"My connection to the Earth is reinforced through the rhythm of the waves" Mike Dolan
Hello!!! It seems like such a long time since I have written! I have so much to tell you about – it will be in 2 parts because it is just so long! My Easter weekend was AMAZING and I had such a great time! My school (and surrounding ones) has Friday through Tuesday off for the Easter holiday. My friends Allison (roomie) and Brittany (click on her name to read her blog – she has some great pictures that I didn't take!) decided that we would travel up north and spend our holiday in the Bay of Islands. Before that on Friday Sam, Brittany and I met up at a brewery to watch the IU game - even though it was a sad ending it was nice to be sitting with a couple of Hoosiers watching the game basically sitting on the beach.
I will go day by day and give you a summary of what we did but
first a bit about the Bay of Islands (teacher Cassie coming out) –
This region is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of NZ. It is
close to the northern tip of the country – about 4-5 hours from Auckland.
It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist
destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its
big-game fishing.
The first European to visit the area was Captain Cook, who named the
region in 1769. The Bay of Islands was the first area in New Zealand to be
settled by Europeans. Whalers arrived towards the end of the 18th century,
while the first missionaries settled in 1814. The first full-blooded European
child recorded as being born in the country, Thomas King, was born in 1815 at
Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands.
Okay I am finished with the history lesson…
Day 1
(Saturday)
Allison and
I met up with Brittany in Auckland and caught a coach bus to Piha, which is a
small beach town in the Bay of Islands. The bus ride was normal nothing out of
the ordinary about 5 hours to get up to Piha. After arriving we found our
hostel, they told us that they overbooked us so now we had to spend Saturday
evening in a co-ed dorm style room. It was fine with us – just had to go with
the flow – sleep where we could. We dropped our stuff and off we went to
explore. We went to the main part of town (the whole town is like 5 streets),
walked along the beach and stopped in for a snack and some drinks (5$ glasses
of Sauvignon Blanc – I think so!). We then decided to get some food because
most of the restaurants wouldn’t be open on Sunday due to the holiday. We went
to the 4-square and got some cereal, cheese and crackers, noodles, granola
bars, oranges, and heaps (lots) of wine. YUMMM We also booked our combo tour
for Monday and Tuesday.
My cart - all the necessities!
The beach with islands!!!
We then met up with two of our friends (both
named Morgan) who were staying at our hostel as well. Both are teachers going
through the same program but teaching in West Auckland. We hung around outside
the hostel, had a few drinks and then headed to dinner. We decided on a
barbeque place (the most busiest) and I split some ribs with Allison and had
some NZ wine and beer. After basically shutting down the restaurant - we then
headed back to the hostel and hung out with some of the other people staying
there. I actually met a few people from Mexico and decided to tell them I knew
how to speak Spanish (which after 6 years of it I really don’t know much). I
didn’t do half bad but they knew I wasn’t very good. After even more wine I
decided to call it a night and headed off to bed.
* funny side
note – I ended up sleeping with my passport and my phone in my hand under my
pillow because we had no clue who was staying in our room that evening (they
came in late from “clubbing” – not a clue where you can club in a small harbor
town like Piha – probably on the beach… )… yes I was somewhat paranoid and
maybe the few glasses of wine influenced that as well J
Day 2
(Easter Sunday)
Woke up
around 9 (passport still in hand of course) not feeling 100% but ready to have
a good day…maybe after a gallon of water and some fresh air. Brittany, Allison,
the Morgans (both of them – I just call them the Morgans – much easier) and I
all decided to go and check out the waterfall that was nearby. The Morgans
decided to hire a car for the weekend and drive up further north – not spending
the whole time in Piha. But they were kind enough to drive us around to the
waterfall. Before heading off we couldn’t get the car started – the lights were
left on for more than a day so we had to run around town to see if there was
anyone who had spark plugs and a car to help jump start it – finally found
someone and it worked out!
Thank you random guy!!!
We drove
about 10 minutes to Harurur Falls, which has a great walking path down to the
falls. New Zealand has been in such terrible drought for the past few months
the falls were not great but still it was fun to walk around and step on the
rocks in between the water.
We then
hoped in the car (which turned on – thank goodness) and we decided we should
check out the glow worm caves we heard about on the way into Piha. After a 30
minute car ride, we pulled in and realized it was Easter Sunday – maybe there
were no tours that day …. not the best thinking on our part… BUT we decided to
keep driving and see if they were open AND THEY WERE! YAY for us! It was 15$
and off we went into the cave and saw the Kawiti glow worms! We couldn’t take
that many pictures (but I tried anyways). The cave was BEAUTIFUL and so much
fun to see all the worms glowing in the ceiling – such a cool natural talent to
have. They have a web like thing that hangs from them and it is the freakiest
and coolest thing ever! After a 20-minute walk down in the caves we were
finished! It was such an exciting morning!
heading in!
no pictures allowed but i snuck one :)
coming out of the cave!
The Morgans dropped
us off back in Piha and we grabbed some lunch (cheese and crackers with some
noodles) and headed to the beach. We laid out in the bay a bit and I got
restless and decided I would go kayaking, Brittany decided to join as
well. It was a great hour just cruising
around the islands and being in the water but boy were we tired at the end!
We then
headed back, relaxed and went to a pizza place for dinner. They had a great
combo meal but once we actually ate the pizza it wasn’t the best (I was
disappointed). Oh well! We walked down by the pier and watched a beautiful
sunset over the bay. Brittany and I had a busy day with our full day tour the
following day so we headed to bed early.
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