Paihia

The journey continues! Our third destination was Paihia! We knew we had to make it to the bay of islands when we were planning this trip but finding which town to stay in was a tough decision! After 4 nights in Paihia I can say we definitely made the right decision!

Paihia was a cute peaceful little beach town! It had everything you needed but not much more. The one supermarket was almost sold out of all the essentials (meat, fruit, lettuce, garlic bread, cheese, etc) by 6pm! They don't call it Countdown for no reason! The main street had lots of shops, cafes and of course an ice cream stand, a Bartholomew necessity!

We spent our time soaking up the sun and sights and BBQing just outside of our hotel room with the most beautiful view! I went kayaking for the first time!! I will definitely have to try it again and venture out a bit further next time. We did a car ferry to Russel island which had gorgeous beaches and another quaint little town! We also did a boat tour that took us out to see the famous hole in the rock! I've never seen such clear water! There were many different shades of blue and green! This was my favorite part about Paihia! On our tour, we even spotted a pod of 3 cheeky dolphins! I don't know what was more entertaining, watching the dolphins or the other tourists swimming trying to catch them! I was sad leaving this place to say the least but onward and upward we go before our final journey downward!