New Zealand Northland June 24 - 28

The Kahoe Farm Hostel has the highest rating (97%) in the Budget Backpacker Hostel Guide, so we had to check it out. Kahoe is a very rural farming area with rolling green hills and streams. The Kahoe Farm Hostel is a beautifully built wooden house surrounded by lush, green hills. It's a bit isolated, but the staff is very friendly (Hi Gill, James, and Kirsten!). Because it's mid-winter, we couldn't take advantage of the swimming pools along the bush walks. However, we did visit Josh the eel in a nearby stream. Josh and George are both eels that have been living in a nearby stream for many years. They are quite tame and fairly large for such a small stream (thanks for taking us out there, James).

We spent two days relaxing, reading, and stuffing our faces with Stefano's (one of the owners) homemade Italian cooking. Our favorites were his pizzas and breads.

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Kahoe	Kahoe Farms	$18.45		Gotta try their pizza!

Paihia is one of the many towns along the Bay of Islands. It's very tourist-y, but has some beautiful views along the bay. We did some short walks, but got bored quickly - so we left after one day. It's not really that Paihia is a boring town, it's just that we're limited right now on things that we can do until Lon's arm is better ...and we didn't like the Mousetrap Hostel enough to want to stay another night.

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Paihia	Mousetrap	$16.39		A bit run-down, but good views

More isolation and rolling green hills ...but this is definitely the place to be if you want a beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing environment. We stayed at the Tree House Hostel. It's constructed to look like you're living in the treetops. There are banana trees, lime trees, grapefruit trees, orange trees, peace lillies, chickens, sheep, and a big pig. The main house had a large deck and a cozy reading area. We stayed in a charming, small hut built off from the main house next to a duck pond. The only reason this place doesn't get a 4 pig rating is because if you have to pee at night, you have to walk outside, through bush (might come across a killer possum), and more than 20 yards to the nearest toilet.

If this is too much isolation for you, then you can take a small ferry across the harbour to a slightly larger town called Rawena.

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Kohukohu	TreeHouse	$18.04		Very beautiful setting & building, almost 4 pigs