Just a quick update, sunshine and beaches...

The weather since our last blog entry has been fantastic, very little rain and lots of sun. Here are some of the things we have been doing in the last week, in between job hunting that is.

On New Years Day we took a long walk around Devonport. We started at Narrow neck beach down the road from our house. As the tide was out we could walk around to Cheltenham beach and up to North Head.  This is a mountain right on the end of the headland and was used as for three gun batteries during the early part of the last century. There are loads of tunnels running through the mountain some are quite spooky.

Janine at Narrow Neck looking out to Rangitoto

Looking a fool - Narrow Neck

Lots of sailing - Hauraki Gulf

Thankfully there's not really 3 of her!

We also went with our house mates to an awesome pub in Riverhead a few miles west of us. Its 153 years old and sits on some headland just above the Rangitopuni Stream. We enjoyed the sunshine, beer and a large group of lads on a stag do who were a little merry.

Cheesy couple pose @ Riverhead

This weekend we went up to Whangerei with Lloyds cousin Hanna. She had found a great deal on a hotel room so we drove up in the heat on Friday evening. Lloyd found an amazing Thai restaurant on TripAdvisor, we enjoyed the meal then headed to a couple of local bars. Nothing too exciting, just some random drunk locals in flip flops.

The next day we drove out to Whale Bay on the east coast. It's definitely one the beaches we have been to on our whole trip, a perfect spot to nurse the lingering hangovers. There is a 20 minute bush walk to the beach from the car park so it feels very secluded and isn't busy. The natural shape of the bay means the sea is really flat and shallow for quite a long way out, this means swimming is so much easier than some beaches.  After a few hours on the beach and we were suitability cooked for the 2 hour journey back to the city. 

Janine swimming from her new boat (it's not her boat) - Whale Bay

Whale Bay Lookout

Whale Bay Lookout