Thames...

When we arrived at Thames, we parked up on the main street where all the shops and buildings seemed to be. There is nothing really off the main road apart from a smallish complex with a Pak n save , Mcdonalds etc.

We took a walk up and down the high street which was nice and at the top by the petrol station, there is an Isite , so we went in there for some info and a small bit of souvenir shopping.

The town is small but traditional western style architecture. there is a car shop that has been preserved and acts as a small museum piece right next to the Isite petrol station. A short walk up and down the high street will transform you back to the western era, when this town was really it's heyday. It also offers a lovely beach area with high tide, perfect for a stroll and a picnic. However we ate at a small Cambodian run fast food restaurant. It's not hard to miss and has plenty of variety from hamburgers to sandwiches, pastries galore and plenty of sweet stuff.It was Cheap and clearly the local's favourite eatery.

Once we had eaten, we walked the high street and shopped in a save the children, which had a great range of lovely souvenirs , a bit on the pricier side but lovely all the same. After an hour of this, we set off again, to make our way to The bay of Islands.

On our way, we had been told to stop off at Orewe point and were so glad we did. Sure, it's another beach, but stunning views again and decided to have a bit of a walk to as far as we could and back. You can just park up anywhere near the entrance and get out, everyone was friendly and the weather, views, beach and shells were lovely too. It was nice to stretch our legs after driving and having a small break again before driving 6.5 hours up to KeriKeri.

I collected some shells and Luke offered to drive most of the way. We drove up Through Auckland and got some great views going over the bridge. The good thing about NZ is that every town has free public toilets with car park , so you are never far from the next pit stop. So we can stop anywhere and sometimes stumble on a place that is interesting without even knowing it existed.

After 4 hours, I offered to drive after stopping at a pitstop. I then drove the rest of the way up to KeriKeri , in the pouring down rain. I don't really like driving in the dark here as the roads are winding and are often on the edge of a mountain and the rain had worsened things quite a bit. So i stayed behind a car all the way.

Anyway, we reached KeriKeri around 9.30pm and found a campsite as soon as you enter. It's on the left after a black building, which is a restaurant. The site charged us $36 and had hot showers, large kitchen with every appliance needed, large tv room and ping pong table and computer area and apparently lovely picnic area next to the river. HOWEVER, the whole night it rained and we ended up at McD for some food before going to bed as we had to be up early for our skydive.

Love S&L xxxx