Lake Rotorua Campsite

Camping along the way, from Cape Reinga we stopped over in Paihia, which is by the Bay of Islands on the north east coast (in relation to Auckland, which is only about a 3.5 hour drive away). It has been very windy the last few days so luckily we invested in duct tape which has kept our tent together amongst other things. New Zealand has been the most beautiful country I have been to yet, filled with campsites that back home would be four star hotels with the facilities they offer.
Yesterday we checked into an Airbnb place in West Harbour, Auckland, exhausted and adrenally high from all of the delicious coffee we picked up along the way. Our host welcomed us with arms open, and fed us an amazing dinner and drinks as we walked into a Irish/Kiwi/Chilean party of 10 or so locals. All of us of course say "thirty three and a third" very differently than each other, laughingly as such. We ate venison, lamb and side dishes of carbs, then started with the drinking games and I taught them flip cup which was a throwback for me as I learned it from Joel years ago. The punishment was a shot of tequila which starts off rough but smoothes itself out after a few. So we lucked out big time with this one and made a wonderful friend also.
We then loaded up with more snacks, stocked full of delicious coffee, spending most of today sorting an itinerary as Rotorua will be our home base for the next few days or so.Read more