Coromandel Trip
So this past weekend, Becca and I continued our mission to explore the North Island rather than preparing for exams and final papers. (That has really come back to bite me this week, but more on the trip before you learn of its repurcussions). We ended up using bus passes that my mom and Ann had left from way back in July when they did a great deal of traveling. This got us to the town of Whitianga (fi-tee-ang-uh) and almost all the way back. Total bus costs= $14 per person. Thanks, Mom! We switched buses at the town of Thames at the base of the Coromandel, which is a peninsula that gets out into the Pacific Ocean on the Northern Side of the North Island. The van we took from Thames to Whitianga was driven by New Zealand's very own Mario Andretti. He was speeding around the windiest coastal road with such confidence. Luckily, he's stop at picturesque views to have a smoke, tell us some geography, and save me from my growing car sickness. He was very knowledgeable on the flora and fauna and pointed out all sorts of volcanos and mountains that appeared to be people. This actually occurred on multiple occasions.

Anyway, we reached our hostel "On The Beach Backpackers" which was, in fact, on the beach. Given that we had little time to enjoy our new locations, we got straight to the sightseeing. We rented a car with the German girl that had been riding on the buses with us because we wanted to go to the same places and it made it less expensive. We rented a little car and drove straight to the hot water beaches. Based upon the recommendation of trusty roommate Becca, I neglected to wear a bathing suit because it was a bit chilly. Well as it turns out, it was full on beach weather, so we ended up stipping to our underwear to go swimming. This was only after having a divine picnic of assorted goods from our favorite supermarket, New World. After spending a number of hours watching people dig holes for themselves to read the underground hot water pools and then get obliterated by the incoming tides, we decided it was time to push on. Don't worry we didn't leave promptly, because I managed to lost the car key on the beach. It evidently fell out of my jeans pocket when I was getting dressed again. I had figured that's where I lost it, but if we'd waited another hour, the tide might have taken the key along with it out to the ocean. Acck!

After the beach, we headed to Cathedral Cove, the sight of some really unusual rock formations. It was a bit of hike to get to the actual cove, but once there it was not only gorgeous, but there was a whole group of kids playing cricket and just generally goofing around. Becca and I spent some time climbing the rocks and playing on the super shady looking swing. Luckily, it held on while we were on it!

Once it was starting to get late, we decided to return to town, get some food and tasty beers at a local pub. We talked with our German friend, Carmen, about her travels and life. She wasn't overly revealing about either, but she was an interesting companion for the afternoon. When we got home, we were all so tired that we fell asleep by 9:30p.

This ended up working out quite well because we got up bright and early to rent Kayaks. Carmen caught a bus on to Rotorua as she continued to explore New Zealand. The water was calm (after getting the kayaks beyond the surf where we got positively soaked). We took some pictures, enjoyed the morning light, and then rode the waves back into shore...so fun!

Afterwards, we packed up, checked out of the hostel and walked into town to look around at the shops. What we found was that few if any were open on Sunday. This left of course, our favorite option, food. We had a nice breakfast at an outdoor cafe and then proceded to shop afterwards. The best place we found was some kind of souvenir shop meets crap store that was going out of business. Everything was at least half off and we found all kinds of treasures in there including Halloween decorations, postcards, stuffed animals, and other essential items. Our bus left at 1p and we had the same driver for the return. He spent the trip pointing out everything he knew about the landscape as I desperately tried to not get sick on him from the winding road. All in all, another successful adventure. For now, I am stuck back in Auckland focusing on essays, projects, and finals. Ugh.