Day 187-189: Hamilton to Whangamata to Hahei, New Zealand


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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hahei
August 3rd 2009
Published: August 3rd 2009
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Hamilton to Hahei


Saturday, August 1st


At 8am we woke to a beautiful sunny day. By 9am it was raining. At 10am when we arrived at Tony and Siubhan's hostel it was sunny again. We all got into their little Suzuki jeep and headed to Reglan, a holiday town on the west coast about 50km from Hamilton.

The drive was beautiful, but as we got closer to Reglan the weather deteriorated. We drove through town and spotted loads of kite-surfers frolicking in the waves. They must've been freezing out there! By the time we got to the beach it was raining a little and very windy. Undaunted by the terrible weather we donned our rain-coats and set of for the beach. It's a wonderful big beach and we'd love to come back in summer. Today, however, was not a beach kinda day. Soon it started raining harder and we headed back to the car. By the time we got back to town it was raining cats 'n' dogs. The wind was so strong it was raining horizontally. We found a restaurant and had some warm drinks. Talita had and Irish coffee and Ferdi ordered hot chocolate, which was served in a cup the size of a soup bowl.

We headed back to Hamilton, made lunch and sat chatting at the hostel. When it got dark we headed back to our camp site, had a shower and made dinner.

After watching a movie on our laptop we went to the city centre to meet Tony and Siubhan for a few drinks to celebrate Tony's birthday tomorrow. The first place was a really really loud club. We were reminded just how old we've become. We finished our beers and ventured down Victoria Street looking for a place where we could actually hear each other speak. We found a sports bar where we could enjoy good conversation and share a few more drinks.

Today's highlights:
1. Found the $2 shop with a big selection of bits and bobs.
2. Drove out to Reglan with the Irish and had nice warm drinks.
3. A night out on Hamilton.

Impressions of NZ:
The weather is very fickle here, but you can't let that rule your life. Just do what you do, come rain or shine. The rain usually departs as quickly as it arrives.


Sunday, August 2nd


At midnight we toasted Tony with "Irish Car-bombs". At 2am the bar closed and we were put out on the street. We said our goodbyes and headed home. We haven't been out this late in ages...

Our alarm chased us from our sleep just before 9am. We didn't feel too horrible, just tired. Check out was at 10am so after a quick breakfast we hit the road. We stopped by the Hamilton Peace Park to take pictures of an old Spitfire and some other war memorabilia. Then we headed into the city centre to shop for a few more things. It was a mission to find parking because the parking spaces next to the road are always full and the covered parking has a 2m height restriction. Our van is 2.5m high... We found a spot just outside the centre and walked the rest of the way.

Since we'll be snowboarding in a few weeks we needed more thermal undies. There was a sale on at Kathmandu (like Cape Union Mart in SA) and we got three pieces of thermals each for the price of one. We then went to the Pak n Save to get more food, topped up our petrol and headed out of town. On the way we spotted an electronics store and decided to check out their GPS systems. Tony and Siubhan had bought one for a very good price at that store and we wanted to investigate. We looked at the vehicle mounted ones and decided to get one. Then we spotted the hiking GPS's. We decided to get one of those instead, because it can navigate cities as well as our various hikes. We also got rechargeable batteries and charger. To top it off we got a little iPod Shuffle so that we can listen to the music of our choice while driving all over NZ. A similar shopping spree in SA would have cost us a lot more.

We headed east out of town on highway 26, passing through Morrinsville. We stopped for lunch just outside of Waitoa then continued on through Te Aroha and Paeroa. We saw a strange old building in Waihi and stopped to investigate. It turned out to be the old pump-house for the silver and gold mine next to town. It could pump 7000L of water per minute. From the hill above the pump-house we got a good view of the mine.

We moved on and a winding mountain road took us to Whangamata on the east coast. We found the Settlers Rest camp and made some tea. After we had a shower Talita did some laundry and Ferdi sorted out our iPod with some music and played with the GPS. It was apparent quite early on that Talita had a special bond with the unit. It's a good thing, cause it'll be her job to navigate while Ferdi drives.

Talita made a fabulous dinner and we ended the evening with a movie. We can't stop saying how much we're enjoying this trip! It. Is. Awesome!!!!

Today's highlights:
1. Thermals on special.
2. Getting the GPS and iPod.
3. Wonderful dinner.
4. Being in New Zealand.

Impressions of NZ:
We thought NZ would be much more expensive to travel, but we're managing well on the same budget we had in Asia. A very unexpected but happy discovery! Also, traveling via camper is the most amazing way to see the country! And what a country it is! The fields, hills and mountains are so green it's almost neon! NZ is by far the most beautiful country we'd ever
seen.

Monday, August 3rd


We had pancakes and syrup for breakfast, then went to an internet shop to copy our GPS software onto our laptop (it doesn't have a CD drive and the software came on a CD). We also got a huuuuge box of Vitamin C tablets. We both feel a cough coming and prevention is better than cure.

On the way out of town we stopped by the beach, took a couple of pics, then moved on. We traveled north through Tairua and Whenuakite. In Maori "Wh" is pronounced "F". It makes for some funny sounding names like "Whakatane".

Just outside Whenuakite we turned off to the Hot Water Beach. Here the volcanic activity beneath the surface sends scalding hot water up through the sand. Luckily it's right by the cold ocean so you can dig a pool and mix the water to a more comfortable temperature. We just stuck our feet in and took some pictures. It's a strange feeling when you're standing in the cold ocean and the soles of your feet are burning.

Back at the van we made lunch and drove on to Hahei. We paid a little more and got one of the "Super Sea view Spots" at the Hahei Holiday Resort. It was well worth the extra $10! We sat enjoying the gorgeous view, listening to music, and feeling like we were in heaven.

Ferdi decided to see if he could load more detailed maps on our GPS, only to find that Garmin does not make detailed maps for NZ! Can you believe it?! After a bit of searching he found a 3rd party company that does. Unfortunately these maps cost almost as much as a car mounted GPS. Mmmm… Maybe we weren’t as smart as we thought. Oh well. According to the sales person we can still return the GPS. We decided to think about it.

Talita made another fabulous dinner and we settled in for a movie and a snuggle.

Today's highlights:
1. Massive bottle of vitamin C.
2. Experiencing the Hot Water Beach.
3. Getting a Super Sea view camping spot.

Impressions of NZ:
Wow! Wow! Wow!



Additional photos below
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Hot Water BeachHot Water Beach
Hot Water Beach

Some visitors were sitting in the pools. We forgot our costumes. Argh!


4th August 2009

Sad
Ons mis julle heavy erg baie vreeslik te veel!!! My hart trek so punt na NZ toe na al die research wat ek gedoen het en om bietjie day2day fotos (nie die wat jy in boeke sien nie) te sien maak dit net erger. Dit lyk rerig awesome julle twee en julle moet dit geniet. Ek dink hoe meer suid julle gaan hoe mooier gaan dit raak. Enjoy.

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