We got chatting some some friendly kiwis who were out for a few days fishing and boozing’ together :) They were chatting about shark fishing and how there’s ‘a big one’ out there right now… Scary! :D They were a good laugh and offered us a couple of ice creams that were very welcome indeed! Cheers Pam & Nic, Murray & Shelley! Hope to bump into you again later on the trail :D
The Utea owners were lovely too and popped over with a bunch of home grown potatoes. So far we’ve found Kiwi folks to be super friendly and kind hearted, which is fantastic news for a couple of ‘homeless’ roaming Londoners like us ;)
We’d decided to try and find a camp before we hit Paihia instead of blowing cash on a motel. And it turned out to be an awesome decision as it lead us to this phenomenal spot. I’m sat typing this in front of a wide gushing waterfall, surrounded by forest, giant date palms, and blue sky. And yet I can still grab a shower if I want. Perfect! I awoke in the night and stepped out to see spectacular starry sky set against the subtly illuminated falls. Beautiful. Olga and Andre the owners are really lovely down to earth characters. It’s a must-stay if you’re in town! :D Its lush. ( Thinking about trying my fishing rod in a minute… ).
Found this 
Tiny wee mussels here by the thousand. Way too small to eat though :) One day this beach will be prime for harvesting ( except in this marine reserve the fine for fishing or even removing a shell is $250,000 or three months in the clink! )… I can only assume they must be damn tasty eh!
I’d like to point out that no shells were removed or harmed in the taking of this photo! We’ll never get to Bluff if we get banged up for 3 months..
Beady eyed I kept a watch out for jumping fish… Can’t wait to get the rod out and catch us some fresh campfire dinner! A very exciting prospect indeed. Disappointingly we’ve not clocked any fish yet, only eels… Blergh! We’re not in Margate! … Squelchy footed we made our way upwards through the steeply cut oppressive walls of the gorge to the moody, and ominous feeling high forest above, cloaked in swirling mist. A very strange place, you’d often hear echoes of distant sounds that couldn’t possibly be there, the acoustics playing tricks on you, alone together up in the wilderness… Erie! 
Fishy drains all over the place on the way into Palmy. Every single one making me regret losing my fishing rod! Looks like fish jump out of the drains in the streets here and I’ll still not be catching one for dinner! :) Bugger.