Hitchhiking

Natascha told us that she has been hitchhiking all through new zealand so Miri got this (in my eyes stupid) idea to do that too.. well what can I say, we ended up standing at Bank Street in Whangarei and waiting for someone who would take us with him.
After about 5 minutes (!!!) a guy (Mike) pulled over and offered us a ride. His (white) car was all dirty but he was nice so.. whatever. We started talking to him about our plans and all the sudden he offered us to take us all the way to Russell. But he had an appointment in town that he had to go to before that and Miri and I weren't in a hurry so that was okay. He also had to take another car into town to get some stuff fixed so in the end Miri drove one of the cars... it was scary, I have to tell you! Driving on the wrong side of the road! AAAAHHHHHH! and then shifting with the left hand.. weiiiiiirrrd! But then the white car started to die down and we had to go back to his place to look what's wrong. And then back into town.. Wow what a crazy experience! So finally we had everything done what we had to do, went back to Mikes place, changed cars again (now we took a truck) and left for Russell.

Mike fixing (or trying to fix?) his car

Mike driving (beer in one hand, cell phone in the other one)

We had a great time and Russell is just such a cute old town with so many nice spots! We were so hughry when we got there so Mike invited us for some pizza.. yammi! We drove around for a little bit and finally also found a nice backpacker for Miri and me. First Mike thought about staying the night too (that would've been so weird!) but then he decided to drive back home. So we said goodbye.
Miri and I stayed a little bit longer at the pier and then walked back to the hostel.

nice view from the flagstaff hill





On the shore of the wide world...