Mr Grumpy

Drove north to the Karikari peninsular today, stopping at the beautiful Tokerau beach in Doubtless Bay (so named because Captain Cook remarked that it was "doubtless a bay"). We ate our lunch at a picnic table here, before going for a walk along the beach and around the incredibly barnacled rocks.

The gull on the ground in this photo provided us with so much entertainment - it was just about the grumpiest creature we'd ever seen - attempting to chase off all the other gulls that tried to land.

Had a lovely walk along the full length of the beach back in Paihia, too, and in the evening we went to a fab fish and chip restaurant - 'Shippey's,' housed in a permanently moored 19th Century tall ship. Absolutely delicious, and sitting in the evening sunshine was the moment full-on relaxation suddenly hit :)