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I’ve had a pretty packed last few weeks, and haven’t really had much spare time…which is good. The pictures have already been loaded, but here is what I've been doing in writing...
Friday 3rd December I was taken up to Whangamata, a lovely town in the Coromandels, with John, Tracey, Dex and Cassie for Tracey’s birthday weekend. The journey up was very rainy, I haven’t seen rain like that in ages. Our accomodation for that night was in a police holiday home. Our plans for the weekend looked to be cancelled due to the weather but thankfully on Saturday (after rain in the morning) it all cleared up, and in the afternoon we were able to visit hot water beach, the journey took slightly longer than expected though because of flooded roads!!! Hot water beach is a nice place, at a certain area on the beach you can dig a hole in the sand and it will fill up with hot (sometimes boiling hot) water that has been heated due to geothermal rocks under the surface. Me and Cass tried cooking some mussels but the water wasn’t hot enough. On the way home however we stopped for a quick bite to eat in Tairua, Mussels in red thai sauce…gorgeous!!! Although, we had planned to go out on a boat around the coast on Saturday, we weren’t able to due to the size of the swells in the sea.
Sunday 5th we were able to go out on the boat…the swells had reduced in size and the weather was perfect. The Hahei explorer trip is an hour long, it travels up to 12kms, and took us to the coastal islands of the marine reserve, reefs, massive sea caves and bays, including the world famous Cathedral Cove. The magnificence of this natural Volcanic scenery is legendary and the approach by sea, combined with an insightful yet relaxed commentary further enhanced the experience. We managed to see some of the local wildlife…blue penguins and gannets diving for food. We were taken through a couple of awesome caves, at one point we ventured through a sea cave underground into a gigantic rock cylinder 80 feet high - truly a magical place! I’d definitely recommend this trip to anyone coming to NZ, a really enjoyable experience. After we had finished the trip we walked to Gemstone Cove so me and Cassie could do some snorkelling, but the tide was in and there was no where to sit on the beach, so we walked back to Hahei beach to chill and sunbathe…the sun was out all afternoon and I got pretty burnt (even with sun cream on!) Me and John tried some body surfing also, which was pretty fun.
We left mid-afternoon to get home early so everyone could get ready for the week ahead…I had to get ready for my first trip on the Stray bus!
Monday 7th - Auckland to Paihia (Bay of Islands), my bus left Auckland at around 8pm and our first stop was to see Tane Mahuta - an 800 year old Kauri Tree…he was huge! We then stopped off at Goat Island Marine Reserve, a beautiful place, we had the chance to have a free glass bottom boat trip around the bay, pretty cool and we got to see loads of wildlife…Snapper, Mao Mao’s (fish), Eagle Rays, Brown striped Wrasse’s and a few local birds. After the boat trip we got the chance to go snorkelling for half an hour, the water was pretty cold but it was worth it to be able to see some fish…I’d never been snorkelling before either, so another first experience on my travels! Our final stop before Paihia took us to Whangarei Falls, a beautiful place to be, the sound of the water was just so relaxing, you wouldn’t think that about a waterfall but it felt so tranquil being there.
We stayed in the Pipi Patch Base Hostel, a minute walk from the beach. That night we played beer pong…and by half 9 I was in bed hahaha!
Tuesday 8th I went kayaking in the bay with Ryan (Chicago) and Katie (Scotland) for 2 hours, for $20 you could not go wrong, the views from the islands were really nice, and it was great to get out and get those views rather than standing on the shore looking out. We stopped off at some of the small islands in the bay, and had a quick swim, nice and chilled. I had to be back at 2pm though because I’d booked a charter boat fishing trip for the afternoon, where I caught quite a lot of Snapper, my biggest catch being close to 5lbs…nice size fillets off of that one! We were out fishing for 4 hours, and caught about 3-4 keepers each, which were filleted for us. So my tea was sorted for the next few days. I managed to get the chef (who was cooking a BBQ at the hostel) to cook my fish for me, cooked in foil with butter and lemon…beautiful! That night we had a quiz night…our team came 2nd I think.
Wednesday 9th - Cape Reinga trip. 7.15am departure. We drove on Ninety mile beach along the west coast of the north tip of NZ, The name Ninety Mile Beach is a bit strange because it is actually 55 miles (88 Kilometers) long. The reason for its name is unknown. Several theories have been put forward, the most common stemming from the days when missionaries travelled on horse back. On average a horse could travel 30 miles (48 km) in a day before needing to be rested. The beach took three days to travel therefore earning it the title Ninety Mile Beach, but the missionaries did not take into account the slower pace of the horses walking in the sand, thus thinking they had travelled 90 miles (140 km) when in fact they had only travelled 55. It is used as an alternative road to State Highway 1 north of Kaitaia, though mainly for tourist reasons, or when the main road is closed due to landslides or floods. So we drove on the beach for ages, stopping off to pick some Pipi’s (shellfish) along the shore - where we got soaked by the waves, and then we stopped off on the huge sand dunes for some sand surfing - great fun…and free! The bus lent us some body board type boards and sent us down the slopes, where we picked up some speed, so fun! However the worst part was getting to the top of the dunes, as the sand was so fine you’d take 2 steps and actually only make the distance of one step, it also killed my calf muscles! We had 3 goes each then moved up to Cape Reinga.
The name of the cape comes from the Māori word 'Reinga', meaning the 'Underworld'. Another Māori name is 'Te Rerenga Wairua', meaning the leaping-off place of spirits. Both refer to the Māori belief that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld. A pretty amazing place, as you could see quite clearly where the two seas (Tazman - West, and the Pacific - East) meet off the point. There is also a tree down on the rocks where the Maori’s believed that the spirits would climb down to leap off into the sea. This is very sacred and spiritual to the Maori people.
On the way home we stopped of at an Ancient Kauri tree forest, at an old gum diggers area. We got to see some ancient kauri’s that were 140,000 years old that had not fossilized or even rotted underground. They had been exposed during the gum digging era in NZ. We then stopped off at a shop that carves old Kauri trees (from elsewhere in NZ) into some lovely looking sculptures. There was a stair case that had been carved into a kauri tree stump. Your probably thinking why the big deal about these trees…well…kauri trees once covered NZ, but when the European settled they used the kauri trees as perfect masts for their boats, as well as for general ship building. The kauri forests became empty with only a small few remaining. After years and years of felling, the NZ government issued a ban on all kauri logging. It is still illegal to cut down kauri’s, as the trees are indigenous to NZ - the trees are only native to this country. On the way back to the hostel we stopped off for some fish and chips at the world renowned Monganui Fish and Chip shop, the snapper there was really tasty.
Thursday 10th I went kayaking again with Jen, Annabel and Hannah who had just moved into my dorm. Really enjoyable to get out on the water again, and these 3 were really good to get on with. We then all bought some drink and drank in the room before going to the bar to see in my 21st! A very good night, which ended up with a swim in the sea at 1.30am, and a Jacuzzi until 5am! What a great way to see in your 21st.
Friday 11th - My Birthday!!!
I hardly had any sleep the night before, and I had to be up at 7am to go on a dolphin watching boat trip. The weather was perfect, and the sea was like a millpond. It didn’t take long to see dolphins, they are such wonderful creatures, really inquisitive and enjoyable to watch. We were only able to swim with the dolphins if they had no young with them, unfortunately the first 3 pods of bottlenose dolphins we saw all had young with them, but thankfully the last pod of common dolphins didn’t. So we stripped down into our swim shorts and prepared ourselves with the snorkelling gear. We got close enough and slid in to the (freezing cold) sea…only to find that the dolphins swam away! So we got back in and sailed back to where they were, but they kept swimming away, so we gave up! A little bit disappointing, but I got the chance to see loads of them, on my 21st in NZ, which to me was special enough!
After the trip ended I got the Stray bus back to Auckland, and got picked up and taken back to John’s, where Tracey was making some fresh mussels in green thai sauce for tea…beautiful…much better than the ones we had at the restaurant. A great (but chilled out) end to a great week!
Saturday - Bungy time!
My bungy jump was booked for 2.30pm, so my morning was pretty relaxed. We got to the Auckland Harbour bridge and signed me in…John and Dex came along too, and originally it was just me jumping but Dex was easily persuaded. The jump didn’t look to high as we were walking up, but when we got to the pod the nerves set in. Unfortunately for Dex his name was called up first. And after watching him jump I started to think what I had let myself in for! I got called up not long after, and whilst sat in the chair, I started to get real nervous. As I walked to the end of the (really small) platform, my legs were shaking uncontrollably. I waved goodbye to the cameras, then 1..2..3..jump! What an adrenaline rush, such a great feeling! It seemed like ages that I was falling, and then before I knew it I was being pulled back to the pod. I was pulled up, and yet my legs were shaking like mad still. What an experience though…loved every second of it! So thanks Richie for an ace birthday present. After the jump I was treated to a BurgerFuel meal, I love that place!
Me and Dex, along with his mate Scott spent the night in Auckland at the Crowne Plaza…drinking obviously! We got in at 2am, and went and had a sauna in the hotel…random but fun!
This last week I have also been on the stray bus, and have managed to see a fair bit of the north island.
On Monday the bus took us to Mount Eden, which had some good panoramic views of Auckland, then out to hot water beach where we had a little bit of a go in the hot pools again, then we moved on to Hahei (where I visited before with John and Tracey). The group decided to take a walk down to Cathedral Cove, which took us about an hour from our holiday park accommodation. We basically chilled out on the beach for a while, I tries some snorkelling but the sea was filled with fish eggs (small, clear, jelly like pods) and swimming was horrible so I gave up.
Tuesday I had originally planned to stay in Hahei an extra day, but decided to go with the group to Raglan. On the way we stopped off at the Twin Kauri trees and gave them a kiss and a hug for good luck that day - worked out well as the weather was sunny! Our next stop was at Paeroa, famous for it’s local drink Lemon and Paeroa - basically lemonade but with an extra secret ingredient, that stuff is lovely. I had a picture outside the café with a huge bottle.
We finally arrived in Raglan, where I surfed for a few hours…as it’s a small surfing town, the waves were big and strong and I wasn’t able to get out past the breakers so I just stayed in the shallows and got some small rip waves. That night we played some drinking games, and on my way down to the hostel/lodge at 1am I stumbled across a flying fox zip wire and thought it’d be fun to go on it in the pitch black…and yes it was fun, dodgy but fun. I also managed to see loads of glow worms out in the bush as I walked back.
On Wednesday I stayed in Raglan, we went for a bush walk, just behind the lodge we were in which took about an hour…very steep terrain, I never thought I’d do so much exercise whilst travelling. After a quick walk to the beach we just chilled and watched some films before an early night, just what I needed ready for a busy day on Thursday.
Thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes on here, via text and also on facebook, and also a big thanks to those who I was with on my birthday and also at the weekend, it was a really enjoyable, unforgetable 12st birthday. Thanks for making it what it was, i really appreciated it!
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