Hollister's travel blogs:
|
|
  | |  |
On the beach!
Entry 50 of 67 | show all | print this entry |
|
Again, too much to add so it's back dated!
We arrived in the popular coastal town of Mount Mauganui and were greeted by yet more rain! It's actually a very cool little town which is literally a tiny peninsula with a mountain right at the end of it. It's a little over populated now and they've man-made some kind of structure in the ocean to make more waves for the surfing competitions they have there which is a little odd but it's still beautiful there.
I met an Irish girl (Julie) and a Welsh girl (Nicky) at the hostel and we decided to go out for a few quiet drinks being as it was a Saturday night. We were just dicussing how dead the place was considering how many people lived there when a Maori stag party walked in and decided to talk to us. They were planning on going to a strip club but ended up coming to do some karaoke with us and then we all headed across the bridge into Tauranga (I think!) for some more partying. There was a lot more activity over there and we soon realised this wasn't going to be a quiet night at all! I spent a lot of the night hand cuffed to the stag and making him complete his slightly homosexual checklist that was written on the back of his shirt! We met a lot of the family along the way and were invited by their aunt to a hangi and also to the wedding but unfortunately we were only around for a few more days so we had to pass it up! We arrived home around 5am and quite literally stepped out of the taxi into torrential rain - we were drenched through in 5 seconds! Unbelievable! It was a night to be remembered though - even with the awful hangover the following day!
Not to be defeated I decided that being as I was in the town I should at least hike the mountain at the end of it. So, I walked into town and headed up - hangover in tow! It was a tough walk in that state and I thought I was going to die numerous times (so dramatic!). I also had a brief taster of skydiving - the wind was so strong at one point that it quite literally lifted me off the floor! It was crazy and probably not that safe being as there were no barriers but it was okay once I turned the corner! The views from the top were well worth the climb and aboslutely stunning. I chilled out for a while on the top and then headed back down. I had planned to go and sit in the hot salt water pools in the evening but I was just too tired to move again by the time I got back so I headed to bed for an early night!
The following morning we left for Whitianga - more beaches (with rain!)! On the way there we stopped off to walk down to Cathedral Cove - god knows how I'd walk that in the heat but it was just about bearable in the cooler weather! Again, it was well worth it and I felt like I was back in Thailand on the beach! I'm sure it's busier in the summer but we had the whole thing to ourselves! Perfect! A few photos (it was too cold to swim or sunbathe) and then on to hot water beach.
This was one of the coolest things I think I've done so far. You dig a hole in the sand and then hot water bubbles up into it and you can sit in it! Of course, we managed to steal someone elses big hot pool so we didn't have to work hard to dig one and it was so good! There we were, in the pretty cold weather with the rain falling, in bikinis and perfectly warm - in fact we burnt our feet and bums numerous times 'cos it was so hot and came out looking sunburnt even though we weren't! We took a few dips in the ice cold sea and then ran back screaming to the hot pool! Again, I find it slightly worrying that people happily live in these unstable places but they're cool to visit!
Absolutely covered in sand we moved on to Whitianga where a few of us went bone carving. I thought it would be a quick thing but 2 hours later we were still sitting there carving our bone into a Maori symbol. Being the impatient person I am I got more than slightly bored but I do like my little necklace simply because I made it! Having not eaten since 10 that morning by 6pm we were all starving and just wanted to get to the hostel! We had a nice big dinner then headed out into 'the town' for a few drinks.
'The town' was completely dead. There are a total of 3 bars there all of which were pretty empty. I did, however, manage to finally get to speak some Thai again! A new restaurant has opened in the town and a few of the staff were in one of the bars. The look on their faces when I asked them in Thai if they were Thai people was priceless! I had a little chat with them for about 10 minutes and then we headed back. I did promise to go back and eat at their restaurant but I'm still not sure I can stomach Thai food yet! It's worrying how much of a language you forget when you're not speaking it every day though.
The following morning Julie, Nicky and Luuk left me behind! I stayed in Whitianga a little too long considering how little there was to do there but 'cos the buses only go on certain days you don't really get a choice. I caught up on laundry and did the boring stuff. I then met Lisa from Germany and Geke from Holland and we took a little walk to a lookout point and a place called Lonely Beach which wasn't worth it at all - the cheesecake on the way back was though :) I thought I was finally going to watch "The Lord Of The Rings" but I ended up speaking to Coti (Chilean friend from Christchurch) about 10 minutes into the film so I missed it again! I just don't think I was meant to watch that film!
Today we headed to Auckland via a town called Peroa which is famous for a drink called L&P which is only available in New Zealand and I am yet to try! I'm not a huge fan of this city but am only here for one night this time. It's a little scary to me that Auckland has more people living it in than the whole of the south island has! Madness!
Will add more pics soon - just added some white water rafting ones to the last entry!
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by hollister, from New Zealand or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
8 votes 
