Where's Dino

Unbeknownst to us our flight was stopping first in the Kingdom of Tonga before arriving in Auckland, New Zealand. It made the trip longer, but was cool to see another green island. We expected to be greeted by Dino and a friend at the Auckland airport. But our flight came in early and our car rental wouldn’t wait. So by roundabout way, and driving on the left side of the road, we arrived at Dino’s YWAM base and waited for his return. Not too long, we were greeting one another and heading North on the Twin Discovery Highway, around the Northland. The route is mostly green lined, rolling hills, occasionally going through round-abouts. We made it to the bay of islands the first night. We walked around the small town of Paihia and enjoyed the ambience of the Pickled Parrot Backpacker’s Hostel.

Next day, we hit the road again winding our way up to Cape Reinga, the farthest north one can drive in New Zealand. There we witnessed the merging of the ocean and the sea from two different directions. Water in almost all directions. CallaLily is not keen on so much driving, but taking VitaminB helps keep the carsickness away. We stayed that night at a farm hostel in Waitawa. Their pet sheep, only 6 months old, is named Tim. He occasionally would sneak into the yard behind an inexperienced guest who forgot to lock the gate quickly behind them. The host have a hottub, animals to feed if you're so inclined, and a friendly open home. We ran into the other hostellers there who were an American couple doing some ministry training themselves, but doing some travel and a half marathan at 90 mile beach in the morning. Which reminds me, we did stop at some massive sand dunes to play. Playing consists of walking barefoot across these mini deserts and up steep inclines only to turn around and leap right back down them for the adrenaline rush I suppose. CallaLily was not up for the full hike, so she just watched the other three and their barbarian antics. The funniest moment being Dino descent. He had inspired the others by saying it's really fun, you run down faster and faster until you fall into the sand, "it's really soft" he said. At the end of his running fall was a loud thud and "Uhhn!" Apparently the sand wasn't as soft as he had remembered.