Revisiting Aotearoa - Part 3

         As we were leaving Te Kao on the morning of 11 December, we spotted a roadside stall selling fresh strawberry ice cream. Fresh fruit ice cream is one of the things that I simply adore and always look out for.

Enjoying my fresh strawberry and blueberry ice cream

Yummy goodness

Vegetables, anyone?

        Upon entering Kaitaia, we decided to fuel up again and stop for coffee. We randomly chose a cafe called The Baker Man Cafe, mainly because it was situated at the junction of the turning that we were heading to. From its exterior, you may just dismiss it as "oh, it's another cafe", but when you walk in, you'll love its cozy ambience with all its inspirational quotes on the wall. We ventured to the back of the cafe for a table and were delighted to find really scenic views! And the coffee was excellent!

One of the motivational quotes

Drink in the spectacular view

This is the way to the Bay of Islands!

        From Kaitaia, we travelled for 1 hour and 27 minutes to Paihia, one of the towns at the famous Bay of Islands. It was not where we were going to put up for the night. Yes, you guessed it right. These two oyster aficionados were there for those sexy bivalves again. I learned from TripAdvisor that Tipsy Oyster Tapas and Bar uniquely serves their oysters with eclectic flavours ranging from South East Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and beyond. We found the oysters enticing, but our preference still lies with having them naked and raw.

Oysters, here we come!

A mix

Pohutukawa tree, Paihia

        After our lunch of oysters, we strolled around the pretty town of Paihia and managed to do a bit of souvenir hunting. Soon, it was time to move on to our destination of the day --- Kerikeri, another town in the Bay of Islands. It was a mere 26-minute drive away. We met our Airbnb hostess, Judith, a sweet lady from Cornwall who decided to make New Zealand her home as her son is living here. She bought The Old Packhouse, which used to be where they packed the local produce like oranges. Judith welcomed us with an iced lemonade and some homemade cakes, and we were so grateful for that as well as some insight into the local area.

        For our accommodation (RM375.33), we were given access to the entire upper floor. It was so clean, comfortable and cozy, with a lot of handmade touches like quilts and cushions. After freshening ourselves up, we were out to explore Kerikeri's Rainbow Falls, an impressive and easily-accessible 27m tall single-drop waterfall. 

        Rainbow Falls was just a 4-minute drive away from Judith's accommodation. When we arrived, there were people taking a dip, and there were some daredevils that had somehow scrambled towards the backside of the falls to take the plunge. It was quite a laugh watching them, being so carefree and enjoying simple pleasures of life.

With my darling at Rainbow Falls

        After Mr. Photographer had his fill of Rainbow Falls, we decided to go for an early dinner at the nearby Chang Siam Thai Restaurant, which had favourable TripAdvisor reviews. It seemed to be very popular among the locals too. Fortunately, we there fairly early so even though we had not made reservations, there was still a table for us.

Thai dinner at Kerikeri

        There was still good summer light around, so we decided to drive to The Stone Store, a 6-minute drive away. The Stone Store was built in 1832 to hold Church Mission supplies and is now New Zealand's oldest surviving stone building. We had a leisurely stroll around the lovely grounds.

The Stone Store

Relaxing outside Kemp House