Hello All! Sorry it's been a while since the last update. We left Piahai and went down to Whangerei (rhymes with Tanguray - gin). Diana and I booked a day with Tutakaka Dive and went out to Poor Knights Islands. Very rough ride out there, both Di and I were a bit queasy, but no barfing. Diana scuba dived and I snorkled. Very cool! Lots of fishies and the water is crystal clear (visibility was about 20 meters - yes I'm in meter/kilogram mode now). Jaques Cousteau has rated this area in the top ten places in the world to dive!! I can see why. Stayed the night in Whangerei again - had dinner at a very cool Irish Pub (imagine that). Today we had a marathon bus ride(s). Caught the bus from Whangerei at 10am (with 10 minutes to spare) to Auckland, and then caught a bus from there to Whitianga (with 10 minutes to spare). Whitianga is up on the Coromandel Peninusul (thanks Scott and Michelle for this advice). Very beautiful bus ride thru mountains, ocean views, long beautiful beaches, etc... Tomorrow we are planning on going out to Hot Water Beach and then staying the night again here before moving on. Have met some very interesting people, and the Kiwi's are so friendly and accomodating. Just hanging out now drinking beer. Whitianga is a very quaint little town - I think we'll have fun here. All for now. Later.