See The World
Seek Adventure Travel Happy
This week has been a lot of fun. Last Friday, Pat and I picked his mom Kathi up at the airport and we have been showing her around this beautiful country. We headed south to Rotarua and Lake Taupo and then further south to Tongariro National Park. Each night we camped in another beautiful spot. One night we slept at the base of 3 active volcanoes, it was pretty awesome. Tongariro National Park is New Zealand's oldest National Park and the 4th in the world, and is now a World Heritage Site. We went on a couple of hikes and found a beautiful green lagoon at the base of a waterfall feed from the snow capped peaks of a volcanoe. Pat of course had to go for a swim : ) Everything was going fine until we got a flat tire on the way home. While Pat was changing the tire the wrench that Pat was using broke. Somehow he managed to crack the steel all the way through. But Kathi and I were able to flag a truck down and he was nice and let us use his lug wrench. He said he was happy to stop and help a couple of "maidens". We made it back to the house safe and sound and have been soaking up lots of sun and kathi has been helping us finish off the rest of our Vegemite. Sunday we will be sadly taking her back to the airport and we will also be taking Delilah to the car market to try and sell her. After that we will be flying to the south island to see what else we can see while we are here. We hope everyone back home is having a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Comments
So Pat and I found some big waves just a short drive from our house at a place called Hot Water Beach. We rented a board and took turns at trying to catch a wave. We have only surfed one other time in Hawaii. In Hawaii we both were able to stand up each time we tried and we even started to try to learn how to turn and walk around on the board. So we figured that we were just naturally born to surf and that it would be a piece of cake. We were so wrong. When we got to Hot Water Beach the waves looked huge. They were at least twice the size of the waves in Hawaii, but we figured that we would be able to handle it. Pat went out first and did pretty well considering. He didn't stand up, but he got close and was able to ride the board most of the way in. It was then my turn. I got close to being able to stand up, but then lost the wave. The waves kept pushing my to the side faster then I could paddle the other way. I then found myself on a bunch of rocks trying to hold onto the board as I was pummeled by wave after wave. Pat came to my rescue and pulled me off the rocks. He said I was getting tossed around like a rag doll out there. I then decided that laying on the beach was more my speed. Pat, undetered, went out for another try, but things turned out much the same as his first try. Even though we're not going to be sposered by Quicksivler anytime soon I'm glad we at least went out and gave it a go and emerged relatively unscathed. I guess it's just a good excuse to head back to Hawaii to give the baby waves another try. Tomorrow we are going to be picking up Pat's mom from the airport in Auckland. We are really excited that she is going to be visiting and we are looking forward to showing her this beautiful country. Today we are busy getting thing ready for her visit and for us to move out of our apartment. We only have 10 days left here in Whitianga.
Among the things we have to do is to get Delilah fixed. About a week ago our headlights stopped working. We took her in to the local mechanic and figured she was about due for an oil change too (due meaning, we're not sure if she's ever had an oil change). So we figured we'd get it all taken care of at the same time. We went to pick her up and the mechanic told us that he couldn't fix the headlight, and that we'd have to take her somewhere else, and that the oil change would be $200! I did a little research and apparently this is a pretty standard price. Needless to say we were shocked, mostly becaues the main reason we were taking her in was to get the lights fixed. We're selling her in two weeks and a $200 oil change wasn't really what we had in mind at this stage of the game. We just got a call from the mechanic who is fixing the headlights with the price. Considering how expensive the oil change was I was ready for about anything. Luckily it will only be $139 to fix the lights. Which is good news since we are going to be leaving early in the morning tomorrow to head to the airport. We are getting really excited to be on the road again and seeing new things everyday .Some of the things on our list for the last month of our trip include: Milford Sound (said to be one of the most beautiful places in the world) Hiking on glaciers Bungy Jumping Whale watching Rotarua (which is the center of Maori Culture and a geothermal hotspot much like Yellowstone) Hiking the Souther Alps And much more... We are also getting excited to be closer to coming home and seeing all our friends and family again.Thanks for following us on this journey! ~Skeeter So, Wednesday morning Pat and I packed up the van for the first time in 5 months and headed to Raglan on the east coast for some surfing. Raglan is said to have the longest lefthand break in the world and is where people from all over go to surf. The great thing about Raglan is that there are beaches for begginners and there are beaches for the braver surfer. We drove about 3.5 hours along beautiful winding roads and we finally arrived. We had picked a place called Solcape http://www.solscape.co.nz/ to stay. Solscape is an eco-retreat/hostel. They have everything from dorm room style hostel accomodation, teepees, campervan parking and single rooms. We were going to just stay in the van, but the van spots were a little lacking. So, we decided to spring for a private room which just so happen to be in a converted train caboos. The whole place was really cool and designed with the hippie in mide. There was a cleansing pool and a place for composting. In addition to all that, it was situated on the top of a hill overlooking Raglan Bay. It was beautiful! After we settled in we walked down to the begginner's beach to check it out and see if we were up for it. Unfortunatly for us, the waves for a little weak sauce even for our novice skill level. We did enjoy just sitting on the beach. The beaches in Raglan are black sand beaches and it was our first time every seeing black sand. We went to dinner and decided that we should wait until tomorrow when we wouldn't be so tired from the drive and when the waves might be a bit bigger. Morning came, but the waves did not. We decided to head back home and on the way we saw Bridal Veil Falls, which is a beautiful waterfall, and the world's largest bottle of L &P. L&P is a very popular and delicious soda here. When we finally made it back home we found huge waves here at our beach! Such is life, you often find things where you least expected to. So, tomorrow Pat and I are going to give surfing another go...let's hope for good weather!
|
Skeeter
Hi there! I'm Skeeter. I grew up moving a lot and that makes me a bit restless for travel and exploration. I started this blog with my husband Pat when we decided to backpack New Zealand for a year. We are always looking for the next adventure and are loving life. We're just your average couple with two sassy dogs and a love for travel. We're sharing our travels and the tips we pick up along the way. LIZHello! I'm Liz. Blogging is very new to me, but I'm so excited to finally write as much as I talk! Archives
December 2016
Categories
All
|