I got on the Stray bus in Auckland on Monday morning, and we proceeded to Mount Eden, which is the highest point in Auckland. Here's the view, and a cool map-type-thing they have at the top pointing to different places.
Home is just around the corner!
And speaking of feeling like home, guess what the first crop I saw outside the city was?
But not to worry. We were soon out into the proper NZ countryside and over the Coromandel Mountains for a view of Hahei (pronounced hah-HEY).
After arriving at our hostel/campsite, we went down to the beach and I went sea kayaking with four other people from my group. It was so fun, but hard on the arms! We went to Cathedral Cove, which I can honestly say is the most beautiful place I think I've ever seen in person.
We also paddled out to a couple of small islands with caves through them which we went through, but I was too scared of dropping my camera in the water to take pictures. The water was so clear you could look down through the coral and sea weed to see schools of fish swimming below you! It was amazing.
Then we had dinner (I've been eating peanut butter, bread and apricots for the past two days. Delicious, but getting a little old) and went to bed.
This morning we got up, drove from Hahei back over the mountains and across to the other side of the North Island, waking up facing the Pacific and tonight we fall asleep looking at the Tasman Sea. On the way we stopped by Paeroa, the town with bubbly springs where New Zealand's national drink used to be made (before being bought out by The Man, aka Coca-Cola). I had some, which is still made from Paeroa bubbly water and lemon, and it was quite good!
Then we went on to Raglan, the world famous surfing town where "The Endless Summer" was filmed. It's famous partly for it's fairly constant waves, but also for it's left hand surf break, which means that the waves break around a peninsula which allows the waves to travel for longer without breaking.
This afternoon, I had my first surf lesson. Let's just say that the surf school gets 90% of people standing on their first day out, and I was not one of those 90%. Today I became aware of my flimsy upper body strength and pretty much non-existent sense of balance. But I have not been thwarted! Tomorrow I WILL stand, and I will catch a nice wave. I will ride that board if it kills me.
Or maybe not kills me. Maybe just maims me until I can't stand anymore.
Thankfully I have a peaceful place to rest my head tonight, in preparation for another day in the waves, which is seriously the best workout I can think of. Here's the view from my room:
2 comments:
Yes, you have an audience (of sorts, haha). If I were in your shoes, though, and the internet was costing me too much, I'd start writing a few "blog posts" on a Word doc on my computer, and then copy and paste a few at once when I have internet access. You can even date them like journal entries, if you're aiming to keep a "proper record" of your early adventures.
But that's probably just me and my ridiculous, penny-pinching ways...
I like photos ! Thanks for these. I love the term Stray bus. Where does the name come from ? It looks beautiful over there. Can tell that you're having fun. When is sunrise and sunset there now?
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