Exploring New Zealand on Foot: Paihia and Russell

Our time in Paihia was quite nice. The hostel we stayed in was nice. We shared a bunk room with 2 other people which could become quite annoying after enough time. However, we only stayed 3 nights which was perfect. Many of our days in Paihia were spent at the beach and not much else. After 3 nights in Paihia we took a quick ferry ride over to Russell. This island is very small and has a real beach town feel. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast which was nice but we were glad to move on after a few nights. Again we soaked up as many rays we could and were quite tan and burnt all in one. I spent my 23rd birthday in Russell. Nothing too fancy happened because Russell is quite small but we did have a nice dinner and went to a local pub to play pool with a few English guys. We are currently in Rotorua which was an 8 hour bus ride from the Bay of Islands. We are staying in such a fun and young hostel. After only minutes in Rotorua we decided to book another two nights here. There is so much to do. We plan to see a volcano, put local mud on our bodies and soak in natural hot springs. We also plan to see a glow worm cave, swim in Lake Rotorua, visit a Polynesian spa and much more. There is so much to and we will update you later. Below are pictures from Russell.
~ The Traveling Duo