Te Paki Reserve Tramping

Robin and I hitchhiked up to the Te Paki Reserve area in Northland and spent five days tramping. Our gas contributions amounted to $15 for the entire trip. We only spent $12 each for camping. One of our rides was from Cape Reinga Adventures and we ended up at one of their campsites. When we got back and realized what their rates were, we were pretty amazed. Just their drop off and pick up service at the beginning and end of the Coastal Hike would have been $105 for the two of us...

One of their guides was "Bushman Pete." In some ways he was more "bush" than the local Maoris even though he sometimes came off like the MTV reality show cameras were rolling. He did have a dead pig head in the back of his 4x4...

Whangarei Swap Meet

There was a cruiser's swap meet over the weekend by Town Basin. I bought a 1 1/2 inch Marelon Y Valve for $15, a medium sized fender for $10, an aluminum hook-on boarding ladder for $5 and 300 feet of 5/16 hi-test chain for $125. Only about 150 feet is usable which should be plenty when added to my remaining good lengths. I figure with this approach I'll avoid the dreaded conversion to 8mm which would necessitate buying a new gypsy...

The meet reminded me of similar one's I'd been to in California except there was less of the "armchair sailor " element. There were a few people displaying RDF's and other antiquated and uselss gear but most of the folks selling were cruisers who had actually sailed here to New Zealand from elsewhere. I've been succesful selling my unneeded items through the local version of ebay (Trade Me) so only browsing for me.