Days 92-94 - Tongariro Nat park - Paekakariki

Trip Start Nov 29, 2007
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Trip End Mar 27, 2008


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Sunday, February 24, 2008

It was a beautiful drive through mountain scenery to the coast. As we made our way out of Tongariro National Park, we left the dull, low cloud and it was a beautiful, bright, sunny day. We stopped for breakfast at a little cafe which was lovely and it took us about four hours to get to Paekakariki which is approx a 45 minute drive from Wellington. It is a very small village with a few shops, couple of cafe's and a very pretty black sand beach.
We booked into the campsite and I went off to make some phone calls. I changed our ferry booking and we leave for the South Island the day after tomorrow. I also contacted 'skydive the sounds' which is a company that operates out of Picton which is where the ferry drops us off. I booked us in for 3pm the day after we arrive in Picton and they will pick us up from the campsite. It is more expensive than the Taupo skydive but the Marlborough Sounds is a very pretty place to do it and I think we will get some great views. Lets hope the weather holds. It is a lovely day here and we both did some sunbathing and then had a walk along the beach. It was much warmer here that night and we both had a good sleep after our early start this morning.
The next day we went for a drive to have a look at the coastline. Dean forgot that he'd left his flip-flops on top of the van and they did a skydive onto the highway, never to be seen again by the time he remembered he had left them there. We had a good laugh about that, he's had those flip-flops since the start of our trip in Thailand and they stank anyway. The coastline here is stunning, mountains meet the sea and the scenery is fantastic. We drove up to the next bay - there was nothing there but it was very pretty and we took a few pic's.
In the village where we are staying we found a place that rents out DVDs so we got to watch something decent for a change. We also met a couple here; Dave and Kath who live in Sheffield which is where I work. Dave actually teaches in Barnsley, it is so bizarre to meet local people at the opposite side of the world. They are a nice couple and we swapped e-mail adresses, I am going to have a lot of e-mailing to do when I get back home with all these new people we have met.
We have both enjoyed a relaxing few days in this little place and the sun was kind to us. We are looking forward to the South Island and a whole new adventure.
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