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Published: October 29th 2009
Monday 26th October - today I started the Kiwi Experience bus tour! Just before 9am the green Kiwi coach pulled into the Auckland youth hostel to pick up some of us. Everyone on the coach looked extremely knackered from non-stop flying and drinking!
Today we were heading to Whitanga on the Coromandel Peninsula just off the north coast, and I couldn't wait to get out of Auckland and start seeing more of New Zealand. Along the way we all got to know each other. There's people from all over the world - Australia; Denmark; Switzerland; Israel and far too many Canadians! There's a fair few English people here as well.
On our way out of Auckland our first stop was Mt Eden, one of New Zealand's dormant volcanoes. From the summit we got to see One Tree Hill (the original inspiration for the U2 song). We also had a great view of Auckland from here.
After a brief stop for lunch in a local town our driver took us to Hahei Beach, where we could either walk or kayak to Cathedral Cove. For $70 I jumped into a tandem kayak and we paddled through some choppy waves around
the cliffs, through a cave and onto the beach. The guides were awesome - typical Kiwi surfer dudes ending every sentence with "Sweet as, bro!" They even served us a huge assortment of hot chocolate, tea and coffee on the beach, which was in fact some of the best I'd ever tasted! When we got there, Cathedral Cove had actually collapsed - 4 tons of rock had come raining down, apparently just missing some passer-bys!
The rest of the kayaking trip was superb, and it kept us occupied for the whole afternoon. The weather had been beautiful that day, until we neared the end of the trip when in typical Kiwi-style it chucked it down with rain. I staggered off the beach completely drenched, cursing under my breath for not bringing a change of clothes!
Eventually we reached the youth hostel in Whitanga, where we were treated to a delicious home-made spaghetti bolognese. We all relaxed in the evening over some drinks and games of pool, and spent hours trading travelling stories. It was so exciting listening to this woman talking about her expedition of the Inca Trail and the Amazon, and an American guy who apparently got here on a container ship!
Hit the hay that night sharing a room with a Danish couple (both of whom were fluent English-speakers), who again were a joy to chat to!
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