Hey guys we have been in Mt. Maunganui for the last two days. Its a quiet but busy seaside town.There is a nice stretch of Beach and yes you've guessed it...a mountain that overlooks everything!

We have stayed at the Pacific Coast Backpackers and to be honest we haven't enjoyed this hostel. The room we stayed in was like a sauna....really!!! It had 2 bunk beds in and one small window. The walls were wooden and it was hot...i mean boiling!!! The kitchen wasn't bad but it was packed! We had to do some serious juggling of stuff to get our bag in the fridge (oh the problems of travelling i hear you cry!), they messed up our booking trying to make us pay $2 a night extra but Andrew pointed out there mistake in no uncertain terms and all was well! In our Room we had an Irish couple the first night, they seemed nice and told us of their experience going through Asia and Oz and were really cool to talk with (they didnt talk too fast so we could actually understand them!) The second night we had an American guy share with us and as Americans go...he wasnt too bad!

We have basically spent our time walking around Mt Maunganui. We walked up to the top of the mt, which was exhausting!!!! It took about 45 mins to walk up and we picked the easier route...apparently! Once at the top the view was really nice! Walking back down was a lot easier and we chuckled at the out of breath faces that passed us. There was Thundercat speedboat racing on the seafront. That was fun to watch although we didnt have a clue who was winning or what was going on half the time!!! We enjoyed a nice ice cream while watching people surf! We spent $7 buying fish and chips (thats about 3.50!) and we got 2 fish, chips and 2 sausages which were scrummy! Bargain!

We enjoyed our short time here mainly I think because it was a brief stay (I don't think we could have found much else to do!) The weather wasnt amazing but hey you can't have everything!

We now travel with one of our favourite magic drivers, Gilly, to catch our connection to the Coromandel region of New Zealand.

Speak soon x