Part 2 of NZ Pics

One of Tracey's sea shells
This above pic is the sun setting on Piha's black sand beach last night. It was awesome to see.
This is a view from Ocean Beach where I climbed a hill to see if any surf was happening.
This is a cave we found at Ocean Beach. I climbed in there and it smelled awful!

Hey everyone, it's a Shane Post this time. Tracey and I have left Whangarei for Wellington, although I'm quite disappointed about leaving the north part of the North Island. It's truly amazing and I sometimes have hesitations about leaving NZ. It's beautiful here.
Last Friday we went on a dolphin cruise through the Bay of Islands and saw so many dolphins it was unbelievable. They were "bow riding," playing in the current made by our boat, and seeing so many pods blew us away. We went through "the hole in the rock," a big arch formed by the power of the ocean, and there were so many fish swimming around the boat it looked as if we were floating "on" them. The cruise also stopped at an island where we went for a snorkel and a swim and Tracey tirelessly searched for sea shells.
The day before our cruise we stopped at a glow-worm cave and took a tour through water-made caverns full of stalagtites and stalgmites. The worms were itsy bitsy and they glowed a blue color when all the lights are off. It was pretty cool to walk under hundreds of them.
For the last couple of nights in Northland we stayed in a bach at Ocean Beach where we snorkelled around and did a bunch of body surfing. It was a really relaxing couple of days after all of the stress we have been enduring (just kidding about the stress).
Last night we stayed in the van at a beach in Piha. There were huge waves last night night but it died down quite a bit. We hired Tracey a board today and went out for a few hours. I was worked by the most powerful wave I have ever been in and had some hesitations about going back out. I didn't want to waste money on the wetsuit rental here so I wore my 5/4. It was brutal. The water temp is about 17 degrees and I was cooking. I think only the people who wear wetsuits will understand.
Tonight and tomorrow we are staying in Raglan, a small community full of people committed to surfing first and working second. It sounds like a match made in heaven. We plan on staying a few days before heading into Wellington to meet some of Tracey's friends from high school and get jobs. What an awful word. There are some pics above for you all and I hope you enjoy them. With me you'll probably end up with a bunch of nature shots but I'm sure you'll like them. We miss you all lots and until the next post...