Up and to the beach again - we are now 2 bronzed beach babes - well we are a bit darker than we were anyway!! Next we set off along the Bay of Plenty, named thus by Captain Cook in 1769 when he landed here in the Endaevour. The name relates to the very friendly Maori who were here and gave him lots of supplies. We stopped by the side of the road for lunch and were disconcerted to find our picnic table being shared by numerous chickens and hens - we think they had escaped from a nearby house. We stopped soon after at Mount Maunganui, which was really busy and touristy, but had the longest beach. Onwards to Whakatane, pronounced fa-ka-ta-ne, where we camped in town and spent the evening doing laundry. Imagine, Saturday night spent being washer women - what is going on?! It was so nice to get in between clean sheets and have our backpacks smelling sweet for a change. To sleep dreaming of summer meadows, a la our bedding. S xx