So last you guys heard of me I had a bit of a stressful flight into Auckland and then the line ups to get through customs and the restricted goods section in the airport after the flight were really long. Our flight was 30 minutes late and then I spent another hour and half getting through all the red tape. But I was met by my old college buddy Keelan and his girlfriend as soon as I walked out as they had driven up from Hamilton to pick me up. I haven’t seen Keelan in probably 4 years and it’s pretty cool that I’m meeting up with him in NZ. They drove me back to Hamilton where I had a hostel booked and they filled me in on all the great things to see and do in NZ. I was a little overwhelmed with all of the Maori place names – not only are they complicated looking but the pronunciation of them is not what you’d expect. For example, Whakatane is actually pronounce “Fa-ka-tanee”
I was absolutely exhausted when we rolled into Hamilton – I had been up all night traveling and then had to deal with a five hour time change (thank goodness it was ahead and not behind) so once I got to the hostel and booked into my tiny little six-person dorm, I didn’t unpack anything but crashed on my bed for a solid three hours.
So I slept really well until 1230pm the next day (that’s what I love about extended holidays, I don’t have to rush to get everything in all the time, I can relax and take days off here and there) and headed out into town. Hamilton’s a small city, about 140,000 people and I was in the CBD so I was nice and close to everything. Since I had lost my shorts I was on a mission to replace them. Clothing in New Zealand (especially name brands such as Levi, Billabong, Hurley etc.) is extremely expensive, about 20-30$ more than you would find that item in Canada, so I was not looking forward to a 50$ pair of shorts. I did however luck out and picked up an almost identical pair for $10. I love sales. After shopping I stopped for a nice cool beer with Keelan and then took the night off as I was still pretty tired.
The next day I slept in really late again and spent the early afternoon doing some laundry. I headed out on another mission to pick up a replacement water bottle and a managed to score one for really, really cheap which made me pretty happy. I spent the afternoon wandering around Hamilton Gardens which are unbelievably amazing. They have a section devoted to gardens throughout history such as a Japanese thought garden, English flower garden, Italian Renaissance garden, and a Contemporary 20th century garden. They also had a sustainability “backyard” which was cool to wander around in, a rose garden, and traditional Maori gardens. If any of you ever make it to NZ and Hamilton specifically, I would highly recommend stopping in here.
The next day I caught a bus with Keelan down to Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. The Mount is actually an extinct volcano and is only about 1000 feet above sea level so not very high. The day was a bit cloudy but perfect for a little bit of hiking and we walked all around the Mount and spent some time goofing around on the beach. We made a GIANT Canadian Flag and took a bunch of pictures with it (you’ll probably see these on facebook). Then we headed up the Mount and got some incredible pictures of the ocean and town around us. Hiking can be difficult and challenging but the reward of the view at the top makes it so worth it! That night we indulged in some fish and chips from a store across from the hostel – for $17 you could feed four people and got fish, chips, breaded potatoes and sausage. Although a wee bit salty, it was the perfect end to a great day.
The next day was a designated beach day as the sun was shining and it was really hot. Keelan and I grabbed some groceries and had a little picnic in a park then picked up a case of beer and lounged on the beach allll day. The sun here is extremely powerful so you have to be careful to put sunscreen on every little bit of skin as you can burn in mere minutes. After a day of drinking on the beach in the sun we headed back to the hostel where the sushi place next door sells sushi for a dollar a piece between 7 and 730. They have all types of rolls so we grabbed some and headed back to the hostel to hang out with a bunch of other backpackers for the night.
Keelan left the next morning and I hung out on the beach again all day. I met some Americans who are down here playing “gridiron” or American Football, and we chatted for a while and grabbed some sushi. It’s really interesting the people you run into down here. That night I just hung out in the hostel and then went out and checked out the stars as they were quite brilliant. It’s weird not to see the big dipper in the sky or any Northern Lights.
The next day I checked out and headed out to Whakatane – a small town on the coast. I love NZ as I was able to catch a bus for a 60km trip for only $6.80 NZ. The hostel was really quiet since it’s not peak season yet and there were only 6 of us. Four of us grabbed some beer and hung out in the lounge room and played a few games the hostel had. I gloriously had my own room to sleep in that night but it surprisingly was a bit lonely having no one to chat with. The next day was a beautiful Sunday and I spent the afternoon walking through all the shops and saw a theatre playing afternoon matinees. I spoiled myself and picked up some candy at a warehouse and watched a late afternoon showing of the 7th Harry Potter. It was such a lovely Sunday.
The next day I was planning on heading over to Ohope beach by bus but discovered there’s actually a path to hike around the hill to get there. I was completely unprepared, carrying my laptop in my backpack with flip flops on but I was too lazy to walk all the way back to the hostel so I headed out. Unfortunately the maps aren’t very descriptive and literally just show a line around the hill with no relation to other street signs and I got lost. Really lost. Starting out I needed two Kiwi’s to direct me (the streets are kind of weird here) and then I didn’t take the correct turn off and got even more lost. As in 25-minutes-of-walking-down-the-road lost. Luckily a meter reader from San Francisco helped me out and drove me back to the right starting place and I was finally able to head out on my hike. I met an English guy on the way and we started chatting – the oddest coincidence in the world is that his parents, who are teachers, actually spent two years doing a teacher-swap in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan years ago so he knew a little bit about where I was from. I never ceased to be amazed by what a small world it is. So we did the entire hike together and at one point we had to stop and wait as the area was uncrossable one hour either side of high tide which was actually kind of cool. We were finally able to cross and came to an amazing gem of a beach. Instead of sand, the beach was full of shells. Millions upon millions upon millions of shells of all sizes, from full shells to broken little pieces almost turned into sand. This is by far my favorite place in NZ so far. The beach was so unique with the shelled sand and water washing over rocks, and trees hanging off the rocky hills around us that George and I hung out there for a while, just enjoying the view and tranquility of it all. The nicest thing about it: not another soul around. We had the entire beach to ourselves. We finally headed around the last stretch to Ohope beach and my one flip flop broke. I guess that’s why I shouldn’t hike in them. I spent an hour or so on the beach and took some pictures of the sand. It’s dark sand and when the water washes out it leaves little v-shaped ripples alternating dark and light which is really neat to see. Then I caught the last bus back to Whakatane for $1.60 and spent the evening relaxing and reading.
Today, I’m waiting for my bus to take me from Whakatane to Gisborne, a small coastal city which claims to be the very first city in the world to see the sunrise…
