October - It started with Mark swimming the "600 Metres for 600 Men" fundraiser in the Nelson Port Bay. From 14 to 31 October we explored the Bay of Islands and Whangarei region of NZ's North Island. Russell, New Zealand in the Bay of Islands is QUAINT! We thoroughly enjoyed the coast line swimming from Russell around to Tekapa Coast track and Long Beach. Russell was the first capital of New Zealand. Across the bay in Pahia are the celebrated grounds of the Treaty of Waitangi. Our tour guide was a young Maori man with personal family stories and the impact of the British arriving in New Zealand. The treaty is an agreement between the British Crown and about 540 chiefs of various Maori tribes. Following Russell we walked the Cape Brett Track to a DOC hut and then returned. This was one of the more strenuous walks we have done here in NZ with Mark's fun Garmin calculating 5,000 feet of elevation - up and down, up and down, up and down... Fun fact - our new NZ friend, Kay, told us her grandfather was a lighthouse keeper at Cape Brett for a time. Continuing south along the east coast of the North Island we arrived in Ngunguru. We stayed five days here swimming the coast and walking beautiful tracks. Matapouri was a favorite beach with interesting iwi... We had a fun and action packed time with the Sossenheimer in Whangarei to finish our North Island travels. Linda has a fun group of open water swimmers who welcomed us in their swim adventures. Remnants of Cyclone Lola arrived and with it nice big waves and big wind. We finished our second swim just before the rain arrived! Pictures below...