Well seeing as I haven't added an entry for a while, thought it was about time to do so!!! After my fantastic weekend in Wellington I caught the bus back to Auckland and then a bus up to KeriKeri which is just past Paihia in The Bay of Islands (up North). I was staying at a place called the Hideaway lodge. I met two English girls who had told me about this place saying that the the guy who runs it find peope work in the local area and seeing as I had three weeks to fill before Mum and Andrew are due to fly out, I thought I'd give this place a try! So off I went to KeriKeri (pronounced KiddeeKiddee in Maori) and the Hideaway Lodge. I got there on Monday the 31st of August and settled in. I spent my first few days sitting in the sunshine (there isn't a great deal to do there if you aren't working) untill I got a job which started the following Monday. I got a job working in a Kiwi orchard, pruning and clearing out the kiwi vines. It was hard, physical work and I'm now covered in scratches, blisters and insect bites. I didn't really work as much as I could have done. Some days had to be spent sat in the hostel due to the rain. It isn't much fun working outside in torrential rain!! It did keep me amused for two weeks though and I earnt some money! There isn't really too much I can write about my time in KeriKeri as a fair bit of it was spent working but heres one or two things - Fri 4/07/06 - Went sightseeing in keriKeri with my German room mate Nicole. We walked for a few hours, looking around the town and at some of the historic sites then walked to a waterfall. Unfortunately I wsa wearing the wrong footwear as I hadn't been expecting to walk so far. Ended up with huge blisters and very sore feet!!!! Sat 05/08/06 Went on a day trip with Nicole to Cape Reinga. We visited a Kauri forest, saw Cape Reinga, sandboarded (which was great fun, better than when I did it in Australia, we used proper boards on this trip), searched for Tuatua on Ninety mile beach, had fush and chups at Monganui. It was a great day out!! Sun 06/08/06 Caught the coach to Paihia with Nicole and Christoph. We went to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds before heading back to the Lodge. Fri 11/08/09 Was talked into skipping work by my room mate Emma (Sweet Emma, my little Cheeky Monkey). It took her ten minutes to persuade me as I was half out of the door on the way to work. Had my lunch made and everything. I eventually gave in (on the basis that I was still a little drunk from the night before and didn't want to accidently prune my fingers instead of the kiwi vines). Emma, April and I went out for breakfast and spent the whole day giggling like kids. Sun 13/08/06 Went to Russell and Paihia with Emma, Gillian and Mark. Gillian drove us in their van. We did some sightseeing, played some pool and ate some great food. It was a good day!! Today is my last day in KeriKeri. I'm a bit sad to be leaving all the friends I've made but I will be meeting Mum and Andrew at the airport in Auckland tomorrow which I'm really excited about. I can't wait to see them and start the next stage of my adventure!!