Waitomo caves
Igna not only booked our bus ride to Waitomo but dropped us off at the bus stop quite early in the morning before heading to work. A sleepy ride there and we arrived with plenty of time to unload our bags at the hostel, have a little snack and even read before our ride came to pick us up for the pending adventure.
We arrived at Rap Raft and Rock to find a group just returning from a tour and another young couple waiting to go out on the next with us. The returning group looked happy and reassured us the trip would be fun and well worth it, not that wee were too worried about it but it's nice to hear they were satisfied since its not what you'd call a cheep experience. We had heard from so many people that it was worth the money so decided to take the plunge. Literally, after riding to what seamed like nowhere, gearing up with wetsuit, hot pink pants and harness we walked down to a cluster of trees in the middle of a slopped pasture. We were informed that the area was riddled with caves bellow and the openings to them usually are where a random bunch of tres are growing out of it. Off a platform we repelled down about 90 meters Into a dark wet cave with a river running right through it.
The walk up stream with tubes in hand was quite easy an well lit with our head lamps attached to helmets. Our informative guide, Simon with his British accent and good sense of humor kept us entertained until he had us set the tubes aside and turn off our lights in the pitch black space around us. I"m sort of nervous in the dark still like once of those childhood fears I've never gotten over. We could see the glow worms above and around us just barely lighting our space until BAM! All shocked from the random loud noise we could all of a sudden see the glow worms a million all around us almost like the night sky from the middle of the ocean with no light pollution. Simon had smashed his tube in the water supposedly heightening our flight or fight sense which opened the blood vessels in our eyes to see them more clearly. It worked cause the whole cave lit up to where we could even see each other's silhouettes.
These "glow worms", exclusive to Southern Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands were something spectacular beyond description all glowing together in a dark wet space. Up close they're just worms with slimy webs hanging from them to attract food in the form of other bugs and other glow worms. Cannibalistic little buggers but they don't live very long once the 6 month larva/worm period is over. They basically have one day in the form of little flies to mate as much as possible and at this point don't have mouths big enough to eat anything so why not just have a lot of sex!
Back to the tubes the 5 of us floated down the river in the dark again passing the spot we repelled down and going deeper down stream into the cave. After our thrill ride on tubes we walked farther and deeper, scaling rocks, crawling through small spaces and even going through holes under water that opened up to other parts of the cave. Stalactites and stalagmites hundreds of years old reminded me that i'm such a small part of this fascinating eco system I live in for only such a small amount of time in retrospect. Right before turning around we asked Simon for one last photo but unfortunately he couldn't "have evidence" of taking us as far as he had gone. The four of us were apparently far more ambitious and fit than most of his groups so he took us farther than normal. The five of us had a great time laughing most of the way out. We were so glad we got a good small group that we got along with and a really fun guide. Well spend money in our eyes!
Off to Abel Tasmen National park for a 3 or so day kayak adventure!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Family in NZ
Tauranga
After a 5 hr journey our arrival in Tauranga was welcomed by friendly faces and warm hearts of family long lost. Philip and Natalie were so kind to pick us up and introduce us to the area with a picturesque walk up and around Mnt, Maunganui from which we could see a 360 degree view of the Bay of Plenty. This also happens to be the spot Philip chose to propose to his beautiful bride almost a year ago which makes it that much more special.
This vast bay was still recovering from an oil spill caused by a freighter taking a short cut and run-a-ground spilling out not only loads of oil but much more cargo including people's personal items being shipped. The ship is still out there and they project it'll take about a year to get it all cleaned up. Apparently the crew had been partying the night before and by morning there was no turning back, literally.
The best meals are made by "mom"! A short ride to Te Puke took us to Tannic Igna's where she had a lovely spread made for the family's Sunday dinner with steak and real South African "worse" grilling on the brai filling the whole neighborhood with that distinct smell initiating a rush of memories of my childhood . Thanks to Marie's diligence and love for bringing family together we were actually sitting around the table with "family" in a far off land with an indescribable feeling of love and acceptance . Finding how we all fit in together and where we belong was a riot with uncle Lukas' humor intertwined. And by the end we knew how and where I came from and were my dad fit into the whole mix of past family not speaking for one reason or another.
We couldn't have asked for better tour guides and a more enjoyable experience the next day. Philip and Nat took us to Hamairana Spring by recommendation of Igna and we were so happy we went. Just along side the Rotorua Lake up a little stream walk through Redwood trees we found a beautiful spring of sweet crystal clear water gushing from the earth. At one point it was even bubbling from the ground agitating the sand above where the trout were swimming in the clear blue water. Absolutely beautiful and so sweet to the taste.
This ares of the country is filled with kiwi fruit farms that are unfortunately being attacked by a disease that still has no cure. A lot of the crops are having to be burned out and since it's still so new theres a lot of uncertainty of what they'll do next season.
New Zealand is known for having more cows and sheep than people so how appropriate that they took us to a dairy farm just outside Whakatane run by Nat's sister and brother-in-law. Even a thrill ride on the back of a truck holding on for dear life up to the top of a mountain for a spectacular view of the valley to the ocean and outlying islands in the Bay of Plenty. I could have stayed for days exploring that area and the extremely kind people. We returned to the Meyer house to cook the family a meal of delicious curry, and when I say "we" I mean Craig cooked an I chopped. Dinner table talk turned to South Africa and the current condition which of course has Craig's eyes big and beady with fear. Uncle Lukas continued the chat after everyone went home which left me with a feeling of strange homesickness and Craig wondering if our pending visit really is a good idea after all. South Africa still may not be the safest place to live but it's where my family lives and I tried to reassure him as much as possible that it's safe when you're with people who know where to go and where not to.
Thank you to every one of our Kiwi family for your absolute kindness and open armed hospitality. We had an inspiring time visiting and feeling your sincere love! And thank you Marie for your love of family and the importance of generational connection. xoxo
After a 5 hr journey our arrival in Tauranga was welcomed by friendly faces and warm hearts of family long lost. Philip and Natalie were so kind to pick us up and introduce us to the area with a picturesque walk up and around Mnt, Maunganui from which we could see a 360 degree view of the Bay of Plenty. This also happens to be the spot Philip chose to propose to his beautiful bride almost a year ago which makes it that much more special.
This vast bay was still recovering from an oil spill caused by a freighter taking a short cut and run-a-ground spilling out not only loads of oil but much more cargo including people's personal items being shipped. The ship is still out there and they project it'll take about a year to get it all cleaned up. Apparently the crew had been partying the night before and by morning there was no turning back, literally.
The best meals are made by "mom"! A short ride to Te Puke took us to Tannic Igna's where she had a lovely spread made for the family's Sunday dinner with steak and real South African "worse" grilling on the brai filling the whole neighborhood with that distinct smell initiating a rush of memories of my childhood . Thanks to Marie's diligence and love for bringing family together we were actually sitting around the table with "family" in a far off land with an indescribable feeling of love and acceptance . Finding how we all fit in together and where we belong was a riot with uncle Lukas' humor intertwined. And by the end we knew how and where I came from and were my dad fit into the whole mix of past family not speaking for one reason or another.
We couldn't have asked for better tour guides and a more enjoyable experience the next day. Philip and Nat took us to Hamairana Spring by recommendation of Igna and we were so happy we went. Just along side the Rotorua Lake up a little stream walk through Redwood trees we found a beautiful spring of sweet crystal clear water gushing from the earth. At one point it was even bubbling from the ground agitating the sand above where the trout were swimming in the clear blue water. Absolutely beautiful and so sweet to the taste.
This ares of the country is filled with kiwi fruit farms that are unfortunately being attacked by a disease that still has no cure. A lot of the crops are having to be burned out and since it's still so new theres a lot of uncertainty of what they'll do next season.
New Zealand is known for having more cows and sheep than people so how appropriate that they took us to a dairy farm just outside Whakatane run by Nat's sister and brother-in-law. Even a thrill ride on the back of a truck holding on for dear life up to the top of a mountain for a spectacular view of the valley to the ocean and outlying islands in the Bay of Plenty. I could have stayed for days exploring that area and the extremely kind people. We returned to the Meyer house to cook the family a meal of delicious curry, and when I say "we" I mean Craig cooked an I chopped. Dinner table talk turned to South Africa and the current condition which of course has Craig's eyes big and beady with fear. Uncle Lukas continued the chat after everyone went home which left me with a feeling of strange homesickness and Craig wondering if our pending visit really is a good idea after all. South Africa still may not be the safest place to live but it's where my family lives and I tried to reassure him as much as possible that it's safe when you're with people who know where to go and where not to.
Thank you to every one of our Kiwi family for your absolute kindness and open armed hospitality. We had an inspiring time visiting and feeling your sincere love! And thank you Marie for your love of family and the importance of generational connection. xoxo
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Photos
We've switched to Picasa since it's far more compatible with the Ipad and less frustrating in every way! There's now a link to the right that you an click on to see some of the photos we've been able to download slowly but surely. Enjoy them and look forward to a more organized system soon enough!
The Coromandel
Coromandel
Loved the people so kind and friendly everywhere we went. Coromandel town or what to us was oyster land thanks to our bus driver taking us right to the door of the distribution center. Up the 309 on our free bikes from Anchor Lodge past a wild pig farm and Water Works, a water park concocted of recycled things like bikes, toilets and bathtubs galore. Creative to say the least though we didn't try the rides it's uniqueness appeared from the first step onto the property. Said to be the largest water park in NZ.
Kauri trees are famous here not only for the massive size but their species dating back to dinosaur times. They do have strange prehistoric feel to them or something out of avatar. Definitely ones to hug.
Whitianga, a small town where we finally found some free Wifi which turned out to be quite slow but free still nice and quite rare in this expensively beautiful country.
Just a minute ferry ride across the bay we landed on the road we'd hitch hike from to Cathedral Cove from with our new friend Simon from Quebec. (hitchig short rides in this country is very common and entirely safe we've come to find, and it turns out it's the best way to meet the locals). His French accent has you wondering where he's really from but he turned out to he quite a unique 23 yr old just out of law school traveling to decide what he really wants to do with his life. Long hair and a red beard like Jesus shows he's a weathered traveler with loads of advice he was nice enough to impart to us. His time in SE Asia proved to be a good learning ground from unfortunate experienced and some lucky learning. He was kind enough through stories to teach us about the people and ways to get around trouble. First week of the trip and we learned how to save money on laundry that seems to be a rip off everywhere you go. At 2 dollars a scoop of soap and average of 7 dollars to wash and dry its a trick we dared not fall for. We had been doing it by hand from day one with the soap strips we bought in the US but with our new trick with the machines we can wash for free. Just one of the many gifts Simon gave us!
We got picked up by a very nice local "mucking around for the day" with his son who's a life guard at one of the tourist traps we never made it to. We did find a black sand beach swirled with the deteriorating white sand stone. "Magic sand "beach is what we named it as we played around and made designed in the colors. Farther up we searched for the well known clams that are said to grow as big as oxygen dive tanks of which you're allowed 20 per person per day. We didn't find any in the cold shallow water and may have been too far north anyway. But we searched and had a blast doing it.
We stopped for a rest on another unnamed beach we called Salt and Pepper beach for its even mix of heavier black sand that sat right bellow the white. A quick nap and we headed back again for another try home with our thumbs and met some more great people on holiday or just heading home from a day at the beach. It was well worth the experience and the people we met.
Loved the people so kind and friendly everywhere we went. Coromandel town or what to us was oyster land thanks to our bus driver taking us right to the door of the distribution center. Up the 309 on our free bikes from Anchor Lodge past a wild pig farm and Water Works, a water park concocted of recycled things like bikes, toilets and bathtubs galore. Creative to say the least though we didn't try the rides it's uniqueness appeared from the first step onto the property. Said to be the largest water park in NZ.
Kauri trees are famous here not only for the massive size but their species dating back to dinosaur times. They do have strange prehistoric feel to them or something out of avatar. Definitely ones to hug.
Whitianga, a small town where we finally found some free Wifi which turned out to be quite slow but free still nice and quite rare in this expensively beautiful country.
Just a minute ferry ride across the bay we landed on the road we'd hitch hike from to Cathedral Cove from with our new friend Simon from Quebec. (hitchig short rides in this country is very common and entirely safe we've come to find, and it turns out it's the best way to meet the locals). His French accent has you wondering where he's really from but he turned out to he quite a unique 23 yr old just out of law school traveling to decide what he really wants to do with his life. Long hair and a red beard like Jesus shows he's a weathered traveler with loads of advice he was nice enough to impart to us. His time in SE Asia proved to be a good learning ground from unfortunate experienced and some lucky learning. He was kind enough through stories to teach us about the people and ways to get around trouble. First week of the trip and we learned how to save money on laundry that seems to be a rip off everywhere you go. At 2 dollars a scoop of soap and average of 7 dollars to wash and dry its a trick we dared not fall for. We had been doing it by hand from day one with the soap strips we bought in the US but with our new trick with the machines we can wash for free. Just one of the many gifts Simon gave us!
We got picked up by a very nice local "mucking around for the day" with his son who's a life guard at one of the tourist traps we never made it to. We did find a black sand beach swirled with the deteriorating white sand stone. "Magic sand "beach is what we named it as we played around and made designed in the colors. Farther up we searched for the well known clams that are said to grow as big as oxygen dive tanks of which you're allowed 20 per person per day. We didn't find any in the cold shallow water and may have been too far north anyway. But we searched and had a blast doing it.
We stopped for a rest on another unnamed beach we called Salt and Pepper beach for its even mix of heavier black sand that sat right bellow the white. A quick nap and we headed back again for another try home with our thumbs and met some more great people on holiday or just heading home from a day at the beach. It was well worth the experience and the people we met.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
A ferry ride to life.
The amount of little islands around this area are incredible and make for an absolutely stunning coastal view. Each ferry ride has taken us on a new adventure of meeting wonderful new people both local and visitors. Last night we stayed in a colorful place called Backpackers on the Beach in Whitianga right on the water with loads of other people from all over the world. Dinner time brought us all around the table for what turned out to be quite and excited conversation and thanks to the current world financial situation there was plenty to get lightly heated over. A few Germans, French, Irish, one Canadian and the two of us all with our own views and experiences of the world and each other's county. It was a friendly chat of course with no hard feelings but extremely eye opening and enlightning! I felt so lucky to be alive at this unique time that we're living in and couldn't help but wonder what has to happen to make it better and what our children will have to say about "history" when they're our age sitting around a table with people from all over the world.
We're off again on this bright sunny day to a town called Tauranga where we're meeting long lost family from my father's side. It's exciting to think we have family we've never met let alone knew about! The bus ride down from the Coromandel Region where we have been should be another beautiful journey as each bus ride has been. It's not worth being tired on any of the trips from place to place because sleeping just seems a waste of good scenery. We are loving New Zealand for the beauty and we haven't even been to the South Island yet where they say it's even more stunning. The prices here are nothing to be desired but it's the price you pay for beauty I guess. We're on the search for a tent and sleeping bags now. We hear it's the way to go on a budget and also to get off the backpackers beaten track. It has been extremely fun to get to know so many people from all over the world though. This is one thing that I think only hosteling can bring.
xoxo
We're off again on this bright sunny day to a town called Tauranga where we're meeting long lost family from my father's side. It's exciting to think we have family we've never met let alone knew about! The bus ride down from the Coromandel Region where we have been should be another beautiful journey as each bus ride has been. It's not worth being tired on any of the trips from place to place because sleeping just seems a waste of good scenery. We are loving New Zealand for the beauty and we haven't even been to the South Island yet where they say it's even more stunning. The prices here are nothing to be desired but it's the price you pay for beauty I guess. We're on the search for a tent and sleeping bags now. We hear it's the way to go on a budget and also to get off the backpackers beaten track. It has been extremely fun to get to know so many people from all over the world though. This is one thing that I think only hosteling can bring.
xoxo
Thursday, November 10, 2011
A New Zealand welcome
Auckland
6 Nov 2011, Indy to Chicago to LA to Auckland = 24 hrs. The 13 hr flight to Auckland was wonderful with Air New Zealand seats being comfortable and giving up both dinner and breakfast with free NZ wine and an assortment of drinks and movies to watch. Definitely recommend them!
Landed 8 Nov 2011 @ 8:15am. (lost a day of our lives). Customs took our sandwiches we'd saved for the flight from LA but since they fed us we were saving them for lunch. I hope the customs dude enjoyed them!! About an hr bus ride to Auckland where we took our bags to Nomad hostel in the heart of down town. We packed a little day pack and left our luggage in a closet room stuffed to the gills with bags and such until we could check in after 2pm. Our roommates in the 8 bed dorm were a Welsh dude that had been traveling for about 6 months and was heading home soon, a young and very shy French guy looking for work here and two super nice German girls. The girls complained that NZ was riddled with germans and we didn't believe them until we actually started getting out an meeting people. If you want to improve your German language skills, come to NZ. Nomads was decent but the beds were squeaky so anyone moving would wake up the whole room.
Being here wasn't as strange for me as much as it must have been for Craig because our first little stop to the market felt like a familiar face. Many of the groceries brands and foods were the same as South Africa and so rather than looking at everything with a blank stare i was giddy to see things I hadn't eaten for half my life. It's the converting the metric system and reading the dates that's not so familiar though. So we bought a loaf of bread, some cheese and cold meats (all on special) and walked up the hill to Albert park overlooking the city to fill our tummies an get our bearings. The weather here is turning so in the shade it's still spring time chilly but when the sun comes out it's surprisingly hot! Walking around down town looking at all the shops we ran across a book store where Craig check on a book that he's been waiting on to come out for a few years. It was meant to come out on 8 Nov in the US and being it was the 8th we thought we'd check. Unfortunately it said the release date was 9/11/2011 and they didn't have any. We both left kinda bummed since he had been so excited. Forgetting all about it we were checking some prices later in the day at a local fish market. The packaged on date was 8/11/11 shocking him at how old the sea food was. Ha, then he realized that the date was actually 8/11/11 since the order of the month and day are switched in NZ vs. US. These are the little things keeping us smiling and that our adventure really has begun in another world.
By 4:30 our first day we had walked around and seen most of Auckland "CBD" (central business district). So after meeting up with our wonderful friend Amanda who lives here, and walking around the wharf watching the many sail boats we really felt like we had a good feel for what Auck has to offer. The roof of Nomads is where the kitchen, out-door eating area and hot tub are so it's always hopping with party travelers. We had some dinner up there amongst them and then crashed from exhaustion .
Day 2 we got up kinda early, for us, and hopped a ferry full of fellow tourists an a load of school kids at 9:00am to a volcanic island called Rangitoto. Being it was a cloudy day the view wasn't spectacular but still could see Auckland's skyline and some surrounding islands which there are plenty of. We took a different way down to crawl through some black caves and were really happy we had a head lamp. Instead of stopping off at Devonport ferry stop, we took it back to the city to try and find some free internet to book our next few days and update the blog. It turns out the internet access all around NZ is expensive and when free, extremely slow so don't expect daily updates but we'll do as can.
Amanda was kind enough to pick us up later that evening and took us over to Devonport town. It's quaint and artsy with a great view onto the city at night. we got some fish and chips from a little place where the guys accent was so thick we could barely understand him but we managed to get an order and pay the amount on the till. With our food under arm we walked up the steep hill of Mnt. Victoria which served as a watch point and cannon hold for WW? for the Auckland harbor. It also happened to be a volcano amongst the 52 that sit in Auckland alone. We drilled Amanda for information on the city and country and even though she's an American transplant she did a fantastic job and was so kind to take us around to some of the smaller neighboring suburbs after dinner and desert of deep friend Maro and Marz candy bars. There is nothing quite like a friendly a familiar face when you're on the other side of your familiar world. She was the perfect intro to our journey far from home. Thank you so much Amanda!
Day 3 we got to take another 2 hr ferry ride to Coromadel where we hopped another little bus to Coromandel town, famous for it's oysters which craig happens to be obsessed with. We were the last two on the bus and after asking the driver where the best place to get some oysters was he said he would take us right to the factory where they're distributed. He passed our hostel and with trailer and all took us right there, went in with us and asked Nathan if he could get us some fresh oysters from that morning. The factory which over looks the bay where they harvest them was just up the same road as our hostel and on the way happened to be his house. He told us all about the town and what to do in the region. The people are so nice here in general but he was the epitome of NZ hospitality. The oysters turned out to be the best either of us had ever had a of course the freshest being that they were in the water just hrs before they swam in our bellies.
Coromandel town is small and known for it's shell fish and offers both sea front an lush forest mountains so considering we'd be in a beach town next we decided to take the free bikes from our hostel and trek up the mountain. The 309 is a road that's mostly unpaved and has some interesting stops along the way unique to this region. A water park made of all recycled "junk" and remarkably creativly done. we didn't go all the way in but rather continued on to the waterfall and Kauri tree hike. Imagine lush jungle and thats what we hiked through to these spectacular and giant trees bigger than any others in NZ. It was much like being in the movie Avatar. Unfortunately most of them where
chopped down and used for ships and boats for the war but few still remain untouched and preserved.
Day 4 is right now. We took a windy bus ride this morning through lush mountains to Whitianga, the "wh" is pronounced with the "f" sound. We're staying at another hostel right on the water just outside of the little town where we found free wi fi at the library. Hence the update!
Most valuable items so far are our sleep sacs, head lamps and day packs, Lowe Alpine back packs. Most precious resource we miss is the internet availability by far. Being in an english speaking country with familiar foods is the best way to break us into the trip so we can still get used to living out of a pack and being nomads. We're having a blast and are so exited to be doing something this incredible! We love you all and thank you for your love and support! We're very happy and keeping safe everywhere we go.
Love love love from Whitianga New Zealand!
Landed 8 Nov 2011 @ 8:15am. (lost a day of our lives). Customs took our sandwiches we'd saved for the flight from LA but since they fed us we were saving them for lunch. I hope the customs dude enjoyed them!! About an hr bus ride to Auckland where we took our bags to Nomad hostel in the heart of down town. We packed a little day pack and left our luggage in a closet room stuffed to the gills with bags and such until we could check in after 2pm. Our roommates in the 8 bed dorm were a Welsh dude that had been traveling for about 6 months and was heading home soon, a young and very shy French guy looking for work here and two super nice German girls. The girls complained that NZ was riddled with germans and we didn't believe them until we actually started getting out an meeting people. If you want to improve your German language skills, come to NZ. Nomads was decent but the beds were squeaky so anyone moving would wake up the whole room.
 |
| Our first dorm-room experience! |
Being here wasn't as strange for me as much as it must have been for Craig because our first little stop to the market felt like a familiar face. Many of the groceries brands and foods were the same as South Africa and so rather than looking at everything with a blank stare i was giddy to see things I hadn't eaten for half my life. It's the converting the metric system and reading the dates that's not so familiar though. So we bought a loaf of bread, some cheese and cold meats (all on special) and walked up the hill to Albert park overlooking the city to fill our tummies an get our bearings. The weather here is turning so in the shade it's still spring time chilly but when the sun comes out it's surprisingly hot! Walking around down town looking at all the shops we ran across a book store where Craig check on a book that he's been waiting on to come out for a few years. It was meant to come out on 8 Nov in the US and being it was the 8th we thought we'd check. Unfortunately it said the release date was 9/11/2011 and they didn't have any. We both left kinda bummed since he had been so excited. Forgetting all about it we were checking some prices later in the day at a local fish market. The packaged on date was 8/11/11 shocking him at how old the sea food was. Ha, then he realized that the date was actually 8/11/11 since the order of the month and day are switched in NZ vs. US. These are the little things keeping us smiling and that our adventure really has begun in another world.By 4:30 our first day we had walked around and seen most of Auckland "CBD" (central business district). So after meeting up with our wonderful friend Amanda who lives here, and walking around the wharf watching the many sail boats we really felt like we had a good feel for what Auck has to offer. The roof of Nomads is where the kitchen, out-door eating area and hot tub are so it's always hopping with party travelers. We had some dinner up there amongst them and then crashed from exhaustion .
 |
| Occupy Auckland |
Amanda was kind enough to pick us up later that evening and took us over to Devonport town. It's quaint and artsy with a great view onto the city at night. we got some fish and chips from a little place where the guys accent was so thick we could barely understand him but we managed to get an order and pay the amount on the till. With our food under arm we walked up the steep hill of Mnt. Victoria which served as a watch point and cannon hold for WW? for the Auckland harbor. It also happened to be a volcano amongst the 52 that sit in Auckland alone. We drilled Amanda for information on the city and country and even though she's an American transplant she did a fantastic job and was so kind to take us around to some of the smaller neighboring suburbs after dinner and desert of deep friend Maro and Marz candy bars. There is nothing quite like a friendly a familiar face when you're on the other side of your familiar world. She was the perfect intro to our journey far from home. Thank you so much Amanda!
 |
| Amanda who took great care of us in Auckland! xoxo |
Day 3 we got to take another 2 hr ferry ride to Coromadel where we hopped another little bus to Coromandel town, famous for it's oysters which craig happens to be obsessed with. We were the last two on the bus and after asking the driver where the best place to get some oysters was he said he would take us right to the factory where they're distributed. He passed our hostel and with trailer and all took us right there, went in with us and asked Nathan if he could get us some fresh oysters from that morning. The factory which over looks the bay where they harvest them was just up the same road as our hostel and on the way happened to be his house. He told us all about the town and what to do in the region. The people are so nice here in general but he was the epitome of NZ hospitality. The oysters turned out to be the best either of us had ever had a of course the freshest being that they were in the water just hrs before they swam in our bellies.
 |
| Ferry out of Auckland |
Coromandel town is small and known for it's shell fish and offers both sea front an lush forest mountains so considering we'd be in a beach town next we decided to take the free bikes from our hostel and trek up the mountain. The 309 is a road that's mostly unpaved and has some interesting stops along the way unique to this region. A water park made of all recycled "junk" and remarkably creativly done. we didn't go all the way in but rather continued on to the waterfall and Kauri tree hike. Imagine lush jungle and thats what we hiked through to these spectacular and giant trees bigger than any others in NZ. It was much like being in the movie Avatar. Unfortunately most of them where
chopped down and used for ships and boats for the war but few still remain untouched and preserved.
 |
| Adventures up the mountain. |
Day 4 is right now. We took a windy bus ride this morning through lush mountains to Whitianga, the "wh" is pronounced with the "f" sound. We're staying at another hostel right on the water just outside of the little town where we found free wi fi at the library. Hence the update!
Most valuable items so far are our sleep sacs, head lamps and day packs, Lowe Alpine back packs. Most precious resource we miss is the internet availability by far. Being in an english speaking country with familiar foods is the best way to break us into the trip so we can still get used to living out of a pack and being nomads. We're having a blast and are so exited to be doing something this incredible! We love you all and thank you for your love and support! We're very happy and keeping safe everywhere we go.
Love love love from Whitianga New Zealand!
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