erinmarie's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member erinmarie on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/erinmarie en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:19:49 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com Wait....I have to cook that? — Christchurch, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208427240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208427240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208427240/tpod.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:19:49 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Christchurch, New Zealand

To start my south Island tour, I flew down to christchurch and rented a car. Basically, I saw the whole city in 4 hours and learned a very valuable lesson..... stone grill is bad....

We stopped at a very nice pub and ordered our meals....little did we know that they would come out on rocks and we'd have to cook! no fun.....

The town square was really fun though, I played chess that was bigger than me and then I got lost at the Bridge of Rememberance.

On that note, we headed out to the west coast!
]]> I made it to the top! — Cape Reigna, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208939220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208939220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208939220/tpod.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:27:38 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Cape Reigna, New Zealand

On Easter Sunday I took a bus up to the very top of the North Island, Cape Reinga. We made a few good stops along the way too! Our first stop was to see the ancient Kauri trees which are extremely old, and I mean EXTREMELY old, and GIGANTIC. Pictures don't quite do them justice.


Next we headed up to Cape Reinga, which is considered to be sacred grounds by the Maori people. This place is stunning. At the very point of the Cape, the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. A white lighthouse overlooks the Cape, and a cool signpost that tells you just how far from home you really are.

After we stopped for lunch at a beach on the Pacific (on the east coast) and then drove over to the west coast to visit these huge sand dunes that have been created by the meeting of the oceans and the tides and such. The Kiwis have this little sport going that is something like sand-surfing. They take boggie boards to the very top of the dunes and then ride them down. I decided to give it a try. The walk up the dunes is killer, but the ride down is worth it!

When we'd had enough at the dunes, we drove right over to 90 mile beach. This is the beach that stretches all the way down the west coast of the very tip of the north island. It isn't actually 90 miles long, it is actually something like 64 miles long. The story goes: Back in the day, they used to drive cattle down the beach that had been shipped into the country at the Cape. They estimated that it took the cows a certain amount of days to walk 30 miles and somehow arrived at the conclusion that the beach was 90 miles long. Moral of the story: Don't rely on the cows.


We stopped at the famous Mangonui fish shop, which claims to have the best fish and chips on the north island. I'd agree with them! Then we headed back to Paihia!
]]> Sailing on the Bay of Islands! — Paihia, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208851440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208851440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1208851440/tpod.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:27:07 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Paihia, New Zealand

After my scuba excursion, I drove up to a nice little town called Paihia. Paihia is located right on the coast of the Bay of Islands. The Bay is amazing. There are something like 144 islands in this one little place. I decided that the best way to really see the Bay was by boat, so I booked a daytrip on a sailboat called the Gungha.
It was a really cool little boat owned by a man who takes out tourists in the summer in New Zealand and then sails over to Fiji for the rest of the year.

The boat took us into the bay and then we all went ashore to one of the islands to explore...or, in my case, lay on the beach for a couple of hours!
]]> PADI Certification at Poor Nights Islands — Poor Nights Islands, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1206058740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1206058740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1206058740/tpod.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:03:24 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Poor Nights Islands, New Zealand

The most awesome thing about New Zealand is their national holidays! Easter here lasts for a whole weekend! No one works on Good Friday and Easter Monday. This gave me just enough time for my last road trip!! I rented a car after work and drove up the east coast of the north island to Poor Nights Islands to finish my PADI Open Water Diver Certification. So after work on Wednesday I headed to Whangarei, which is close to Tutakaka(where the dive boat took off from) To finish my certification, I had to do 4 dives at the Poor Nights Islands, poor me!

The Poor Nights have been rated the number 7 dive spot in the world! Even though I was doing a lot of testing, the dives were awesome!! I met a few rays and more moray eels and passed my test...so I consider that a success!
]]> Happy St. Patty's Day from Rangitoto Island — Rangitoto Island, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1205737560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1205737560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1205737560/tpod.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:16:42 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Rangitoto Island, New Zealand

On St. Patty's Day, my flatmate, Jasmine, and our neighbor, Sake, decided to take the ferry out to Rangitoto Island. It's not a far ride over...only about 30 minutes or so. This is a believed to be extinct volcano that erupted about 600 yrs ago. The name Rangitoto means "Blood Red Sky" and is the youngest and largest of Auckland's volcanoes. To wrap up: A really big volcanic island with a great view of the city and QUITE a hike!

After a nice little picnic lunch we headed back to the city. There isn't much to do on the island, as there are no stores or even homes for that matter.
]]> The Coromandel Peninsula — Whitianga, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204973460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204973460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204973460/tpod.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:28:43 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Whitianga, New Zealand

Mary Ann and I left the first beach and drove up a few hours to Whitianga just in time for some evening kayaking in Mercury Bay. Whitianga is a little town that is located very close to several amazing beaches. My personal favorite part about this town is that in Maori WH is pronounced with a "f" sound....so this town is named fitianga.....strange. This pronunciation becomes a lot of fun for other NZ cities (such as Whakapapa--sound it out if you'd like!)

Since this was Mary Ann's grad finale, we decided to barbecue that night in our fun hostel! The next morning, she and I drove around the coast to Cathedral Cove, Cook Beach and hotwater beach to meet some of my friends from Hamilton (Rachel from USA and Sandra from Switzerland)

Cathedral cove is about an hours walk, uphill, both ways. Well worth it though, There is a huge rock that has been carved out over time....I've forgotten the reasons but it's amazing anyways! There are also a lot of great snorkeling spots around here. We tried to stop at one.. but the rain had ruined the visibility!!


Hot Water Beach is one HUGE tourist attraction. When we arrived, there were people EVERYWHERE digging holes into the beach. There is a certain stretch on this beach where hot water comes from underground! If you dig into the sand, you can create your own little spa tub right on the beach! It's interesting because the underground water is HOT, I almost burnt a toe off. The water in the ocean, however is FREEZING! Overall, lots of fun!





After a stop at Cooks Beach we headed back to Whitianga to celebrate Mary Ann's last night in New Zealand!!
]]> Beach time!! — Mt Maunganui, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204877400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204877400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204877400/tpod.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:49:16 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Mt Maunganui, New Zealand

After all that hard work the sun came out so we headed back up to the beaches at the base of Mt. Maunganui. Legend has it that if you visit, you'll return there 10 years late--let's hope! These beaches are so pretty!
]]> Eel Food! — Okere Falls, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204874460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204874460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204874460/tpod.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:58:48 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Okere Falls, New Zealand

Since the weather was no good up north...Mary Ann and I went back down towards Rotorua to do some white water rafting! Since we'd never been before we looked for some type of beginner course...didn't work though.

The only place open was the Kaituna, which is a Grade 5 (NOTE: the scale runs from 1-6). We decided Why not!


The Kaituna has 3 waterfalls and 14 rapids. It also boasts the highest commerically rafted waterfall in the world (7m or about 23 feet). Piece of cake, right? Kaituna itself means eel food. This river is pretty neat though because of the Maori history involved--the area is renowned for the tribal wars of the past. Behind and around the Waterfall exists caves used for the hiding of women and Children, and later the burial ground of Chief Tutea. There are many Maori Myths and Legends associated with this River known to the locals as Okere (waterfall).

So...we gave it a shot and succeeded!


]]> Tauranga! — Tauranga, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1205187420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1205187420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1205187420/tpod.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:33:13 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Tauranga, New Zealand

We headed up to the Bay of Plenty hoping for some beach time! Tauranga is a really nice little city on the harbour that we stayed in for a night. There were a lot of nice resturants and bars on the street we were staying on. The best park was the view from the hostel we stayed in! The weather wasn't too good though...notice the huge storm clouds!

Since we couldn't go to the beach the next morning because of the rain, Mary Ann and I were looking for something else to do and decided on white water rafting! So we headed back down south for a little adventure!
]]> Hamster Time! — Rotorua, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204842360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204842360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinmarie/1/1204842360/tpod.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:48:25 -0400 Moving to New Zealand!
Rotorua, New Zealand

On our way up to the Coromandel Peninsula I decided to stop at one of New Zealand's strangest attractions- ZORB. You jump in a big ball filled with water and get pushed down a hill...hamster style!
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