Just about to go to work - another 24 hour cruise with paying victims to tease. Will update this with the latest events soon...

So another Rock cruise. Being busy makes work on the boat more interesting otherwise the days seem to be disorganized and random - you never know when you have a day off so planning trips is hard. Pete the owner is nicknamed Captain Chaos for nothing!

We had a huge group - 30 odd people - who were a lot more fun and lively than the last couple. With Paul away I took his spot behind the bar which is not a bad place to be; you eventually meet everyone and most stop to chat. I did have the opportunity to score some points on the Dirty Deeds Chart with one of the punters who was flirting so much that it even registered on my radar! Anyway my heart just wasn't in it, decided to stick with the Comedy Chart instead - less complicated.

Didn't get to go round the islands the next day so I stayed on the Rock instead. Anchored in a secluded bay with no one else around and a sheltered front deck all to myself... nudie sunbathing! Other than that my day's highlight was driving the Rock back to it's mooring in Paihia. It's a beast of a boat with the response time of a slug so it took a while to get used to and going in straight lines wasn't all that easy. All good fun though, seriously thinking about trying to go sailing back in the UK and apparently my time here will count as commercial seatime which has to be good for something. Know anyone with a boat???

Spent the evening on the boat playing cards and sampling beers - very civilized, if you discount having to get up at 0200 in the middle of a howling storm to make sure the inflatable boat is still snugly on deck where it's supposed to be and hasn't decided to use the bad weather as an excuse to wander off on it's own.

Just back from another 'Rock' cruise. Very sleepy. Sharing a crew room with 3 guys, two of whom snore isn't condusive to a good nights sleep but I made it onto the Comedy Chart by falling out of my bunk in the middle of the night!

I've been on the 'Rock' as crew for couple of weeks now and it's definitely a lot of fun here. The rest of the gang are: Pete Honey (aka Captain Chaos) - owner, Richard - skipper, Christina (Italian), Paul, Ilan (aka Jonah; Israeli Cockney), Thomas (aka Monkey Boy; Dutch), and me.

Took the boys on a wee road trip to Kerikeri. Ilan was desperate to buy some fishing lures (he's called GPS for a couple of reasons, one of which is the fact that he can never find any fish to catch. After spending hours sitting at the back of the 'Rock', or trawling off the 'Vulcan' and not even getting a nibble he's gaining a legendary reputation of being a fishing jinx!) and Paul just wanted to get out of Paihia for a while.

On the way back we stopped off at Rainbow Falls again. This time we were more adventurous - negotiating stepping stones across the river to explore the cave behind the falls. Pretty nifty view from the other side but unfortunately no camera (didn't want to risk dropping it in the water).

Last night we all got together for a committee meeting to outline the rules for crew/punter inaction and organize a point system for humorous events and other silliness. Previous gags involve killer penguins and naked skippers so we have our work cut out to top last season... sure we're going to have fun trying!

It's not easy getting access to the Internet at the moment, but here's an update of recent events to fill in the gaps.

Monday, October 21 - Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Ilan and I headed south to Maramarua for a quick visit to Auckland. I had a meeting with Jack Yan about the 'Million People Web' and the 'EU Water Angels' stuff - it's nice to have a face to put to the email persona. Ilan just came to catch up with a feisty Irish chick - think she's a bit more of a handful for him to cope with!!!

Saturday, October 19, 2002
The 'Rock' changed from a backpacker's fun ship to a base for a local yacht club's sailing race held for Flying 15's. It looked like heaps of fun out there... can't wait to go sailing with Richard. (Thomas arrived.)

Helen and Chelfyn came onboard to chill out for a while; they're in the Bay of Islands checking out houses.

Tuesday, October 17 - Wednesday, October 18, 2002
My first trip out as crew on the 'Rock's' 24-h cruise. The atmosphere is totally different when you're not a punter especially when you realize how much work is involved. You also discover the larger number of tall tales and porkies get told by the crew to have a little fun at the passenger's expense, i.e. dolphins communicating via SMS! Ilan still didn't catch any fish, he's rapidly becoming a local legend among the locals as a fishing jinx; I got to do some target shooting with a .22 and drive the 'Vulcan'; and Richard got his first dunking of the season (high points to Christina for that caper).

Monday, October 14, 2002
Watched the 'Hurricane' on TV. It turns out he spent 4 days/3 nights R & R on the 'Rock' last summer. That's just 1° separation from Rubin Carter!

Tuesday, October 10, 2002
Opps! I shouldn't laugh, but poor old Ilan fell off Climax today as we were coming alongside the Rock. He just lent out a little bit too far reaching for the rope and SPLOSH, he in went backwards and head first! It would have been comical if he hadn't been carrying his mobile, magic brain and a camera in his bum bag.

Monday, October 09, 2002
Sleeping on the 'Rock' is lovely. We have the best views in Paihia and the sense of space with all the water around is amazing. This morning we had a rare treat as a pod of 5-6 dolphins came chasing the breakfast round the boat - two jumping in unison only 3 m from where Ilan and I we stood - wow!

Had an interview with a hotel in Auckland for a senior staff position. It was the oddest interview I've had for a while - I just got talked at and could barely get a word in edgeways - anyway I think she liked me so perhaps I'll get a second interview. I'd rather the have the job I'm chasing in Paihia though. It's working for a company that takes tourists out to go dolphin watching... much more fun!

It's Judith's last week in NZ - so we did one final trip to Piha and Karekare (about 40 min west of Auckland), where the opening scenes of 'The Piano' were filmed. Both beaches were windswept and interesting with black iron sand and a backdrop of verdent rainforest.

Back to Paihia tomorrow...

Wow, what a week!

After getting back from Auckland last week and chilling out for a couple of days I felt like going somewhere warm for the weekend. Place of choice? The Northland (Taitokerau), which is about 2-3°C warmer than everywhere else - perfect. I'd picked up a leaflet advertising a 24 h overnight cruise on the 'Rock' in Auckland and decided to check it out. Four hours later, after grabbing an overnight bag and driving like a nutter, I arrived in Paihia (Bay of Islands) and was on the boat joining nine other backpackers and about five crew.

On the first evening we did some target shooting, fishing (the fish were hiding), had a BBQ, drank beer, played pool and generally bonded with each other. The next day we explored the islands - including the place where Captain Cook landed in 1769, played beach volleyball, kayaking, snorkelling and 'kayak surfing' (I've got bruises all over my legs again). Who'd have thought that so much fun could be had on an old converted car ferry!

Anyway what was meant to be a weekend jaunt turned into a week long extravaganza. I met three German girls - Nadine, Katherina and Judith - and we decided to carrying on exploring the area together, here's what we got up to...

Sunday, September 29, 2002
A pretty bizarre day. Walked the 'Hutia Creek Mangrove Forest Boardwalk' which was about 2.5 h and ended at Haruru Falls. We managed to con an unsuspecting local into giving us a lift back to Paihia in his converted Chinese milk truck after realizing that we were going to have to turn around and walk back the way we'd just come. We then went to visit some guy Nadine knew on an organic farm - a coffee stop turned into us staying and helping milk the cows! [Any cheese made by Mahoe Cheese Factory on the 30/09/02 was with our milk.]

After cows, was beers round the fire in Tim's backyard. The highlight was relaxing in a hot bath under the stars, the water heated by a log fire underneath, sipping wine - think every garden should have one - and sleeping in an old shipping container which had been converted into a funky sleep-out. Tim's place ended up being our base of operations for the next couple of days.

Monday, September 30, 2002
In the morning, back to Pahia to drop off Judith and Katherina - they were off for another day on the Rock. Nadine and I decided to explore some more of the area. First stop was Mangonui for fish and chips, specifically Blue Nose and chips as per strict instructions from Tim! Not bad. Then a long drive north along the Aupori Peninsula to Cape Reinga. To the Maori this area is known as Te Hika o te Ika (the tail of the fish), part of the legend of Maui hauling up the North Island (the fish) from the sea into his canoe (the South Island) - sweet, eh. Anyway the Cape is the most northerly accessible place and overlooks Columbia Bank where the Tasman Sea collides with the South Pacific. The views here were stunning and you could look to the west and see the tail end of Ninety Mile Beach.

Next back south to somewhere in the middle of Ninety Mile Beach (it's really only 64 miles!) which runs along the western edge of the peninsula. En route we visited the white sands at Parengarenga Harbour (the world's purest silica deposits). At low tide on Ninety Mile Beach you can drive along it but only if you have a 4WD. Mick really wasn't up to the task as you have to keep driving or risk sinking in quicksand. [Dave can I borrow your Discovery!]

Finally we rounded the day off with a visit to Ngawha Springs for a long soak in some muddy hot springs.

Tuesday, October 01, 2002
The day started with a quick jaunt into Kerikeri for breakfast; it seems as though every organic farmer in the country lives here so the here food is great. Kerikeri also hosts two of the oldest surviving buildings in New Zealand both built in 1822!

Then it was a round trip covering Puketi Forest to see some ancient kauri trees, the Rainbow Falls and back to Kerikeri Basin to check out those old buildings - Kemp House and the Stone Store.

Wednesday, October 02, 2002
We bid farewell to the Cheese Factory and headed west to Opononi famous for two things - a crazy dolphin called Opo (now dead) and magnificent sand dunes which dominate the far shore. You can go 'dune surfing' but unfortunately there were no boats to take us over so I'll just have to imagine that experience!

Thursday, October 03, 2002
Nadine and Katherina were heading back south to Napier so then there were just two. But first to Waipoua State Forest for more kauri trees and back into prime kiwi country, though only the trees were feeling sociable. We visited Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) the worlds largest Kauri tree and Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) the second biggest. They're both about 2000 years old but before the loggers arrived there would have been bigger specimens still surviving...

After goodbyes, Judith and I headed back to Paihia and dinner with the boys from the Rock.

Friday, October 04, 2002
By now pretty exhausted - chilling on the beach!