Heading to Paihia

Before coming to New Zealand we did quite a bit of research on where we would like to live. Most importantly there needed to be good fishing for Dave. We also where basing our decision on weather, amenities, and local recreation. We choose an area in Northland known as the Bay of Islands. We still aren't exactly sure of which community but we have some time to explore and decide. On Friday Sept 23, we checked out of our Auckland hotel and headed north toward Paihia, where Jill had booked a hotel for the week. On the way we made a few pit stops. We stopped at Wenderholm Regional Park, which was a nice quaint beach tucked between some mountains.

Next we stopped at Sheep World, which is similar to Shell World in Florida, only replace the seaside gifts with wool products. There were gorgeous sheep skins and loads of clothing. We had a tasty lamb burger for lunch and then hit the road. Next stop was Ransom Winery. We had a wine tasting of their locally made products and bought a couple of bottles to take with us.

Then we continued on toward our hotel. We checked in and got all settled into our room, then headed to the grocery to get some food for the week. We plan on apartment hunting and car shopping all week so we can get somewhere permanent and stop living out of suitcases like we have been for the last 6 weeks. We are excited to be here and can't wait to see how everything goes.