Woke up this morning to gray and overcast skies. But it’s not cold, I can still go barefoot!

The car Zoze and Bryan have is quite small, a four-door something or other but we managed to get everything in but decided to walk up the drive so we wouldn’t bottom out. Then headed to the bank where we opened a checking account. Everyone here uses EFTPOS which is the same as using ATM cards. We thought it would be a good idea so we wouldn’t be carrying cash around with us. We had wired funds into Zoze’s account and we went in with two forms of ID and we walked out with ATM cards! Really a good banking system, and it’s secure; well, as secure as any bank can be.

From Tauranga we headed east towards Whakatane – the Wh is pronounced as an F so sound that one out! The little towns along the coast are very small but really nice. So laid back and quiet, no hi-rises or monster hotels. But the area is also very remote. We went out on peninsulas that if only the weather had been good, would have made great photos. As it was, I didn’t take a single shot. By lunchtime we were in Opitiki, more of a Maori town where we found a cute café attached to an old hotel. It reminded me a lot of Shakespeare’s in South Africa. The building was early 1900’s with high ceilings and it was painted in cool colors. Of course I had to have a glass of New Zealand Chardonnay – it was very nice, quite dry and I forgot to get the name so instead of drinking that again, I will have to try another one. We also bought a couple of handmade wooden fish in the Maori store.

Then we came to a really hairy road that hugs the shoreline and goes up and own and round hairpin bends with horrendous drop-offs. Chris was freaking! Zoze was driving and there were places where the road was jus a single lane where it had washed away. No flaggers, just watch carefully and hope no one is coming the other way. But we made it in one piece and pulled into this amazing spot called Maraehako Bay Retreat. I swear if it was warmer we could be in Mexico. It reminds me a lot of the some of the places Susan and I stayed in the Yucatan and Belize, only more refined.

It sits right on the water – and I mean RIGHT on the water. From where I am sitting now on the bed looking out, the waves are breaking not 30 feet from the window. And it is rough seas, huge waves and high winds. This is a Backpackers Hostel which are very popular in NZ. It is fairly rustic, but the rooms are nice and a double costs NZ$63 or $43 US. The place is set into the hillside with rooms on the ground floor, communal bathrooms, a communal kitchen two flights up. The stair rails are made out of driftwood and it is all very funky, but very cool. It’s run by a young Maori whose family owns 2000 acres of surrounding land plus the bay. He and his father live here and run the place.

It’s still fairly early, the distances weren’t as vast as we originally thought so we can kick back and read and drink some wine.

New Zealanders on the whole, at least what we have found in the few days we’ve been here are very friendly, and very chatty. We end up knowing more about strangers we’ve just met than our neighbors we’ve lived next door to for three years.

The roads are great, except for the places that were washed out but in general they are two lanes and lots of roundabouts at intersections that take some getting used to. I will do some driving tomorrow, I’m fine driving on the wrong side of the road, but I wasn’t ready to drive in the big city with all those cars coming from the wrong direction.