Day 370 (Tuesday 9th December 08)

Had no problems being parked in the car park all night which was pretty good. Made sure we were up early in case anyone came round. Went down to by the beach to have some breakfast and then to the tourist information once it was open to see if there were any cheap campsites in the area and how much the boat across to Russell was. They didn't have the prices of the campsites so decided it would just be easier to drive to them both to check out the prices. Both too expensive so decided to go back and use the internet for Skype in Paiha. Once we were finished went and got the car ferry across to Russell. Had a look around Russell and then up to the viewpoint which was an awesome view over the Bay of Islands. Cooked up some lunch and then headed further along the coast to see if there were going to be any cheap campsites. Soon gave up on finding a cheap campsite as we knew we weren't going to have any luck. Went up to a nice village called Rawhiti and then carried on. A good drive along the scenic coast road then inland to Hikurangi then back out towards the coast looking for somewhere to stay. Ended up coming across Sandy Bay when we were thinking that we wouldn't find anything. Said that you could camp up by the beach which was pretty cool. Only scanky public toilets that never got cleaned but worth it being a free area you are allowed to stay there so couldn't be moved on! Lots of surfers around as quite a surfy beach.

Day 371 (Wednesday 10th December 08)

Chilled out for the whole day going for a couple of walks along the beach! Very nice!

Day 372 (Thursday 11th December 08)

Another day chilling out by the beach. Went for a walk and Mark found some more mussels. Both decided it was probably best that Em didn't have any as didn't want food poisoning again so soon! Cooked some lunch and Mark had the mussels as well. Chilled out for the rest of the day.