Bike Problems and Seven Hour Bus Rides

So... we're still in Paihia. I think it's my favorite place so far, it's not too big, everything is close, and people are pretty nice. Yesterday, we decided to take advantage of our hostel's free bikes and kayaks. We biked out at about ten in the morning. We had barely gotten out of town when my chain fell off. I stopped, and tried to put it back on, but it was jammed! Sydney, Bretton, and I worked on it for a while, but to no avail. So we biked (I walked) back into town and hit the mechanic. He fixed it much quicker, only needing a socket wrench and a little pulling. He did it for free too! It was really nice. We decided to continue on the condition that I could not switch into first gear. That would be easy enough in Canada, but in New Zealand? It was harsh. There are so many ups and downs... at least I got a really good workout. But I was looking at everything by thinking of the way back. So if I was going down a hill, I was thinking about how hard it would be to get back up. But luckily, we chose a different route back. We saw Haruru Falls, which were alright. Then we went back, got groceries (I bought chocolate), and then went to the beach to go kayaking. It was a relaxing day after that. But I think I ate so much dark chocolate that I couldn't sleep last night. So... I was totally exhausted for our tour to Cape Reinga today. It was really good, we drove on 90 mile beach, right on the beach. It was beautiful! Other than the really long drive and the fact that my mp3 player decided to die, it was amazing. We went sandboarding on the sand-dunes. That was awesome, but we were totally covered in sand for the rest of the day. We had pasta with a white sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions, and brocolli today. It was pretty good. We're getting ready to leave for Thames tomorrow, I think it's a four hour bus ride. But everything is pretty good, the weather has been quite nice. I'm just trying to get rid of a lot of clothes right now, I definitely packed too heavy. Anyways... I'll talk to you all again soon. Hope all is well.