Odd names: Whitianga, Tauranga

• Joeleeis's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Tauranga

Trip Start Feb 13, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 17, 2008 Next
Entry

  Tauranga, New Zealand
Sunday, February 24, 2008

Since I began this trip, I haven't stayed more than two days in any one place.  Today, though, I'm taking it easy and not doing anything except eating well and relaxing, two things that I really need right now.  Auckland was a pretty nice city, but nothing too exotic.  There are a TON of Asian people and restaurants there, so if I had more money I could've had my fill of loads and loads of Indian, Thai, and Japanese food.  I stayed at a huge hostel downtown near the Auckland Sky Tower, and it was a little tougher this time meeting people because it seemed like everyone was already traveling in groups.  The best conversation I had with someone was actually while I was waiting at the bus station to leave Auckland. 

I've been getting accustomed to the backpacker lifestyle but it can be tough at times.  It's been pretty tiring to move every two days, and now I'm settling for three in Tauranga.  I've picked up certain backpacking skills pretty quickly, such as hand-washing laundry, packing my bags efficiently, keeping my eyes and ears very open so I can create a map in my head of where everything is while I walk by, and so on.  Other skills have been a little tougher to pick up, especially cooking.  I've observed other backpackers and one of their best cost-saving tools is cooking great meals.  In the beginning, I wanted to buy a lot of things that didn't need refrigeration so I could take them with me, but it was tough.  For a few days, I ate one of the following meals:

- Peanuts, raisins, and shortbread cookies
- Ham and cheese sandwich, banana, yogurt
- Hot ham and cheese sandwich, banana
- Salami, ham, and cheese sandwich; peanuts
- Hot salami, ham, and cheese sandwich; raisins

I know a backpacker's diet isn't normally that great, but I was suffering big time.  A few times, I had peanuts, raisins, and bananas for both breakfast and lunch.  I've been trying to eat out only once a day and cook the other two meals.  Lately, I've been getting a little better but I've had to succumb to buying perishable goods. 

A few days ago I decided to go to a beach called Cathedral Cove near Whitianga, so called because it has a walk-through cave on the beach.  I decided the cheapest way to get there was by bike, so I rented one and started the 11-mile ride through the New Zealand countryside.  It was a little tough going, and at one point I stopped to take some pictures when two Norwegian girls on bikes passed by.  I caught up with them to say hello, and found out they were going to the same place I was.  Unfortunately for me, we were going down a big hill and I decided to use it to my advantage by speeding up and coasting on my momentum.  I decided to tell the girls I had to take advantage of the hill and that I'd see them there.  Of course, the moment I started speeding up I thought I needed to stay ahead of them, and less than five minutes later they'd already overtaken me.  I should've known they were fast since they started the trip after me and caught up with me.  Oh well.  Once I got there I realized it was still at least a half-hour hike to the beach, and my legs were really tired.  Somehow, after a few hours of being on the beach, I was able to make the hike and bike back to the town. 

Yesterday, I took a bus to Mt. Maunganui in the town of Tauranga, where I hiked to the top in about twenty minutes.  On the way up, there were grazing fields for sheep and at the top, I could see pretty good views of the town and the ocean.  Afterwards, I went to the hot pools, which are filled with naturally hot salt water.  It only cost NZ$9 for the day, which was nice because I tried going to a similar place in Costa Rica and they tried to charge me US$40 for just a few hours.  It was nice to soothe my muscles, which were tired from both the bike ride and the hike up the mountain.

I'm happy to be traveling in NZ, but this place sometimes feels like it's not a very big challenge.  I think part of the adventure is lost because it seems pretty safe, people speak English, and transportation is very efficient.  Don't worry, Family, I still keep my guard up.  I decided to mail my guidebook home along with some other stuff that I thought wasn't essential, like an extra alarm clock, a fleece, and a book I finished reading.  Instead, I'm traveling without any agenda in mind and just choosing cities which sound interesting or have been recommended to me.  Once I get to towns, I stop by the I-Sites, or visitor information centers, to find lodging and activities.  This should be good training for traveling in the future without guidebooks. 

Anyway, I need to get back to relaxing and eating well.  I've posted a few more pictures, so until my next post...

Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry