It only took 6 weeks for one of us to end up in Casualty, and unfortunately for Sharon it was her to take the lead, bless. We had a great New Year in Paihia but in our excitement to get across to the fireworks on the beach poor Shaz twisted her ankle, leading to a fractured 5th metatarsal - diagnosed in Auckland's hospital two days later. Now the proud owner of her very own moonboot (with coordinated socks to go with her outfits) she's doing much better and, fingers crossed, all will be ok in three weeks time before we fly to Oz. Cross your fingers for her please x
Before the New Year kicked off, Kim & I did our Quad biking while a fitter Sharon & Laura went kayaking. The Quads were amazing and the terrain fantastic - although its a thigh clenching experience around the curves to hold on!. We went across lakes, up hills, over rocks and round bends...Unfortunately the attire did us no favours on the pictures, though i do admit i kept the hair net for later, ha!ha! 
On the way back we had to pull over due to a blown tyre on the back of the car. Not being pro's at changing a wheel (and also not having the tool to do it!) we were lucky enough to have blocked the drive of a very helpful Kiwi. So when he and his wife headed to the shops, we did our best 'help us' faces, he got out of going shopping and we got our spare tyre put on (we dropped a few tinnies off later to say a big thank you...or it could have been New Year in the car!).
New Year was pretty cool around Paihia, although the pubs were quieter than the locals would have had us believe. We did a short bar crawl along the beachfront, ending in the Lighthouse, which wouldn't be misplaced in Blackpool. Despite its tackiness we stayed there till the bells as the music was promising, the booze flowing and the atmosphere was pretty good. Then we ran out for the fireworks...leading to Sharon's injury and a hobble home! Ouch! 
With nowhere open on New Year's day to get our tyre fixed we drove at low speed down the east coast via Marsden Point, Whangarei and Pikiri. Got some cool pics onroute...although you may be sick of seeing white sandy beaches by now, ha!ha! Even passed a Woody's Winners and was tempted to put on a lotto ticket for Baby Bump Woody, but to no avail as it was shut. Boo! Could have been a millionaire by now! Oh well...
Ended back in Auckland to see if we could get a doc for the Cassidy and a tyre for the car. With neither open we settled in for the night and headed to the hospital first thing. The docs were lovely and soon had Sharon strapped in her moon boot. The girl who fitted it was even from Hamilton nr Glasgow (my last old haunt!) and knew Suzanne etc! Small world. All fixed and ready for the off we've driven to Whitianga...a beautiful beachside town in the Coromandel Peninsula. Got a room in a house next door to the backpackers (very cosy!) and settled down to watch Lord of The Rings. Put me in the mood for getting to South Island and seeing the film locations...and also gave me nightmares about spiders! Hmmmm....not good.
Ready to explore (with a spade in the boot) we got our tyre fixed - eventually! - and headed to Hot water Beach to dig a hole. Settled Sharon in a beach chair with a book and set about digging but we were too late for the hot stuff. All aches and pains we headed into the sea to boogie board...great fun, but the water was bl##dy freezing! No wonder you need to dig a hot hole when you get out. Brrrrrrrr! Warming up in the sunshine (given lack of hot water) the setting was fantastic.
And today...well the girls have gone off kayaking around Cathedral Cove while Sharon and i took the less strenuous route aboard a cruise. The cove was stunning...and guess what, there was even more sandy beaches to photograph! Also had a school of Dolphins joined us on route. They were right up at the boat and are so beautiful...and too flamin' quick to photograph! Then we headed into the 
underground caves to play some music, as me & Sharon got to grips with a didgeredoo (help on the spelling required!). Now we're back in town to chill before heading to Rotorua tomorrow for some zorbing etc... Skydiving on hold till Cairns in Oz - not letting Sharon get out of it that easy, ha! :-) x
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