Day 13 - July 12th -- Bay of Islands
got up and got on the road to make our way way up north to the Bay of Islands. it was a neat little drive not too bad length wise and we made a pit stop in a cute little town that i can't remember the name of now but we found our way to a small alley with an italian restaurant where we were able to relax in the sun and eat some yummy and filling food, i also got some chocolate ice cream which always always makes me so happy.

we arrived in bay of islands and i was immediately in love. i mean i was back at the beach! our hostel was cute too it looked more like a little beachside motel it was fun. we made our way down to the beach walked around, and i dipped my toes in the water. it felt so good to be walking barefoot on the beach, and not miserable from the cold sand. hung out on the pier for a little bit and met two nice older couples who we chatted with about traveling etc and made our way into town. lots of small little souvenir type shops, but fun to look around in. we also stopped by the farmers market which was awesome and smelled wonderful with all the fresh fruits and veggies. wish i'd been home and been able to buy some. also tasted the best avocado smoothie i have ever had, amazing. klug i'll have to share the recipe with you, you would have died. slowly walked back to the hostel enjoying every second of the scenery along the way. ate some kabobs for dinner, drank some wine, went to the bar for a quick drink and headed to bed after a wonderful day!

Day 14 - July 13th -- Bay of Islands
and today starts one of my top favorite days of the trip. in fact i may venture to say that it was my favorite and will be my favorite. woke up and walked over to the pier to catch "She's a Lady" to head out sailing for the day! blah i was so excited. there wasn't much wind the first part of the morning so we motored out to a little island all the way out at the end of the islands that make up the bay of islands. we had warm cups of tea and were sitting on the bow just breathing in the sunshine and sea. it was wonderful. and beautiful. the water was so calm and everything was so peaceful. we got out at the island and took a walk (aka vertical climb) up to the top where we could see the entire bay. fun part about this was there were two fantails flying around us, and coming so close. it was awesome, jokingly we felt like cinderella or snow white or some disney princess with the birds as our friends. the view from the top was insane and as we made our way back down we could see the clear blue water and i was all ready to go swimming.... but i settled for kayaking instead. although i did get to wear just my bathing suit and was perfectly comfortable. it was just a little one person kayak, with a clear circle in the bottom so i could love below me. it was another experience like being in our sea kayaks where i felt so small, but so at peace with this feeling. i had so much control over this little kayak and felt safe within these waters with these gorgeous islands popping up around me. made it back in for yummy sandwiches on the beach and some hang out time then back onto the boat, hoping to be able to catch some wind!

we made our way out through some more of the islands. just relaxing, still in my suit for as long as i possibly could be. we ended up catching some wind which was awesome and i got to sail which was again awesome. hung out with the captain and first mate for a little bit trying to brush up on my sailing skills haha sunfish master here you know. i soon spotted some dolphins in the distance they didn't believe me at first but we motored over towards where i saw them and all of a sudden there were like ten of them, and they kept seeming to multiply. they were so fun! they came up and were swimming right under our bow and jumping up and spraying water on us. it was amazing. they were so friendly and we were all cheering for them, and so excited. you would've thought we had never seen a dolphin before.

all in all just a peaceful beautiful day. couldn't have asked for better weather and great company. was beyond content just sitting and taking in the absolute beauty of this place.

Day 15 - July 14th -- Back to Auckland, down the east coast
woke up very early so we could make our way through a few stops, and then back down the east coast and get back in time to return our rental car. our first stop along the way was oponini which is a tiny little beach town where we were able to go dune surfing. aka boggy boarding down a sand dune. it was cool though, pretty fun, ended up covered in sand but had some good laughs along the way, and a great tomato and cheese toasty (toasted sandwich). also we went with a cute little family with two young boys, they were so active and fun, quite kiwi. we left there and hit up the 2,000 year old tree which was neat. it was huge but shorter than i expected for how wide it was. so much history and legend behind these trees though which was awesome.