We were a little slow in getting going so decided not to go down to Goat Island, but to push on North. We stopped at Whangarei to book our Bay of Islands accommodation and had some lunch at the harbour. Disappointingly Clapham's Clocks ("Clock World") was a bit too expensive for our tastes so we busied ourselves in the local souvenir shops.

We had an interesting stop at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre where we met the founder, Robert Webb. Claire got her fix looking at the birds and we learnt loads about how vulnerable the native species and what can be done for them when they're in trouble. Go Robert!

Our last stop of the day was at the crazy Kawakawa Toilets... These colourful toilets were designed by renegade local architect Frederick Hundertwasser. Fun, but a little odd, in a town with not much else going for it!

After a quick look at the waterfalls (and watching a crazy local jump out of the top of a big tree into the river) we pushed on to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Our apartment at Pioneer Apartments was awesome, and well worth the money. It was modern, clean, spacious and had sea views! We were all a bit tired so had a simple dinner enjoying our big lounge and planning what to do in the Bay of Islands. Oh, and Scott got a bit excited and silly - all that red wine again!