From Raglan to Paihia

Oh. My. Goodness. There were no stars for us at the farm on Thursday night. Instead, there was a massive amount of rain. The rain and the wind howled the entire night -- and we heard it all given the farmstay's tin roof. The rain was literally pounding from 3am to 7am. 

Everything's a bit soggy out there. 

We waited for the weather to clear up a bit and then we hit the road. We had a six-hour drive ahead of us; we were moving from the middle of the North Island to the upper part.

And -- we had a birthday to celebrate! Taylor turned 13 on April 12. I have no idea how we have a teenager already, but we do.

In honor of a special birthday, we had dessert for breakfast at Raglan Roast -- Brown Lightning Bros in Hamilton, about an hour or so from Raglan. The line to get into this place was long. But I'm glad we made it in when we did, because about 10 minutes after we ordered, the shop's three coffee machines broke down (don't know the full story, but bummer). 

The line to get in the coffee shop.

I promise Tim does smile in some photos. Some.

With the birthday girl!

The rain kicked back up once we left Hamilton. It was kind of cray-cray as we drove through Auckland... But at some point along the way, we got north enough and the rain stopped and the sun came out. That sun felt good.

It's wet and wild out there. 

We got into Paihia about 4pm. Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. We've seen a few beach towns at this point, and we are just stunned -- and amazed -- that there's no craziness at any of these beaches. The beach towns are quite pure and not built up. It's a refreshing change from the beaches around us back home.

We had heard good things about the Bay of Islands, and we were looking forward to checking the area out. The Bay of Islands is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in New Zealand. There are 144 islands that are part!

Anyway, the kids desperately wanted to check out the beach after all day in the car. Tim joined them, too. They all got in the water and tried some body surfing. But time in the water didn't last long; there was a bunch of gunk in there from the rain earlier in the day. 

Tim, Taylor, and Wyatt in the water.

For dinner, Taylor picked Charlotte's Kitchen, mostly because there was pizza on the menu. Our waiter was a blast, and told us that New Zealand was considered the Canada of the South Pacific (evidently senses of humor are similar?) and Rotorua (where we had been earlier in the week) was called RotoVegas by the locals. Good to know, good to know. This waiter made Taylor's birthday dinner so fun, and we appreciated getting some sightseeing recommendations from him, too. 

After a great dinner at Charlotte's Kitchen. (Tim is kinda smiling?)

We ended our day with delicious ice cream and a walk back to our motel, Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands. Wyatt called the motel "sketchy." Taylor said it smelled weird. The windows in our room didn't close all the way. But those beds were soooo comfortable. The town of Paihia gets two thumbs up from our family!