Thursday, December 28, 2006
Last two weeks in New Zealand... and onwards
Since I last posted I've been up to the Bay of Islands, which was really beautiful. I stayed in Paihia for a few nights and took a couple of day trips around the area.
The first trip was up to Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach. Cape Reigna is [almost] the northernmost tip 
of New Zealand (beaten only by somewhere that you can only get to by hiking which is 2km more north). Cape Reinga is also the point at which the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, and in the picture below you can see the two sets of waves clashing together. The signpost shows just how far away I've been all this time.
After Cape Reinga, we took a trip down 90-Mile Beach. To get there, the bus had to drive down a river that is actually quicksand... so we stopped off to take pictures and the bus sank! Nah, the bus driver was really strict about not stopping and apparently a few cars get consumed each year by idiots who stop off to take a picture of themselves on quicksand... and lose their car... Instead, we pulled off somewhere safe and climbed up this monster sand dune to board down it... which was 
wicked, except by the time I'd got to the top I couldn't breathe! Afterwards, the bus drove on down 90-Mile Beach, which is a pretty cool concept, racing along the sand.
The next day
I took a boat trip out around the Bay of Islands, which was all pretty stunning, and culminated in a ride through the "Hole in the Rock" out at Cape Brett.
So that was it for my Magic travels, for the next day it was back down to Auckland to meet Paul
and Kat who had kindly offered to put me up for a few days and to spend Christmas with them. They live in Papakura which is a suburb in the South of Auckland, and they have a really nice house. Paul has just built a huge garage in which he's going to build aeroplanes (real ones that are actually piloted), and a great upstairs deck for barbecues, which they take advantage of a lot! They also have a cat, Tempest, and his friend Jag (with the collar) who belongs to Paul's tenant, Gary. Here they are, asleep on Paul. They are absolutely adorable, and love playing together and getting into mischief.
The first trip was up to Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach. Cape Reigna is [almost] the northernmost tip 
of New Zealand (beaten only by somewhere that you can only get to by hiking which is 2km more north). Cape Reinga is also the point at which the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, and in the picture below you can see the two sets of waves clashing together. The signpost shows just how far away I've been all this time.
After Cape Reinga, we took a trip down 90-Mile Beach. To get there, the bus had to drive down a river that is actually quicksand... so we stopped off to take pictures and the bus sank! Nah, the bus driver was really strict about not stopping and apparently a few cars get consumed each year by idiots who stop off to take a picture of themselves on quicksand... and lose their car... Instead, we pulled off somewhere safe and climbed up this monster sand dune to board down it... which was 
wicked, except by the time I'd got to the top I couldn't breathe! Afterwards, the bus drove on down 90-Mile Beach, which is a pretty cool concept, racing along the sand.The next day
I took a boat trip out around the Bay of Islands, which was all pretty stunning, and culminated in a ride through the "Hole in the Rock" out at Cape Brett.So that was it for my Magic travels, for the next day it was back down to Auckland to meet Paul
and Kat who had kindly offered to put me up for a few days and to spend Christmas with them. They live in Papakura which is a suburb in the South of Auckland, and they have a really nice house. Paul has just built a huge garage in which he's going to build aeroplanes (real ones that are actually piloted), and a great upstairs deck for barbecues, which they take advantage of a lot! They also have a cat, Tempest, and his friend Jag (with the collar) who belongs to Paul's tenant, Gary. Here they are, asleep on Paul. They are absolutely adorable, and love playing together and getting into mischief. Christmas Day was a pretty wicked affair. We arrived at Kat's parent's house at about 9.30 for a 
champagne and waffle breakfast, followed by present opening, followed by an all day cocktail party! Kats sister, Liz, had taken a bar course and was keen to show off her skills. I don't think we quite got through the whole cocktail menu, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying! After the most humungous lunch of ham, pigs in blankets and roast veggies, we were all a bit knackered so vegged out in front of the TV to watch The World's Fastest Indian (as mentioned in my post from Invercargill/Catlins). After that, we felt we had recovered enough for a bit of dessert, for which Kat's granny had made a Christmas Pudding specially for the poms! We weren't sure we were ever gonna eat again after that!
champagne and waffle breakfast, followed by present opening, followed by an all day cocktail party! Kats sister, Liz, had taken a bar course and was keen to show off her skills. I don't think we quite got through the whole cocktail menu, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying! After the most humungous lunch of ham, pigs in blankets and roast veggies, we were all a bit knackered so vegged out in front of the TV to watch The World's Fastest Indian (as mentioned in my post from Invercargill/Catlins). After that, we felt we had recovered enough for a bit of dessert, for which Kat's granny had made a Christmas Pudding specially for the poms! We weren't sure we were ever gonna eat again after that!On Boxing Day we headed to the Coromandel to Tairua to stay with some friends of Paul and Kat. And I *finally* got to the beach and into the sea properly! A couple of the others went boogie boarding, while the rest of us just messed around in the surf. That was a bit of an education for me, having to negotiate huge waves and decide whether to go over or under them! Luckily Kat was on hand to give me directions, although I did get dunked pretty badly at the start... It was a really wicked couple of days and I really enjoyed meeting Kat's family and hers and Paul's friends, who are all a wicked bunch.
Now, though, I've got to re-pack up my stuff so I can head back into the city tomorrow. Paul and Kat are going to a gig in the Coromandel tomorrow night so we worked out it was cheaper for me to spend a night in the City and get the bus to the airport on Sunday than for me to stay in their place and get a taxi to the airport. I've still got a few things to pick up, like travellers cheques, so it works out quite well. I tried to get travellers cheques in Papakura yesterday but they said they'd have to order them in! Never mind.
I'm almost prepared to head off to South East Asia... still a little bit scared about going so far out of my comfort zone, but I know I'm gonna have a wicked time. So this will probably be my last post from New Zealand, next stop Singapore!
Happy New Year to everyone, start it as you mean to go on and drink as much as you can!
Love Suzi xxx
# posted by Sue Lambert @ 2:23 PM 
