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Published: November 19th 2009
First, Eliza is having major issues with her blog. So just be patient while it is under construction, (also, those of you who didn't know.. she is obviously listed under her name, but her nickname is margaretthedog- so look her up- it will be quite interesting to hear two sides of this journey) 😊
So, I left off somewhere around our camping venture. We were warm and cozy until we woke up that morning and realized that the inside of our tent was sweating. We are still unsure as to why/how/when this happened. We thought rain was coming in, but oh contrare, dry as could be on the outside. Still boggling my mind.
The plan was to wake up, go for a hike just nearby, come back, shower, and hit to road a little more North. At this point, we were in the Whangarei area, which sounds like "fang are ay". We packed up the tent, and headed for the hike. Karlene Jean suddenly, to our horror, did not want to participate in our planned activities. We had to pull over several times because she was shaking so bad. I wish we had a video of our faces and our freaking out. It was Sunday and everything in this "bold" town was closed. We had yet to see a service station on our way up North, but this day we passed two. Convenient, right? Well, KJ, thankfully, starts to feel better and we continued to drive around asking each other about every ten seconds what to do. haha, we decided to skip the hike and the shower and head up to the next town. As we were driving we "figured out" that it might have been the gas or petrol that we fed her. The crazy lady we bought it from told us to only put the premium, which was fine, until we get to a gas station that didn't have premium and when you get to a station around here, you better fill her up. So we did, and thus the shaking of Karlene Jean-so we suspect.
We made our way up through Whangarei and to the Bay of Islands. The weather here is still cold and dreary, so it wasn't that pleasant this time on the beach. We decided to keep moving and landed in Ahipara and Shipwreck Bay. We had been in the car for a while and really needed some air so we parked and took a nice long walk down the beach there. I cannot describe the water, even on these rainy, barely sun days, it is beautiful. We walked along, fog rolling in and sun off in the distance on the water. It felt great to finally be on the beach and feel the breeze. We were walking along the Tasman Sea, which is still crazy to think about for me.
We thought about staying the night in Ahipara, but had heard so much about Cape Reinga (the Northernmost part of NZ) that we wanted to get on up there before the sun officially set. I don't know if any of you have ever been there, but this might be one of those places you where all you really need is a picture and you feel as though you've been. Eliza and I have actually been and we still need to look at pictures to see what it looks like. We made our way, a long way, up to this so called Cape Reinga - along the State Highway, that randomly turns into a gravel road. We weren't sure if we were supposed to keep going, but we did. After a while the road ends and you come to a small parking lot. We get there and cannot see a thing. We could barely see each other. The wind and fog were so bad that we ran out to the side to "see" and got nothing. This is supposed to be an amazing place - where the Tasman and the Pacific collide, with a beautiful lighthouse on the edge. We could hear the water, but could not see it. We couldn't even see the lighthouse. There is a long path you can take to get to the lighthouse, but it was so foggy we just opted for turning around.
So, after such a long trek up there, we decided we should stay the night and try to see it in the morning. We went to a campground nearby and were going to hike to the lighthouse the next morning. Now, brace yourself people, it's really not that bad - now that it's over. I do have to mention though, that Eliza did the most incredible thing.. haha.. she felt so gross, being as that we didn't ever have a shower bc of KJs freak out - she actually put her head in the water on this beach that was freeeezing. It was amazing and I could never have done it. So kudos to her. All that being said, I also thought she was going to book a flight out of here ASAP when we got back to civilization. Not the case though, yet! 😊
We woke up to pounding rain and canceled our hike to the lighthouse. We drove up there again, and, as you will see from our picture, saw nothing. So, maybe one day, you and I both can google Cape Reinga and look at incredible pictures together. 😊 For those of you that might be bothered by this (mom and Linda) don't be. 😊 I will remind you, as I have reminded Eliza, this is part of our experience. When you don't have a plan to begin with, nothing can screw it up, as miserable as you might be. So keep your heads up (for you and us), as we have been for ourselves! Now, a few days and showers later, it's laughable. 😊
We made our way back down to the Bay of Islands, it actually is as good as it sounds, and pulled into the first sign of hot showers and beds. We stayed in an interesting little hostel, near the beach in Paihia (pie he ah). Coincidentally, we ran into our Israeli friend, Noam. He came to the hostel to use the phone and there we were. We made yet another "plan" to meet him the following day and then follow each other to the Waipou Forest. He was making his way up to Cape Reinga, even after our heavy warning. We showered, slept, and got ourselves together. The next day, we did as planned - amazing, I know! - and met Noam in Omapere (oh mah per ee). We stayed in the cutest hostel, up a hillside overlooking a HUGE sand dune and the sea. Absolutely beautiful. They also had huge sand dunes near Cape Reinga, but we only saw them from afar because of the rain, and our shattered attitudes. haha.
Noam made us a delightful dinner consisting of Spaghetti-Os mixed with noodles. Yes, we were afraid. We hung out pretty late and even put together a puzzle with a German guy - he wouldn't accept it unfinished. Was a good night. Woke up, showered, and headed down to Waipou Forest. What an amazing place. This, you really do need to google because there is no way to describe these trees. A Kauri tree. We saw the 1st, 2nd, and 7th largest ones. We walked down through the forest to find the 7th one and it was an amazing walk. It was raining a little bit but you couldn't feel it because of the leaf coverage overhead. We were able to "hug" the 7th largest one and didn't even get close to wrapping around it. I felt like Peter Pan was about to fly out of these things. We have a video, but it doesn't do it justice. If you ever come this way, I highly highly suggest you see these trees. One thing since being over here has really made me wish I knew more about plants and birds. They have the most incredible variety of everything I could imagine.
After the forest and a few short hikes, we decided to take the longest one, which was only an hour. That, along with the boldness of the towns and the straightness of the roads on the map, is a lie. We began the hike up to a Lookout. It was supposed to take and hour, but ended up taking 2 bc the track was so muddy. We made our way up, reached the Lookout, and you guessed it! We saw FOG! whoooo! No, but really, we saw fog. Could not see a thing past 15 feet. Noam graciously took our picture, laughing at us all along the way. Instead of heading back down the track for another 2, possibly 3 hours, since we would be going down, we opted for the road. Now, all you mothers out there, don't get your panties in a wad just yet, we are still alive! 😊 It was a 5 km walk back to the car. We ran for a little bit of the way, and had Noam in the back alerting us about cars. Only one passed us, but it was a close one. hahaha, I can imagine your face right now mom. It's ok. We leaned back onto the mountain and the car zoomed past. I will never forget Noam yelling "caaar" and the look on our faces. We decided to run down the rest of the way to make it end sooner. We made it! Yay! As my mom has always said, she likes to know these things after I have done them, as opposed to me telling her what I'm thinking about doing. So, no worries mom, we're alive and well! Even showered today! 😊
As I have already typed this novel, it is time to go. I am sick of looking at this screen, but will continue later because I now am the proud owner of a Netbook computer! YAAAAAAAAAY!
Soooo... we shall be writing again soon.. I love all of you and miss you! Give Twig a kiss for me (ok, Bob too)
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miss linda
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MK--- Tell Eliza, "I can just see it now, Clark" for me ----I know her blog is beautiful (somewhere) when it starts working.