I was really looking forward to waking up and seeing the sun shining on that beautiful beach but the sound of torrential rain let me know that wasn't to be. I couldn't get the shower hot and I discovered that I had lost my shower gel so not a good start to the day. We left in the pouring rain and went via a couple of lovely beaches to join the highway to Whangarei. The information centre seemed to be full of tourists looking for wet weather locations. We had this idea of seeing some caves, which was not a good idea as it was a long walk in the rain only to find that the caves were flooded. However we had a dry campervan to return to for a cup of coffee, but next to us two young Germans were stuck there in a car with a flat battery and hoping some passing vehicle would have some jump leads as they couldn't afford to call out the AA. I wonder if they are still there?
We had a quick wander in Whangarei along the quayside and the rain began to ease, so we went off to do another walk on the edge of town to Whangarei Falls. These falls were at their best after all the rain and at the bottom of the falls the spray was so immense we didn't even notice it had started raining again. The weather started to improve and we went on our way to the Bay of Islands resort of Russell. We decided on the coastal route which was another bad decision as the road was long, windy and flooded in places. We should have gone on the main road and got the ferry.
By the time we arrived the sun had appeared and we were at the lovely picturesque resort of Russell with beautiful white houses and yachts in the harbour. We went for a swim in the sea and watched the sunset over the harbour. This surely wasn't the same day as that wet sodden morning.