November 7th

Well yesterday I started my great long hitching trek... at 6 in the morning. After about an hour of failure, I realized i was on the wrong side of the road.. (nah, just kidding, I'm not American or anything... Oooooh). First I was picked up by a Mauri by the name of Bob Clark, who loved hockey (by the way, all Kiwis know Wayne Gretzky, and that is pretty much the extent of their hockey knowledge) and kept on going on was quite nice. Then after another 30 minutes of walking, a really nice guy by the name of Richard picked me up and took me all the way up to Bombay (yes, I realize that is the Colonial name of a city in India; however, I am not in India). I chilled at a gas station for a couple minutes, then asked a trucker if he would be able to take me up to Auckland. He was actually able to take me all the way through Auckland, to Orewa, which is 30 minutes north. I decided I'd spend the night there, and went for a big long walk on their 3 kilometer long beach and in a small nature reserve. The climate is almost tropical, so there were a lot of unknown trees. The hostel was alright, there were a bunch of antisocial guys who hung out by themselves and then went out to the bar, so I had an early night. I also met this Hungarian family, who were staying there and looking for work. It's puts it in perspective how lucky we as westerners are.
Today I got picked up in the first 5 minutes by a guy named Chris, who was driving a utility car, which is half car half truck and has a corvette engine. We flew right up to Whangarei, where he bought me a coffee, and then gave me his number and contact info for when I'm in Auckland. It was really cool. However, he was meeting this guy who he was going to buy some land from, and the guy said it was a magnificent area, so Chris invited me along. I thought 'why not,' so we went to Tutukaka, which is a magnificent area, and then we headed up to the Bay of Islands. Chris bought me lunch, which was wicked generous of him, and now I'm in Paihia at the Mousetrap Hostel, which is really nice. Anyway, my internet time is running out, so see you again in a couple of days.