Grace's "There and Back Again" DAY 3

Day 2 of the road trip... time to hit the road again, and this time Jon Bon Jovi! One of the perks of travelling together for days is that we would soon realize that we all love Bon Jovi and his cheesiness, and how great it was to sing at the top of your lungs to "Bad Medicine" even though we might miss most of the lyrics, and are basically tone deaf...

I had a craving for spicy food the moment I woke up. Thus, we went to Noodle Canteen to get Laksa and Tom Yam Noodle for breakfast! However, being on the road meant we get to eat breakfast anywhere we want, and there is no better place than having breakfast at the base of the Whangarei Falls. It wasn't the tallest waterfall or anything, but it was a great place for out breakfast. And we got to introduce Laksa to Grace.

Food to introduce to Grace - Laksa ✓

After the great breakfast, we were on the road again... we followed the Twin Coast Discovery route up the east coast, drove pass Keri Keri to Doubtless Bay where we had lunch. Doubtless Bay got its name after Captain Cook landed there after being lost at sea for a while, and said "This is doubtless a bay". . . that's why the ridiculous name! :)

After lunch, again we were on our way... this time heading south again, and with Grace behind the driver's wheel! She was going to drive the whole SH12 to the Hokianga Habour where we would take the ferry to cross the river. Grace is a great driver, but the narrow winding roads, the right-handed rules definitely make for some fun times :) Hannah and my face tells the whole story! :P

The ferry trip across the river only took 15mins, cut over an hour from our driving time, and due to some confusion, we got to ride for FREE! On our way to the Kauri trees reserve we stopped by a jetty which has a beautiful view. It is the typical view of the west coast which features rocky coasts, huge waves, strong winds etc.

The sisters were constantly trying to look taller than one another

While driving to the Kauri forest reserve, we took numerous...maybe TOO MANY pictures of mountains, trees ... most of it out-of-focus, or trees blocking etc. The Kauri trees reserve (Waipoua) was indeed as beautiful as described in the travel books. These trees are thousands of years old, and they are so big that we can fit our van into it! The pictures do not at all accurately capture how HUGE these trees were. We spent the night at a campground in the kauri park.

Tane mahuta - the god of the forest

Two sisters in front of the Four sisters - four joined kauri trees

Total distance drove so far - 554 km (344 miles)