbish the other shops were. I'd been looking for a silver ring that was just a bit different and had so far failed miserably but they had one left of this beautiful one with a shell that apparently symbolises the beginning of life or something and bit of wood in silver and so I bought it. I admired it all the way back to the hostel and am very satisfied with my purchase. Still am. We packed up and had a brew with one of the lovely Yorkshire teabags Dad had kindly sent through the post. You can't beat a cup of Yorkshire tea. We were then picked up to be taken back to Auckland for the evening. We got back that evening, made tea and then had an early night as both of us just can't shake this tiredness off -tis very stressful this travelling malarkey.