Lighthouses and Crayfish

I am writing this from my cabin on the shores of Lake Taupo. Tomorrow is going to be one of the splurges of my trip, a 15,000 foot skydive. The tent has a night off because Walter and I have compromised on paying for accommodation with a hot shower every 3 to 4 days.
We have spent the last few days traveling down the entire west coast of the country all the way from the Northern-most point at Cape Reinga. At the advice of everyone we met we decided to take a guided tour to the top of the country since it is the only way you can experience driving on 90 Mile beach without risking your rental car joining the other rusted hulks along the way (the beach is considered a legal road!) While I thought I had found the most annoying driver in New Zealand on the shuttle from the Port to Lyttleton on the Cruise (he had just discovered his microphone and spent the whole trip either breathing into it or enthralling us with every mundane detail of his life) however the driver on our tour was batting for the fences. For 8 hours Walter and I had to endure his cackling over the bus speakers at every half assed attempt at a joke he uttered. I pray that one day he will discover that he is the only one laughing. Despite some minor cochlear bleeding we made it to Cape Reinga. There one of the passengers on our bus, Luke from Ohio had his last cigarette before he began his walk down to Bluff at the southern tip of the southern island. He looked like a man being marched off to the chair to me.
From there Walter and I worked our way down the west coast. A rainy day spent in the lovely home of my friends from the cruise Dan and Sarah was a welcome respite from the tent. Their dog Chopper is blessed / cursed with a very prominent pair. While this makes him very popular with the ladies he is very susceptible to testicular sunburn. Therefore on sunny days Sarah is tasked with making sure that Chopper has sunscreen where needed. Not every owner would do that for their dog.
After Hamilton Walter and I headed to the west coast. We split up so he could relax while I climbed Mt. Taranaki. Afterwards we stepped into a cafe to fill up our water and I inquired about a campsite. We were directed by an eager patron to a boating club a few kilometers down the road. This was far and away the best campsite yet in New Zealand. It is essentially the lawn of a yachting club that a wonderful local couple decides to live on during the summer months. The following morning we were treated by Jeff and Diane to an enormous english breakfast and then an invitation onto a local fishing boat. We weren't going to say no to a free day at sea and afterwards we were rewarded for our efforts with a 1.5 kilo Crayfish (the lobster of New Zealand,) one of many that our hosts had caught. We were the envy of our campsite that night since a crayfish of that size sells for over $100 in the store.
I have a few more days with Walter and then I am on my own for real. I still haven't found a job but I intent to try my prospects down south.