Friday, October 19, 2007

Back to the Bay of Islands


Day 24

Kahoe Farms Hostel to Russell

Location: 35 15’ 40.9” S, 174 7’ 33.7” E
Distance: 69.32 k
Time: 4:48:19
Avg Speed: 14.4 k
Terrain: Rolling

We reluctantly packed up our things today and headed back to Russell. Kahoe Farms has been a highlight for sure. The guidebooks pay it just a little attention and that’s probably enough. You wouldn’t want a place like that to get spoiled. If you ever travel to New Zealand and want a unique and memorable experience, visit Kahoe Farms.
We stopped in Kerikeri to do a few errands. First stop was the bike shop to see if my shifting could be adjusted. After three weeks of hills, I was down to limited gear combinations. Tim at Fat Dog Cycles was very kind to me; he cleaned and lubed the chain and adjusted the rear derailleur all at no cost. We chatted about mountain biking on the North Island while the smell of chain lube filled the air. Ah, it was like being at home…
The next stop was the Vodafone store – we decided to get the wireless broadband modem for the laptop. As many of you have read, I’ve been lost without the internet. I suppose it’s some sort of weakness, but it’s actually cheaper in the long run.
Finally, we had lunch. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a Quarter Pounder at McDonalds and it actually tasted good. It’s probably not a good idea to roll into town being really hungry.
It was late afternoon when we rolled into Paihia. While we waited for the next ferry across the bay, Chris chatted with one of the tour operators and found out that there was a big sailing race headed to Russell for the weekend. They started in Auckland and sailed up the east coast to finish in Russell. While we were excited at the prospect of seeing the race, we were a bit worried about getting a campsite. No problem, the lady was kind enough to call the campervan park for us before we headed over on the ferry. Kiwis are definitely some of the friendliest and most helpful people we’ve met while traveling.
Tonight we’re snug in our tent in Russell listening to all the boaties party around us.
LK

1 comment:

JennSean said...

We can appreciate finding a special place to stay; we found similar places in Ireland. When NZ comes up on our travel radar we will have to make a stop at the Kahoe Farms! - JH & SK