Well hello again. . . I didn't stay in Napier, so headed further up the coast to a town called Gisbourne, but after stopping here for a short while, I wasn't feeling the place so after a coffee and some soup I hit the road again and thought I would stop at one of the smaller villages around the north east cape. . . . hmm. . . . Didn't quite go to plan, as I didn't really like any of the places as they were too small, with literally nothing there, so I kept driving with a plan in mind to get around the north east corner and onto the north side where I thought it would be busier and have a chance at fishing. . . ?!?! hmmmm. . . . That didn't quite work either and it was now dark, so I couldn't really see anything anymore. . . . . ! My phone lost it's signal, so I decided to head to a back packers in my book, but they were shut (because it's so quiet this time of year?!), so I headed even further towards Auckland and finally got in at a nice place out of the way in its own rock alcove. . . . . The sea was crashing in against the rocks, so much so, that I thought it would wash my car away in the night. . . . It didn't!

That night two American girls turned up an hour or so after me and they had done exactly the same as me and just kept driving from Napier. . . . . I ended up just chattin to them all night til gone midnight. . . . . Not sure what we were talking about, but they were fun and we had a laugh. . . .In the morning I had a cup of tea with the girls and explored the rocks around the hostel with them in the morning sun. . . . . We then said goodbye and said we may meet in Tauranga, as we were all heading that way?!

I got to Tauranga and got checked into a hostel in the center of town, then just chilled out for the rest of the day and got some washing done. I made a few phone calls to try and arrange a fishing trip and if the weather had improved for the next day, I would be going out, so fingers were crossed!

I never met up with the as they were staying with a friend and didn't get there til late. . . . So I just went out for some food and then did some stuff on the internet before chatting to a few guys from the hostel and crashing for an early night. . . . . . The fishing wasn't going to happen so I met up with the American girls in the morning for a coffee and we were all going in the same direction so we ended up sending the whole day together pretty much. . . . . We all headed up the Coromandel Peninsula and stopped first at a nice beach, where we walked around for a bit in the sun, then headed further up to the Hot Water Beach. We stopped there and had lunch on the beach before experiencing the reason why it's called Hot Water beach. . . . . There is basically hot springs under the beach in certain places, so you can dig a hole and it fills up with water that is hot. Really hot in some places!

After there we headed to Cathedral Cove, which offers a really nice walk down to a beach with rock features and caves. . . . The sun was still shining which was great! We had a good laugh and messed around there for a while and then the clouds formed and it started raining a little so we decided to head back to the cars. . . . Then the heavens opened and it absolutely chucked it down! We got soaked, but it was quite funny. . . . . ! Back at the cars we said our goodbyes again, as they were off to Hamilton further south and I was staying up in this area for a few days. . . . . !

I got to Whitianga and checked into a hostel and chilled out for the night, of course makinga phone call to the local fisherman and put my name down for fishing in the morning, so awaiting a phone call again!

And guess what. . . . . I got the phone call. . . . . . Hurray! So in the morning after breakfast, I was off down to the wharf and on the boat. . . There were a few others on the trip too, a couple of families. . . . . I mew the skipper and went to pay him and he said he would knock a little off the price if I helped him as his deck hand was on holiday. . . Of course I agreed. . . ! Basically all I had to do was get down in the front of the boat and help when pulling the anchor in. . . Good fun really. . . !

So, to the fishing, did you catch anything I hear you ask? Well of course I did, I was the first to catch and I think I caught the most out of everybody, not that I am bragging, it was just great to be catching some fish! Depending on size and type you could keep some and I managed to get more than I needed, so gave some away a the end of the day and also took extra back to the hostel (as I had a plan). The plan was to get the hostel owner to fillet them for me and therefore earn himself half. . . He did gladly, so everyone was pleased. . . . The best of the bunch that I kept were Blue Cod, Tarakihi and Snapper, but they all tasted excellent that evening!

I stayed at that hostel for two days as it was really cozy and comfortable! The next day I headed over to Coromandel town, but as there was not much there and I hadn't been driving long I went further down the coast to Thames, but again kept going towards Auckland. . . . . I actually got to Auckland and even though I didn't really want to I decided to stay the night as I wanted to sort my flights out and needed to go to the QANTAS office in the city. . . .

So, Auckland. . . . . . In a word. . . I hate it. . . . . It's awful. . . . ! I didn't realize how much I had been away from big city life. . . . The traffic, nowhere to park, when you can park, it's really expensive! Gggrrrrrrr!

Well, that's my little moan out of the way. . . . Catch ya laters. . .