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Published: January 26th 2010
Heeey Hey! Good rainy day to catch you up a little more up to speed! So yet, again, grab that chair. 😊
The last blog said Dec 28 bc thats when I started typing it.. took me a while to get back to a comp, eh? This is a fresh one! 😊
We made our way in and around Christchurch to our random, girls only, hostel. It was something German and I still can't pronounce the name of it, but it was by far one of my favorites yet. 2 Kitchens, our own room, internet, free laundry, and two cute little guinea pigs all in an old house. It also had hairdryers, but we never used them bc we always forgot they were there. ha. We took it easy the first night because we had a few "arrangements" over the next days. (just for you, E lol) We toured the art museum, walked around the city, visited the massive gardens, and best of all... we saw a wizard. You read me. We were close up and personal with the Christchurch wizard himself... complete with long robe and pointy wizard hat. He was a strange being, who mostly spoke on anything
controversial. He climbed atop his ladder and let anyone who was within earshot hear his thoughts. Religion, politics, women (how they're "baby makers") and so forth. Not someone I'd care to listen to, but he was entertaining nonetheless and good for some quality pics. He drives a car, but not any car, a car that's made of two front ends of an old VW beetle. Of course, we went over to inspect it while he kept on with his display, and all we could see (minus the two steering wheels) was a dry cleaning receipt for his magical cloak. haha I'm serious. This man makes a living, and a good one I'm sure, off being the ever recognizable CC wizard.
We mosied on around the outdoor market and into the cathedral. The spire is a landmark for CC and its' Cathedral Square. We walked in and there was a boys choir singing Christmas carols. It was Christmas after all, and we were delighted. It's hard to realize it's Christmas when it doesn't feel remotely close to Christmas time. We sat for a while as they sang the familiar songs. Then the man said they would sing a NZ one.
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the "cleaners" waiting for dutiesIt's "summer" in NZ and they never have white Christmases (is that a word?) so they have one singing of the hot, beautiful weather as opposed to cold and snowflakes falling. It was funny.
We spent the next few days in CC doing somewhat similar things, including seeing the wizard each day. CC was good, but not my favorite.. too much of a big city for me. Next we headed further North along the East Coast to Kaikoura. What a stunning place. It's famous for whale watching and swimming with the dolphins... neither of which we did, 😞 but we've heard it's amazing. We made our way in and to Dusky Lodge (Dusky after Dusky Dolphins). This is where Smith lived/worked when he was here before and we thought it'd be a great meeting place for Christmas. The hostel had an amazing view off the back deck, a hot tub (which i thought was sick), and a great pool. Definitely was looking forward to spending the next week or so here and in Kaikoura. HOWEVER, at the same time I was not. Eliza had been struggling with the decision to go home for Christmas or not and she finally
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my bed (bottom one) in Moa aka the cave made up her mind and decided she'd surprise her family just before Christmas Eve. We had seen and done a LOT of stuff and opposed to getting a job here she sucked it up and decided it was time for a real job back home... so she called it a good trip and took a bus back to CC airport. 😞 It was so sad. We both cried, and makes me sad now that I'm typing it out, even though it's been over a month! whew. So, now, as I'm writing this she is probably doing one of the following that I'm not: using free internet, eating something out of the refrigerator, petting her dog, showering without shoes, drying her hair, sleeping in a bed, driving on the right side of the road, calling whoever whenever... you get the idea. 😊 or maybe she's even driving around listening to the radio! haha. It's all very bittersweet.
So her last few nights in NZ were spent in Kaikoura by the beach and relaxing. We made our own homemade pizza as her "send off" dish. We'd been talking about doing it ever since "the father" taught us how in Mangawhai Heads.
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Mimosas Christmas morning! We did it and it was delicious. The dreaded day came and off she went. As I watched the bus pull off, I just sat in the car in disbelief. She'd been talking about going, but now it had actually happened. Now, all the sadness and blah blah aside.. it, looking back now, worked out in the best way possible. However, I do still miss you E! 😊 She was able to show up, to her mothers extreme surprise, to show up on the doorstep unannounced just before Christmas. I was able to settle myself at Dusky and make a few friends, also having Smith there. In exchange for accommodation, I helped clean around the hostel. The "cleaners" all live in Moa (a dorm room beneath the hostel) aka "the cave". An eleven bed dorm room with a tinted sliding glass door and a teeny window - which might as well not have even been there. Germans, English, Austrian, Chinese, and Smith and I being the only Americans. We were to report at 9 the next morning to be given our duties. Being a girl, I, naturally, was on beds everyday. I would've hated toilets and was a little anxious
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Christmas pool party every time before they would say "Mary beds". They still can't get the whole double name thing. So beds it was. I worked with 2 German girls. We, simply, made the beds of those who checked out that morning. The only tricky part was having to remember how many beds were in which room and what pattern, be it dolphin, whale, etc, was in which room. Usually we were able to knock it out in about 2 hours. So.. not paying to shower/sleep and getting to know everyone in the hostel for a measly 2 hours of putting sheets on beds, was well worth it.
The "cleaners" were a great group of people to get to know. One in particular, Benjay from Essex, was hilarious. He looked just like Robin Williams and was probably one of the funniest and most entertaining people I've ever met. You never knew what he was going to do or say, but in a good way. Sometimes I couldn't understand what he was saying so he'd sloooww doowwn and say it with an American accent, it was funny and not at all annoying. haha what a character!
There are two seal colonies on
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Christmas BBQ each edge of Kaikoura and I visited both. Eliza and I made it to the first one and saw a few seals in the distance and playing in the water. A few days later, I went to the other one and it was awesome. sorry E. Smith and I went, but he only had on flip flops aka jandals, so I hopped the fence by myself. Mom, I didn't really hop the fence.. I followed a tiny path that you probably weren't supposed, but people obviously do a lot. I was down right on the rocks with these animals, stinking animals. All sizes. I saw the cutest baby one, but was afraid Momma was somewhere nearby. I walked around, watching them swim, play, and sit in the sun. What a life. Some were huge. We were able to get back up on this concrete thing and look over all of them. Hundreds of seals. Neato.
Christmas Eve was spent with most of us walking around in disbelief that it was, in fact, Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, we had to work, but it was quick and painless. Christmas Day was spent lounging around the pool and hot tub. What a great
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Dusky sunset afternoon. Swimming and bbq on Christmas! Great afternoon nap and dinner aka "tea" on the "barbie". We cooked chicken wings and lots of other stuff. Pool and cookout on Christmas.. who knew?! 😊 It was great, along with the "grove" chair (bag chair) and snorkel set Smith gave me. I was so excited! I'd been wanting to snorkel. After checking out the seals, lying on the rocky beach, meeting people, hitting the local pub, seeing the view from the lookout - which reminds me..haha.. Smith and I were in a hurry to catch the sunset from the lookout, as we were about to pull in, blue lights flashing. It's a two minute drive from the hostel. We pull over and Smith gets and earful about his lack of seat belt and failure to "indicate" twice. Off we drove with a $150 ticket and the sun already behind the mountains. We parked, past picture taking time, but beautiful nonetheless... you could see it, but the pictures weren't turning out as we'd hoped. After all the above, it was time to pack and head North.
The family Smith is friends with from Auckland, the same one Eliza and I stayed with,
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what a cute little guy! invited him to their family "holiday" in the Bay of Islands. They said to bring whomever, so there I was, tagging along. 😊 I was excited because, even though Eliza left, I still had a travel partner. Also, would get to see the B of I again, with a camera, and hopefully better weather. We were meant to leave Kaikoura the day after Christmas, Boxing Day. I'm still not fully sure why it's called this but the best explanation I've heard is because of all the boxes after Christmas. It has nothing to do with actual boxing. Anyway, Christmas did us in and we couldn't get away, so we hung out with the crowd and stayed one more night at Dusky. Kaikoura was definitely one of my favorite places. We set out around 11 in order to catch the ferry by 2:30. It's about 1 1/2 or 2 hours to Picton but it's a pretty drive as you wind around the coast. Smith picked up a German hitch hiker and off we went. I'm not sure how confident I'd be picking one up now that I don't have E, or a radio.. that would be our cushion after the whole
name, country, what are you doing convo.
Up to Picton and back across Cook Strait. This time was a bit different. I was so tired and so uncomfortable. The scenery was just as incredible as the first go round, but I didn't feel like I had to take all the same pics and really needed/wanted a nap. We sat in the airplane chairs and napped best we could. For a snack we had "American" hot dogs - the " " because their hot dogs are what I know as corn dogs. They were OK. The buns were cut from the top, which as funny to me. I don't really know why. ha. anyway, I wasn't into the ferry at all. Have no fear, Karlene Jean did as wonderfully as she had before. Even after I degraded her from the 95 petrol to the 91. I don't know what we were thinking but now, not being able to split the gas, she's back on the cheap stuff, and by cheap I really only mean less expensive. While we were on the miserable ferry, we pulled out the map. Being in 2 cars, we needed a little more "planning" than just
pulling off the road somewhere. We decided to head towards Taupo and try to stay with David again. After driving up from Kaikoura, taking the ferry, and the long drive up we were tired and ready to call it a night, plus it was already dark. Instead of driving to Taupo, Smith was able to contact a friend he used to work with in National Park. We were thinking maybe we could stay the night and do the Tongariro Crossing (the highly popular day hike E and I tried to do). The weather, of course, didn't go our way and we weren't going to waste a day waiting on it to change. We reached Davids the next day, Home Sweet Home. We pulled right up the drive, got the hide a key, gave Heidi a pet, and were able to relax. He even had two new beds. What a treat. Last time, when it was freezing cold and raining we thought about going to these "hot pools". I don't know why we didn't. Smith and I didn't really know what to expect with "free hot pools" but went anyway. A hot stream flows into the main river. Hot, hot, hot
thermal water flowing into a massive clear river. amazing. We were in amongst all kinds of people - young, old - all happy as larks sitting in the warm water. If you got too hot all you had to do is swim into the river and cool off, then warm back up again. Some areas were really hot, too hot to get in. Yet another great day in Taupo.. great dinner (quiche, so good), great sleep, great shower, and on the road again.
I left KJ behind at Davids so she could have a little rest as Smith and I travel to the Bay of Islands in his car. He has a manual '89 Nissan Bluebird wagon. It's light blue and looks like the biggest old man creeper mobile, complete with blue seat covers that had paw prints on them, blue curtains in the back, and mattress. He snagged the mattress from Dusky because for some reason I had two mattresses on my bed. I stop myself when I think of all the people that might have slept on it. Ew. Ok, see, stopping myself! Anyway, it's a good little ride, that I have since given the name -
Chooky Blue. (chew key) He didn't have a name for him, the horror, so somewhere along the way Eliza and I passed something with a "chooky" in it and it's stuck ever since. Smith tried not to call him that for a long time and still tries to play it cool every now and then but it's OK bc I know he secretly loves it. 😊 He's coming around, he just doesn't want to admit it because I came up with it. He still has yet to rename him, so that proves it. 😊 We packed the car, organized it, as Smith would say and were off.
North out of Taupo, but that's about all we knew. We both had heard some stuff about these Waitomo Caves, but weren't really sure. Well, why not? They were on the way so we went that direction. They are a popular place and known for their glowworms that stick to the ceiling of the caves. We stopped in the small town of Te Kuiti to get some info on the caves and which to do with which company, so on. Both of us are so indecisive it took us a goof thirty
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sun setting minutes to pick a trip. Done. Next day, 2 PM. Now, to find a place to sleep. The people we stayed with in National Park told us about a great surf and camping spot outside Waitomo. Off the highway and onto a "main road" we went. Just as we set out, down came the rain. The beach was about 50k out and we probably drove 15k before turning around. We had zero luck in finding anywhere to lay our heads so we went to check out some of the "places of interest" nearby. We'd been driving the better part of the day and didn't have on, yet even own, any kind of caving gear/attire. Standard. I actually had on a summer dress, which is rare, and "jandals". Rain still coming down, we put on our head lamps and went into the cave. There were steps and a railing leading down that reached a sort of balcony thing where you could look as far as your headlamp would reach into the cave. Obviously, we jumped over and headed deeper into the cave. Don't you roll your eyes! There was a group of about 5 before us so we figured we'd attempt
it as well, mind you they had on full gear. ha. Over the edge, into the cave. After using the muddy rope to lower ourselves in and unsuctioning my flops with every step, I quickly decided I couldn't go any further without A. falling or B. freaking myself out. Back up the rope and over the ledge to safety. Hands, feet, back of legs/dress all splattered with much. The rain somewhat died down as we came out so we, yet again, turned around and were to try for the beach. Turn around #2. On the way we stopped at Marakopa Falls. Yep, a waterfall. In fact, the biggest waterfall I think I've ever seen.. the biggest one in the area. It was really high and really wide.
We continued until we reached Marakopa, the beach, and stopped at the Albatross Anchor. A place where the river meets the white waves of the ocean. The weather was still pretty awful so we got out, saw it, and got back in the car. Turn around #3. We opted to leave the beach and find a spot off the road somewhere. We took several "other" roads off the "main" road and finally,
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missed the sunset from the lookout in Kaikoura after being pulled over we found a spot. I'm pretty sure it was some long driveway, but it worked. Keep in mind this is our first night traveling together in the same car - stuff was somewhat organized, but not nearly enough. I was still raining, so we couldn't set anything outside. The back of his car was full, but somehow we managed to move it all to the front seats. Basically threw everything up there, full to the roof. Thankfully the surf board could get wet and go underneath the car, otherwise I don't know where it would've gone. PBJs for dinner. I can't say it was my worst nights sleep but it definitely was not my greatest. Needless to say, we haven't slept in the car since. ha.
When we woke up the rain had stopped. Whew. We had some time to kill before caving so we went to town to get some stuff and look around. We had a kind of picnic lunch and off to the caves. We we in a group of about 10. Aussies, Russian, Welsh, us, and 2 Kiwi guides. Quick van ride to the area with the caves and time to suit up. Wetsuits, booties,
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Mario Smith and Miner MK ready for some caves white "gumboots" (like rainboots), and helmet with a headlamp. I felt like a miner and looked ridiculous. Smith is growing, for some unknown reason, this heinous mustache aka "mo", so I thought he looked like Mario with his helmet on. ha. All ready to go. We walked over to the start of the cave and one by one went down a ladder. You couldn't tell until it was your turn to go, but the ladder has a tight squeeze. I had to turn a little for my body to get through. I get to the bottom and Louis, the guide, says "OK, follow the water". It was so dark I couldn't even see the water, but then I got it and followed as instructed. We waited for the whole group to get in and then he told us that coming down the ladder is sort of a test to see if anyone is going to freak out or not. He said some people turn around right at the base of the ladder and some even half way through. We followed the black water deeper into the cave. I've been in caves before, but they were huge and I just walked
around. This cave, not so much. Tight squeezes, cold water, cold, cold water. Apparently the way wetsuits work is when water gets inside and your body heats it up and thus keeps you warm. Who knew? So, in order to get water in, we all linked arms forming a circle, unzipped our suits a bit and on the count of 3 all went down so only our heads bobbed above the surface. It was freezing and we were down for about 5 seconds, which I realize doesn't seem long, but like I said, it was freezing! We zipped up and could already feel it working. We went through the water anywhere from an inch deep to full on swimming. There were certain spots we stopped and all got inner tubes. We sat with them on our bottoms so we were facing up, linked together - feet up on the persons behind you - turned out our headlamps, and were pulled, floating, through the cave, staring up at the glowworms. Tiny "worms" that stick to the ceiling and glow in order to catch their food. They actually aren't worms at all though, they're a type of gnat. However, "come see our
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Kena (sp?)= nasty glow gnats" doesn't sound nearly as enticing as "come see our cute little glowworms". 😊 Either way, they were cool to see. They looked like little stars in the sky. There we were just floating, on a black river, in a cave, beneath them. Out of the tubes and deeper into the cave. It was so awesome. Definitely one of the coolest things I've done and would like to to it again in a different caves. We stopped for a "biscuit" and hot drink - in a cave. We were down there for about two hours. At one point we had to crawl on our forearms and knees. Intense, right? Excellent trip and well worth the money. I only managed to hit my head on the ceiling and stalactites twice. Thank goodness for those corny helmets! 😊
After a much needed shower, we headed back to town for a snack and ended up treating ourselves to fish and chips. Yum. Where to go? What to do? Out comes the map. We drove North until it started getting dark. We wanted to find a place by 8. By 9, we had. An old shed - I think it was some
old boat shed, but Smith believes it was an old horse stable (which is silly). Right on the edge of Lake Waikare. the water was 15 feet from our tent. Sheltered from the wind/possible rain. It was great. We were able to unpack and repack Chooky Blue. It was a tin building with bright paint on different pieces. I was able to catch up on writing and Smith strummed his guitar. We had a great setup, complete with lantern overhead. (ha E, the lantern from "the barn"!) Good dinner, which brought along our friend Ernie. An opossum that couldn't resist the smell. He was cute. Our opossums and these look absolutely nothing alike. We let him hang around for a while and I'm pretty sure he stuck around long after we went to bed. My tiny tent felt quite large after the night in the car.
Next day, making our way closer and closer to B of I. Stopped to run a few errands in Auckland and quickly got out. We went up along the East Coast to Dargaville. It's a long drive up there so we thought we'd find somewhere along the beach for the night. Through Dargaville
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largest gumboot 15k to Baylys Beach. We drove straight onto the beach. We were under the impression we'd be able to find a place to set up shop. A good 2 minutes into it, we knew Chooky wasn't up to the challenge. People get stranded our there all the time and neither of us wanted to be in that group. After scarily sliding on the beach we started the search for somewhere else. Another 30k up the road we reached Kai Iwi Lakes. Oh and this is on NYE. Neither of us are big on NYE so we weren't too concerned about having a big night on the town. New Yeas, in my opinion, is so overrated and always ends in some disaster or disappointment. We were plenty happy to be where we were and simply camping. Ha, but now we still had to find a place. We found a great spot, but were quickly informed not to camp there bc some "kids" nearby were about to get in trouble for having a huge fire in a fire ban area.. blah, blah. So we had to move, but only to the other side, pulled right off the road, looking our on one
of the lakes and set up shop. Yet another great place, great food, great weather, some OK box wine, great big beautiful moon.. great time. Happy New Years to you! The only thing we didn't like was how old we felt. We could hear people yelling and carrying on like back in the day. ha, but didn't really care.. I felt great when I woke up. 😊
Morning "shower" in the lake and back on the road. Finally making the way to B of I, stopping along the way at the Waipou Forest so Smith could see those monstrous trees. Yes, he was impressed, as he should have been. And I had a camera this time, so yay!
E and I had been to the B of I before, but only spent two nights so I still didn't really know much about it. She and I stayed in Paihia, but Smith and I were headed somewhere called Rawhiti. Usually people take the coast road in, but we were coming from the other direction, thus putting us on one of the infamous "other" roads, all gravely and windy. We weren't sure we were even on the right road until
we saw the water. The water, the most paradise-like water, dotted with yachts and sailboats. Then a sign pointing to Rawhiti. All we knew to look for was an old white schoolhouse with tents along the fence line. Sure enough, there it was, right across from the water. Now we needed to find the family. We walked up and within the first 10 tents, there they were - Kiwi Camping - a thing in and of itself! Delwynne and Greg (the parents) had a massive tent with a lifted double air mattress, loads of storage, two room tent connected to the outside shaded area connected to the "kitchen" area, every necessity of a kitchen, only miniaturized. It was awesome. Smith and I stayed in her daughters tent bc she left the day before. Oliver, their youngest (11) also had a tent. Compared to the car, my tent was big- compared to my tent, this tent was huge.
We hung out the first night getting to know all their friends. Each year the same families come to Rawhiti just after Christmas for holiday, so they have a tight bond. No one seemed to be bothered by two random Americans bursting
in, but rather they welcomed us. Gotta love Kiwis. 😊 A wonderful first night laughing and talking with each other. Everyone had a similar setup as far as how they set up their tents. It was camping, but not really camping, camping because we all slept in tents... even had hot showers and toilets nearby. Only took my 2 days to realize the end shower was rigged where you didn't have to insert $2 to get it going. You'd get all ready for the shower, put in a $2 coin, hot water starts, and you'd have 5 minutes to shower. They really need a 30 second timer, because the second shower I had ended with me shaving my other leg in the sink- the water just shuts off after your 5 minutes is up. Loved the free one because A. it was free and B. it didn't have a timer! bonus! 😊
Greg and Delwynne had to go, unexpectedly, back to Auckland for a funeral so Smith and I held down the fort. We made a trip over to Russell, the nearest town, to pick up a few groceries and things. Russell is a cute place that Eliza and
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horrible weather at Albatross Anchor I took a ferry to, but this time it was different. It was packed with people. Two months ago it was slow slow and now its bursting at the seems with people. Back at camp "Captain Kenny" and Val offered to take us on their boat just for a quick tour around. So nice. Gorgeous. Had a great dinner and great sleep in the much larger tent. We snorkeled the next day around the rocks. I know I've said it but it's just beautiful here. The sun set behind the hills but the way it shined on the clouds was impressive. Every night. Another one of those things I, nor pictures, can explain. G and D got back and we had another chill out day. Ken and Val took us, as well as their son and his two friends over to Oke Bay for some more snorkeling. Clear, clear water, cold, cold water. Fish and seaweed all around. Back to camp. Going back and forth through and to all the tents was so much fun. Greg and Delwynne, Lorraine and Russell, Dave and Robin, Captain Kenny and Val, and Gary and Tracy = quite the crew. 😊 Another lady, Glennis,
left early and ended up kind of dumping her son, Sam aka "sambo" to Smith and I, on us (the family). Smith and Sam became best buddies, as did the whole campsite. OK, well not at all actually. I was nervous as to which one of us was going to punch him first. Ugghh that Sambo. What a kid. 15 years old and a big goose egg of social skills. I feel for the guy, but come on already!
Vals' son and his two friends got Sam, Smith and Greg to play a game called "firing squad". Delwynne, Oliver, and I went down to the beach to be spectators. They had 3 on one side and 3 on the other, everyone behind a line drawn in the sand. The objective is to be the last one standing. You can't move, not even flinch, or you're out. Whoever starts has a "vortex" (nerf football type thing) and "fires" it at a player on the other side. If they're hit or flinch, they're out.. if not, it's their turn to fire it back. What a boy game. They were all standing there with one hand over their face and the other
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beauty-ful over their manly bits, just waiting to be pelted by the vortex. Idiots. 😊
Brand new day in amazing Rawhiti. Greg is a scuba diver and was able to go out in the morning and get fresh scallops. Later that day, Greg, Oliver, Smith and I went fishing and caught some crazy looking fish. Bright orange, bright red, 2 with a "horn", and Oliver even caught an eel. It was so slimy and green, not at all what we thought was going to be on the end of the line. It was fun, but none of them were keepers. I don't even know if any of them were edible. ha.
My days kind of run together here.. it's like Saturday everyday- which they call Sat day... not sure what happened to the 'ur'? but sounds rough, I know. 😊 Greg, Delwynne, Oliver, Sambo, Smith, and I loaded up the boat and went to Sunset Bay. We laid out, snorkeled, made a short, steep walk up top that had amazing views, and I had my first attempt at scuba diving! It was awesome and really made me want to learn to do it properly. Greg helped me suit up
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sitting in Chooky Blue watching the sunset over the Lake Waikare and we went over the basics. He is 6'7" so the tank was quite large, but it worked. It was incredible!
I am going to leave you on that note.. my hands are about to fall off and my eyes are all googly from staring at this screen! 😊 Speak soon!
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Amazing
The pictures are amazing. I'm sure the pictures don't do it justice though. I know you are having a blast...so jealous!