After a restless night in very close proximity to the roof of the Enema I counted down to the alarm going off at 615 and the relief of being able to stand outside and be cooled by the morning breeze.

A quick breakfast with the Georgettis and then to the pier where we boarded our cruise with Fi and the kids, Mark was pretending to be an MRI geek. The bay was beautiful and when we caught up with the Dolphins they did not disappoint! Watching the baby of the group leaping around amongst a pod of athletic adults was unbelievable and the airborne acrobatics as we left were very impressive.

Lunch was taken on the 6th hole of the golf course overlooking the bay and preceded an afternoon in the Waitangi treaty rooms where we were educated and humbled by the actions of our predecessors. The ceremonial war canoe was an amazing feat of craftsmanship and the image was completed by the arrival of the Maori display team.

Playing cricket infront of the colonial estate house was surreal but a swim in the bay before waving goodbye to our surrogate family was enough to bring us back to reality. Only ice cream could solve our separation anxiety as we set off north, just the two of us for the first time, heading for Matauri Bay.

With exemplary navigation skills we arrived at the campsite in time to take in the beauty of the steep sided white sand bay, and pitched up under a line of Norfolk pines looking out to the east over the rolling waves of a picture postcard deserted beach.

Bob cooked a marvellous Spag Bol and we started planning the next leg,of our journey without the guidance of Marky G...