Sunday, August 19
I woke up around 7:30 this morning and let Josh sleep in. I laid on the sofa and enjoyed the fact that the sun was shining outside. When I got hungry, I made myself some cereal and was just about to put my bowl down on the patio table outside when I remembered the dang biting bugs! Inside breakfast again.
I realized we wouldn't be making the 9 am tour and that was okay because we would be able to stay at the apartment until 11. There was another half day tour that departed at 1 pm, however, we didn't want to take that because our hotel this night was located 3 hours south (30-45 minute drive from Auckland).
After getting all our gear packed away and taking some pictures of the exterior of the apartment (ours was the second floor on the left in the first picture), we checked out on time and decided to take a fast boat tour that would only last 1.5 hours but still take in the same sites. We called and tried to book the noon tour, however, there were not enough people signed up so they were not running that tour. The next tour would be at 2.
We decided to wait for the 2 tour and killed some time by grabbing lunch at a local Chinese place. By local, I mean off the beaten path and down a back alley. There was construction scaffolding up everywhere (it's the off season in Paihia so they're probably fixing things up for summer). Luckily, there was no construction noise because it was Sunday. The place looked like it could have been in China!
The sweet and sour chicken I got with rice was really good. Josh and I were sitting outside eating our food with our sandals on. Mistake! The black bugs attacked again and Josh couldn't take it anymore. He walked back to our car to get our shoes out of the trunk. When he returned with my shoes in hand, we were better.
After eating lunch, we drove 10 minutes out of town to view Haruru Falls. The water was really muddy which was understandable considering all the rain they've been experiencing lately. Cool site for a quick visit. We drove back into Paihia and read our Harry Potter books in the car while also taking in the ocean view.
Soon enough, it was time for our Excitor boat tour. Josh and I checked in and paid the fare...using a 10% discount coupon I'd found. We went into a room where we were given waterproof pants and jackets to put on over our regular clothes. We'd asked when we called the company if we'd be getting wet and they said no, not really. 
The Excitor boat tour was promoted as being really fast which made me kind of nervous. I had no need to worry because although it was faster than the other cruise type boat would have been, it wasn't insanely fast. We rode out to Cape Brett Hole in the Rock area only getting splashed with water a couple of times...but they were big splashes!
Josh and I were really glad we went on the boat ride and we were so happy to have nice sunny skies. Once on shore, we took off our gear...our butts had somehow managed to get wet from the water...and we walked back to where we'd parked the car.
It was time to depart Paihia and head to Orewa for our night down there (passing by this church as we left town). Because we had much better weather driving down there than we did driving north to Paihia, we were able to see things we couldn't see before like this awesome mountain on the coast. 
We continued our drive south and found the hotel in Orewa after calling the owner for directions. They had given us a room away from the highway just like I'd requested so that was great. We were just here for one night and although it was a long way from being as flash as the apartment, it was comfortable enough for the $95 price. However, I think if you looked at the flooring in the bathroom and kitchen for too long, you might just go CRAZY from the pattern!
I woke up around 7:30 this morning and let Josh sleep in. I laid on the sofa and enjoyed the fact that the sun was shining outside. When I got hungry, I made myself some cereal and was just about to put my bowl down on the patio table outside when I remembered the dang biting bugs! Inside breakfast again.
I realized we wouldn't be making the 9 am tour and that was okay because we would be able to stay at the apartment until 11. There was another half day tour that departed at 1 pm, however, we didn't want to take that because our hotel this night was located 3 hours south (30-45 minute drive from Auckland).
After getting all our gear packed away and taking some pictures of the exterior of the apartment (ours was the second floor on the left in the first picture), we checked out on time and decided to take a fast boat tour that would only last 1.5 hours but still take in the same sites. We called and tried to book the noon tour, however, there were not enough people signed up so they were not running that tour. The next tour would be at 2.We decided to wait for the 2 tour and killed some time by grabbing lunch at a local Chinese place. By local, I mean off the beaten path and down a back alley. There was construction scaffolding up everywhere (it's the off season in Paihia so they're probably fixing things up for summer). Luckily, there was no construction noise because it was Sunday. The place looked like it could have been in China!
The sweet and sour chicken I got with rice was really good. Josh and I were sitting outside eating our food with our sandals on. Mistake! The black bugs attacked again and Josh couldn't take it anymore. He walked back to our car to get our shoes out of the trunk. When he returned with my shoes in hand, we were better.
After eating lunch, we drove 10 minutes out of town to view Haruru Falls. The water was really muddy which was understandable considering all the rain they've been experiencing lately. Cool site for a quick visit. We drove back into Paihia and read our Harry Potter books in the car while also taking in the ocean view.
Soon enough, it was time for our Excitor boat tour. Josh and I checked in and paid the fare...using a 10% discount coupon I'd found. We went into a room where we were given waterproof pants and jackets to put on over our regular clothes. We'd asked when we called the company if we'd be getting wet and they said no, not really. 
Once we were dressed, we went outside with about 20-25 other tourists. We were given a lesson on our life jackets (the small blue thing we're wearing in our picture) and we were off to the boat. The operators of the boat take everyone's individual picture as they walk down the boardwalk to the boat. Josh and I were some of the last people to board the boat which meant we were stuck in the back. Not too bad of a seat, however, it wouldn't have been our first choice.
The Excitor boat tour was promoted as being really fast which made me kind of nervous. I had no need to worry because although it was faster than the other cruise type boat would have been, it wasn't insanely fast. We rode out to Cape Brett Hole in the Rock area only getting splashed with water a couple of times...but they were big splashes!We went through the hole twice which was very cool but very intimidating as well. The other cruise boats we saw did not go through the hole so we were happy about our choice. Also, the water wasn't too rough that day, so the boat driver made our boat do a 360 degree turn inside the hole! Pretty cool.
We continued around the rock and went into a cave area that was even smaller than the hole in the rock before heading back to Paihia while stopping to view some of the different islands on the way. 
Josh and I were really glad we went on the boat ride and we were so happy to have nice sunny skies. Once on shore, we took off our gear...our butts had somehow managed to get wet from the water...and we walked back to where we'd parked the car.
It was time to depart Paihia and head to Orewa for our night down there (passing by this church as we left town). Because we had much better weather driving down there than we did driving north to Paihia, we were able to see things we couldn't see before like this awesome mountain on the coast. 
We stopped in for some Subway dinner and although we were some of the only people in there when we first arrived, it quickly filled up with people who must have been taking a bus tour. It was the oddest experience eating there because when we were the only one's eating one of the workers kept running this dang vacuum cleaner which was so annoying. We also thought it was weird because all the doors were open and ceiling fans were going full blast despite the fact that it is winter! They had free diet coke refills though so we were ultimately happy.
We continued our drive south and found the hotel in Orewa after calling the owner for directions. They had given us a room away from the highway just like I'd requested so that was great. We were just here for one night and although it was a long way from being as flash as the apartment, it was comfortable enough for the $95 price. However, I think if you looked at the flooring in the bathroom and kitchen for too long, you might just go CRAZY from the pattern!Josh was in the mood for some McDonald's and made the argument that it was the last night of vacation so he was going to get some. They do offer good deals on "after 5" meals here. Notice the size of their "regular" drinks and fries. It's a U.S. small drink and medium fries. 
We had SKY movies at this hotel too so we watched some forgettable movie (I couldn't even stay awake for the whole thing) and then Josh came to bed too commenting that sleeping next to a cement block wall reminded him of sleeping in the dorm room-funny!
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