Last night when I arrived at the Pickled Parrot backpackers in Paihia, it was the tail end of a BBQ party, so I was immediately given a Speights (NZ Beer) as a welcoming present.  I felt like an honored guest, which I was assured by the proprietor Rose, that I was.  Apparently one of her helpers was leaving town, so a bunch of friends came over to say goodbye.

The Pickled Parrot is a comfy little hostel with a bunch of bungalows full of dorm beds.  There are 3 dogs, a cat, and a Parrot who looks nicer than he actually is (the bugger nipped my finger!).  That night, I shared a few beers with an American couple, an Australian blacksmith and his lady friend (special lady?), a GP doctor from Slovenia.

Photos from the Bay of Islands

This morning I walked around Paihia, which I found to be way too touristy, so I decided to take the ferry across the bay to the town of Russel.  Russel was the first capital of NZ, and it is full of historic waterfront homes.  Apparently it used to be quite a rough place, “full of the refuse of society” according to Charles Darwin…it was frequented by whalers, criminals, prostitutes and drunks.  It’s not so fun anymore…all the brothels are now expensive B&Bs and all the prostitutes are now wealthy retired Kiwi couples.  Needless to say, I didn’t spend much time in that town either.

But, just outside of the harbor is a bayside hike through a nature reserve, which I decided to take.  This was where I did my stupid thing for the day.  Don’t worry Mum, I didn’t get hurt…but I could have.

There were two options for the track: a beach track, which winds around the rocky coves and cliffs but is only accessible at low tide, and the high tide route (boring).  I took a quick look at the harbor and noticed that the current of the bay was headed out to sea, meaning the tide was lowering, and as far as I could see the bayside path was fully accessible.

I started along the water and got some good views of Russel and Paihia and had fun jumping around on rocks and looking through the tidal pools.  But as the path wound around the point, it got much harder.  To make a long story short, I was forced to do a few precipitous sea cliff climbs, which were exhilarating but extremely stupid.  The volcanic rock was sharp and there were many handholds so the climbing was relatively easy, but I was alone and I was scaling around cliffs over breaking sea and at one point climbed a few hundred feet up a very steep hill covered in small pine bushes. In my head there was a battle between 14-year-old Tim and 44-year-old Tim, the latter begging the former to take it easy so he would have the chance to exist.

In the end, I had no problems and was able to access some beautiful and very remote beach areas, walking almost entirely around the peninsula.  It was spectacular, and I have no regrets about my risky behavior.

When I got back to the hostel, I began to plan the next few days.  I booked another bus further north to Kaitaia at the base of 90-mile beach, the access point to the Northernmost point of the country, Cape Reinga.  There is a 3-day tramp (hike) that I really want to do there.  However, I then got a call from one of the farms that I offered to WWOOF at and they have a sudden and immediate opening.  I decided it was time for me to get my hands dirty with some farm work…something I’ve always wanted to do…so I said I’d be able to help them out.

I cancelled my bus ticket and instead booked one south to the town of Paparoa.  I will spend a week or two on this farm.  They have 9000 free range chickens and a few hundred pigs.  I’m not sure what kind of work I’ll be doing, but I’m being picked up from the bus station tomorrow morning and I’ll know soon enough…something tells me it won’t be easy work.

I’m still hoping to make it up to Cape Reinga to do my backpacking trip before I head south, but the plans have been put on hold for a few weeks.