Beautiful Bay of Islands to Whangarei

 Hello everyone, during the last two weeks, we spent a wonderful relaxing and fun time at the Miles family, walked and hitchhiked along the East Coast from the Bay of Islands to Whangarei, where we were warmly welcomed (alliteration!) by Joe and Debs =)

Here is a map of our journey (red hitchhiking, purple walking/biking in Whangarei)

 

Our time in Kerikeri with the Miles family:

Sam's (the youngest son) foot compared to a Kiwi footprint (national bird, unfortunately we didnt see it)

 A very touristy walk to the oldest house in New Zealand (not very old, therefore not depicted here) in Kerikeri...

 ...to the beautiful waterfalls...

 ...and finally to the stunning Rainbow falls. (Take a last look at Thomas' hair)

 

 because it is gone now (half time status of cutting process - Mottotage: Emo)

 Fishing with Bill on his boat with beautiful weather in the stunning Bay of Islands

(we caught a lot of different species of fish, but Kiwis dont eat most of them - Makrelen werden nur als Koeder benutzt und ansonsten zurueck geworfen)

 Preparing the pear gorgonzola quiche for dinner with the most up to date mixer available in whole NZL ;)

it was a lot of fun

 Another trip on the boat on insanely calm water

Thomas' first snapper - the most popular fish for Kiwis

 

 A very refreshing swim with Cole (left) and Sam (Airplane) in the Kerikeri river

Having fun with "Thomas the Steamengine"

 

Shooting the air rifle on the last evening in Kerikeri (Lina was way better than Thomas ;) )

 On the walk from Paihia to Opua on the next day - beautiful mangroves

 Bay of Islands

Boardwalk through the mangroves

We tried to - they didnt come

Evening atmosphere on the lookout in Paihia

The first time it was warm enough after the sunset to be outside - to sing and play the guitar while enjoying the view over the Bay of Islands - Lina beim Zaehne putzen

The next day it took us 4 different rides to get to Whananaki to cross the longest wooden footbridge on the southern hemisphere. 

 

Of course we made the heart, too - took us two days ;)

 

A wonderful camp ground on our way to Matapouri

 

The next day it was so hot that we decided to go swimming in the ocean, again. Unfortunately the water is still freezing cold.

 

We arrived in Whangarei, busked and earned 60$ in half an hour and were taken to Joe's and Debs" place by a gorgeous lady - beautiful view from their living room

  

Bill was there for the weekend, too. We sang and played guitars until 1.30 am and got up at 6.30 to get to the market. The freshly pressed orange juice was delicious.

 

On the sunny saturday we went on a bike tour... 

 

...where we reached 57 km/h ROLLING down a hill. Because we were so focused on the speed, we actually missed the river at the end of the hill, where we wanted to go swimming in ^^