Happy birthday Mum :-)

I headed out of Waipu quite sharpish this morning.  Whilst I was pleased to have found a quiet, safe place to park at Waipu's park overnight, the park didn't really do much for me in terms of a breakfast location.  I actually ended up driving quite some way before stopping for my morning coffee.

Things are warming up up here.  It's getting more humid, the nights are definitely warmer and the days hotter.  I don't have air conditioning in the van so, to cool down, it has to be windows open and/or blowers on cold and full on.  Most of today's driving has been a mixture of both of these.

I found myself slowly meandering towards the Bay of Islands, somewhere I had subconsciously belived I would avoid because of the hordes or people.  However, as I neared Paihia (about 2kms from the centre) I spied a pull-over with other camper vans parked up so I decided I'd pull over there too.  Just beautiful - on the water's edge, sun shining brightly, boats on the water, people along the beaches collecting pipis, a view directly over the water to Russell and not too many people at all.  After some enquiries with folks nearby I learned that Northland district council have very recently freed up their rules on freedom camping and that it was perfectly OK to stay overnight here.  Too good to be true!!  I settled in for a very pleasant late afternoon followed by a relaxing dinner including a toast to my dear Mum whose birthday it is today.  Happy birthday Mum - will call you later xx.

Took a walk over the hill and into Paihia in the evening - a lovley way to work of some energy.  And yes - there were hundreds of people there.

Bed to the relaxing and soothing sound of the waves just metres from my ears.........

G'night.