The phone rang at stupid oh clock, please check your phones and if you are calling us by accident then please stop !

The day started fairly sensibly and David was sat in bed reading when I woke up. We swiftly moved into get ready mode and the bed fairly quickly was put away and as if by magic breakfast appeared. Getting ready was not as swift or as smooth as it could have been but I am sure it will get better with practice.

I would say we left the park at 9 but as I later found out my watch was wrong. We drove a short distance to a parking area for the girls to play on the beach. Alex really enjoyed it, Elizabeth was not so sure of it so I took her to the play park. I spoke to a very nice lady called Margaret who was there with her grand daughter. She told me about the new toll road opening tomorrow and how she had been on a bus tour. She also put me right on the time and on my timings to get to Warkworth. This was a bit of a shocker as I was at least an hour out on my watch, this really put paid to the idea of calling a friend's grandma to visit.

The drive to Warkworth was lovely and through some nice countryside. I am surprised at how twisty the main road north is. We drove to Sandspit wharf where our ferry to Kawau Island was leaving from. The ferry journey gave us a lovely view into the bay and we were entranced well three of us were and one us was entranced by the crack in her seat.

It was a lovely area and the island was simply lovely. We walked along to Lady's bay and then to the lookout before returning back to the Mansion house. I had planned to visit here but it was closed on our return. We managed to see a wallaby in the undergrowth and saw small brown birds which looked like kiwis but not quite. David will get fit as pushing two babies along a track is hard work, or so he tells me

We then got the ferry back and played stealing noses, Elizabeth did not want Alex's because 'it is too snotty for me'.

A long drive then to Whangerei for our night's camping. The drive was through some lovely countryside. There were however, some quite run down looking places which I suspect were farming communities given that the largest and shiniest building had vet on it.

When we arrived at the campsite we managed to ding the van on the bins, they won, so the insurance has paid off already. The site here though is lovely, much smaller than last night and with relatively inexpensive wifi access ($10). I also learnt to ensure the fridge is locked as it sicked up it's contents over the floor.

Dinner was leftovers from last night, I am blogging, David is sorting.