Backpack, Come Back!

Our return trip to Auckland (or “Dorkland” as the Kiwis refer to it) from the Bay of Islands was mostly uneventful except for one minor adventure. We’d been driving along in our 24-seater bus for about 15 minutes when I heard a car horn blowing somewhere behind us. Dustin also noticed, and he wisely decided to look behind us to see what was up.

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A Series of Unfortunate Events

Itʼs funny how a series of seemingly small and insignificant events can change the flow of things. Laura started to feel a cold/flu coming on as we made our way up from Auckland to Paihia on the first day of our Stray bus experience (which was otherwise really fun and social). Our plan was to wake up early the following morning (Monday) and join a separate tour (included in the Stray pass weʼd purchased) that went to the far north end of New Zealand to Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.

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Going a-Stray

On our last day in Auckland, we started to think “Hmm, maybe we should figure out where the heck we’re going from here and how we should get ourselves there.” We researched all the New Zealand-owned car rental companies, which are pretty damn cheap but use really old, high-mileage cars (one company said the Nissan we rented might be from 1998!). Having just finished months of being in logistics mode at home getting ready for a wedding and a year-long trip, we weren’t exactly excited about having to sort out mobile phone cards, booking lodging for ourselves every night, finding our way in a rental car, and deciding what to do and see everyday. Quite the intrepid travelers, no?

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