On to Auckland

We had good intentions of getting up early to get to New Plymouth, however, we didin’t get on the road until 10:00 in the morning. We wanted to catch a tour on Happy Chaddy’s Charters to see the Sugar Loaf Islands. As it turned out, we needn’t have worried about missing the boat; we were the only ones on it besides the captain-Chaddy. He took us on a personal tour of the islands which were supposed to be full of hundreds of seals. We saw about 10 seals all together (Lonely Planet was wrong about that one!) But it was worth it to hear Chaddy’s stories about the old Maori whale hunters and the Maori legends. It was a really choppy day out on the sea, and we were freezing by the end of the tour. Chaddy recommended a fish and chips place for lunch where we had crumped wharhow. I think it was the best fish I’ve ever eaten.

Ngaruawahia
On our way to Auckland we stopped in the little village of Ngaruawahia. By accident we found a buffet that looked like it would be a good place for dinner. When we asked for a table, the waiter said that since we didn’t have any bookings (we took that to mean reservations) we would have to share a table with someone else. Lori and I were starving so we agreed. We found ourselves seated at a table with two other ladies. They were both locals of Ngaruawahia and delighted in teaching us how to pronounce some of the towns that we’d driven though. We still can’t say this one, though! One of the ladies was a teacher and was very well-spoken and articulate. The other lady did not seem to possess those qualities. We could only understand half of what she said and she ended each sentence in the form of a question.