We first learned the term “Ratbag” from our tour guide down in Abel Tasman.
He used it to describe the Kiwi Experience (a local tour company) crowd who ½ km into a 16K paddle had to stop because they were too hungover from the night before.
We’ve embraced this term and run with it.
In our travels so far, we’ve seen that the Base backpacker chain generally attracts mostly Ratbags, while YHA’s have drawn a more diverse and usually more mature crowd. (Yes, we’re old.)
Our options were limited trying to find a triple up in the Bay of Islands and the Base Pipi Patch offered what seemed to be the best room at the best rate. When we booked a room with an ensuite bathroom and kitchenette, we figured we wouldn’t have too many problems with the ratbags. That may have been true, had the person on the phone actually made the reservation. No worries, instead we were given the makeup deal of two doubles for the same price and tried to make the best of it.
With some relatively clear weather on Saturday, we tried to squeeze in some fun in the last few hours of daylight. We started with a coastal walk around Paihia checking out some of the many islands from a distance. Next we checked out the i-site for the lowdown on things to do. Our attention was immediately drawn to Actionworld, which promised trapeze, circus walk, a jousting log, mini golf and more.
We were disappointed to find out that we were too late for all the activities but the mini golf, but we could come back the next day. Mini golf was challenging. The brochure warned that you could easily leave hating the place as there are no barriers and the ball can end up anywhere. The par 7 was a particularly tough navigation of the Nile River, but our favorite hole was easily the one involving a shot up a sheep’s bum. Good times!
With Crystal joining us here in Paihia, we though it appropriate to kick start Sunday with our traditional pancake party. It felt just like old times, well if you consider March old times. Anyway, of course we were psyched to be hanging with Crystal for another weekend. Sunday brought more rain and without much to do, we decided to see if we could escape the ratbags. There are heaps of hostels in town so we thought we’d try to find a better one. We ended up in the place next door and we love it. With no set plans until we leave on the 14th, we may just stay here a while (Actionworld reopens for the weekend on Friday so…)
It seemed our best option for rainy day entertainment would be to check out the historic sights just a few minutes north in Waitangi. It was here in 1840, the leaders of the Maori tribes signed a treaty with the British. It’s considered the birthplace of modern New Zealand. In between bursts or rain, we toured around the grounds and found some shelter from the rain in the Marae (Maori meeting house). Not as culturally significant but still fun, we spent the rest of the day watching American Psycho on the plasma tv in the lounge, played some rummy, and downed some pizza and brew at Salty’s.
The unquestionable highlight of the weekend came on Monday morning. The sun made a brief appearance so we tried to get some kayaking in. It took a while to get outfitted in the shack down the street, but eventually we were off to explore the bay. We had to battle some pretty stiff currents and after a while we gave up on our quest to make it to some small waterfalls. There were some decent sized swells and getting back to shore looked like it might be somewhat difficult.
Jen and Crystal started off well, heading in directly to shore. A wave came from behind spinning them up parallel to shore, just on the sand. We all had a slow motion moment as Crystal stood up (NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!), not seeing the next wave coming in. No one could move fast enough to save her as she tumbled into the water. The wave crashed over the kayak filling it to the brim with water. With the girls soggy, but otherwise fine, we enjoyed a good chuckle while deciding how to tell the kayak guy his boat was now filled with water. Even though we came back very early, we decided against asking for some money back and fled the scene of the crime.
After drying out, we grabbed a quick lunch and saw Crystal off to her bus. Of course, we’re very sad to see her go, but glad we had one more weekend together.
We're going to take our time here to "chillax" and hopefully take in the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga (and Actionworld) when we finally get a nice day.
Our options were limited trying to find a triple up in the 
With some relatively clear weather on Saturday, we tried to squeeze in some fun in the last few hours of daylight. We started with a coastal walk around Paihia checking out some of the many islands from a distance. Next we checked out the i-site for the lowdown on things to do. Our attention was immediately drawn to Actionworld, which promised trapeze, circus walk, a jousting log, mini golf and more.
With 
It seemed our best option for rainy day entertainment would be to check out the historic sights just a few minutes north in Waitangi. It was here in 1840, the leaders of the Maori tribes signed a treaty with the British. It’s considered the birthplace of modern 
The unquestionable highlight of the weekend came on Monday morning. The sun made a brief appearance so we tried to get some kayaking in. It took a while to get outfitted in the shack down the street, but eventually we were off to explore the bay. We had to battle some pretty stiff currents and after a while we gave up on our quest to make it to some small waterfalls. There were some decent sized swells and getting back to shore looked like it might be somewhat difficult.
Jen and Crystal started off well, heading in directly to shore. A wave came from behind spinning them up parallel to shore, just on the sand. We all had a slow motion moment as 
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