Bay of Islands

Last week was one of the best weeks I've ever had in my life. Christie came Thanksgiving and we toured the north island for 7 days. It was absolutely amazing. She was only here for a short time so I had to pick a couple places close enough to drive to in a day. The first of these was the famous Bay of Islands in the northern territory. We stayed in a chalet on top of a mountain overlooking Paihia... Which is Maori for a whales... Well I don't really know what it means but it was beautiful. We got a room with our own balcony that overlooked the bay and it was perfect weather. We had some wine and walked around town. We got up early the next morning and headed down to the harbor to go sailing. We went out on the Lion New Zealand which is a competition sailboat that has been al the way around the world four times in sailing competitions. It was a beautiful boat. It was cold in the morning and windy enough for a little sailing but not much. It was fine though because we pulled into a bay for lunch and got to go kayaking, snorkeling, and exploring the island. I couldn't do the latter because while we were sailing the jib sail's tacking line yanked off my sandal and threw it into the ocean so I had no shoes. I am so accident pronto its not even funny. I'm lucky it didn't yank me into the water, but don't worry mom I am ok. Me and Christie got to do a little kayaking just before lunch and it was absolutely beautiful.



During our lunch we got to see something I never imagined we would... killer whales. We saw about 5 orcas coming into the bay to feed off of stingrays. It was awesome. We saw stingrays jumping out of the water and fins and blowholes following after them. It was amazing. These things were huge. Christie got some excellent video of it with her camera. We couldn't get really close because they were in shallow water following their food and our boat was too big but we could still see them perfectly. After they past around us we headed back out into the open ocean that surrounds these 148 islands. Me and Christie were laying down on the front of the boat when the captain yelled there were dolphins at the bow. We looked up to see a dolphin jump 6 feet from us and a school of them swim right under us and appear on the other side. It happened really fast but me and Christie got front row seats. It was perfect. We got some pictures and videos of them as well. We tried sailing again and finally got a good enough wind to get us cruising. There is absolutely nothing like sailing. I love the water as it is, but sailing is the coolest. There is nothing like flying across the water with absolutely no sound but the sound of the water slapping your boat. It is so peaceful. One day my friends I will have a sailboat. I have officially caught the bug.




On our way back we also ran into a couple creatures that you don't see back home... penguins. That's right penguins in the open ocean. It rocked. This little guy waved at us with his flipper. It was a very successful day. The sailing wasn't great because it wasn't windy enough but the captain assured us we were very fortunate in spotting the wildlife we did. It is very rare to see orcas in the wild because the usually feed at night and the penguins have nearly all traveled back south so we got lucky.



The next day before coming back me and Christie decided to do some horseback riding. It is something we both haven't been able to do since we were kids and it sounded like a good idea. It was very fun. We had a guide that took us into a wildlife reserve that was dedicated to saving the kiwi bird. It was very pretty. We also got to walk into the ocean with the horses. That was pretty cool. The view was spectacular and horses are amazing beautiful creatures, but English saddles suck. I haven't been on a horse since I was a kid so maybe that explains why I didn't remember my ass being so sore. Haha it was definitely worth it but there is a reason cowboys walk the way they do. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Coromandel

Hey strangers. Guess who's back? Haha I know it has been forever since I have been on here but I finally have a trip worth writing about. Me and Graham went to the Coromandel peninsula for a quick weekend trip and it rocked. We drove through Thames and Coromandel the town to a couple of beaches on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The drive was only about a hundred kilometers but it took about three hours because some of it was right on the ocean and through some mountains so you had to drive really slow. The first place we decided to stop was a place called hot water beach. We had no idea what that meant but thought it might be fun because the water was cold everywhere else. We walked down the beach only to find that between this outcropping of rocks there was thermal activity in the sand. Everyone but us had shovels and were digging into the beach. We walked across the sand and damn near burned our feet. It was the weirdest feeling ever. You wade out into the freezing water and dig your feet in the sand and its over 100 degrees. It was awesome. I've never seen anything like it. So me and Graham were able to borrow a shovel and dig our own personal hot tub on the beach. It was great. Just lay in the water and get hot then go jump in the ocean. We stayed there until the tide rolled in and overtook our hot tub.




After we showered off at the visitor's center we drove down the rode to a beach called cathedral cove. It was a 45 minute hike through the jungle that emptied into one of the most serene beaches I've ever seen. There was this huge whole in the mountain and it led to another beach on the other side. The water was crystal clear and the beach was gorgeous. We just sat on the rocks and listened to the waves rolling in. There were like 15 people on the whole beach and no one saying a word. It was beautiful. It was quite a hike in and the way out was very steep and tiring. We also went on a side trail to a place called stingray bay which would have been the coolest campsite ever... But it was not allowed. We tried to plan a place to park the car and sneak in but ended up not taking the risk of getting a fine or our car towed. It was another beautiful beach with very clear water. We hiked over some rocks and found this little cave that the tide had cut into the rock and took some pictures. It was the perfect place for a fire.



We drove back to Coromandel town and set up camp just as the tide rolled out. We had a wonderful dinner of baked beans and soup and drank some beer and then went out and explored the pools that the outgoing tide had left. We got some cool underwater pictures of some crabs and starfish. The rocks were alive with little critters and we took a short movie of a crab fight. We were out there tile early morning and just slept a couple hours in time to wake up and drive home for work. It was a short trip but definitely one of the prettiest places yet!!

Muriwai and Piha

So here's the deal with the west coast of the north island... Waves, waves, and more waves. This place has some of the biggest waves I have ever seen. Bigger than Hawaii and Australia. It is serious down here. There are signs everywhere telling people not to swim and to only to surf within the flags. There were small rubber boats with lifeguards just shuttling back and forth bringing people in after exhausting themselves fighting the tide. The two days we went were still pretty cold and there was a storm coming from the northeast coast of Australia... so the sets werent very good for surfing because there were waves crashing every which direction. Me and Graham went out in the water at Muriwai and it was hard even to walk against the riptide. It is definitely for professionals only so mom if I go surfing it will be with an instuctor... on either of these two beaches anyways. Here are some pics of the approach to piha and from the top of lion's head rock on Piha beach. Cheers!

Auckland

So we landed in Auckland. The biggest city in New Zealand and the home of the sky tower... the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. After four days at the wonderful Lantana Lodge we finally found an apartment. It is a 2 bedroom loft apartment with an incredible view of the city and the sky tower. We have the binoculars on hand to watch people taking the sky jump... Which is a ride sort of like bungee jumping from the top of the sky tower to the city street below. It is awesome. I will definitely be doing it before I leave but right now I cant waste money on it. It is beginning to warm up and we went down to the harbor and had lunch where I got three applications to bartend right on the waterfront. I really don't want to bartend or serve while I'm here but it might be a nice change considering its 15 bucks an hour and you don't have to worry about tips. Here is a view of the wonderful skytower from our dining room table. Enjoy

East Coast

We hightaled it out of Rotorua after the police told us there was little to no chance of recovering our stuff. We were headed for the south island and decided to spend the night in Wellington. We went to a pubcalled the Welsh Dragon which was advertised as the only Welsh owned and operated pub in the southern hemisphere. The manager Mike was one of the coolest guys I've ever met. Old guy with long gray hair... He did bartricks and joked with us all night long. He convinced us that Wellington was the heart of New Zealand. He was right it was beautiful and when we couldn't afford the ferry to the south island we tried to find an aprtment there. Unfortunately the heart of New Zealand didn't want any short term leases and so it was back north we came. We decided after three days of job searching tand rainy weather we needed an adventure. We headed up the east coast looking for a beach. What we found was better than we ever imagined.

We wound through mountains and farmland on a single lane dirt road... making sure not to hit any cattle or baby lambs. We actually have some good video footage of the lambs scattering away. We though we were lost and all of a sudden the road emptied to a black sand beach with white rocks that looked like something in planet of the apes. It was awesome. We parked our car on a hill with a flock of sheep and headed to the beach. We climbed the rocks and watched the waves crash while we again enjoyed an ocean side hookah session. It was absolutely unreal. We got some really good pictures just as the sun peaked through the clouds... Enjoy!

Rotorua

We headed down south to Rotorua on our way to the south island. This is the home of the 2006 mountain bike world championships. It is a geothermal hot spot so there are hot springs pools and geysers in all of the hostels. It also has every extreme sport imaginable. Bungee to skydiving, sledging, whitewater rafting, canyoneering, zorbing, and of course mountain biking. Me and Graham decided to head to the redwood national forest to ride on only a sample of the 500k of single-track mountain bike trails. This forest was awesome. Redwood trees supplying a canopy that housed many more types of tropical and evergreen vegetation. We even rode by a thermal pool in the forest. We carried our bikes to the to of the mountain for an absolutely gorgeous view of the Lake Rotorua and the town that surrounds it. We snapped a couple pics and headed down one of the most insane tracks I've ever been on. When we got to the end of the trail we had some shocking news. A local man told us that there was a girl at the visitor's center traveling with two Americans who was crying because our car had been broken into and our stuff had all been stolen. We raced back down the road to find that we had indeed been robbed. I could have thrown up on the spot. It was absolutely horrible. This wonderful town has every sport you could wish for on the north island all in one stop. Unfortunately the police say it is the most preyed upon city in New Zealand. So if you get the chance to go make sure and keep everything locked away and nothing in your car. I know we will be back before the trip is through but we won't be making a point to take a lot of gear. Here are some more samples of the view from the top of the mountain

Whangerei

After arriving in Auckland and buying a car... We decided to head up north for our first adventure. We drove northeast for 2 1/2 hours through some of the most amazing terrain I have ever seen. There were palm trees growing on the same mountain as evergreen and pine trees. Then there would be a lone tree on top of a large hill that looked like it belonged in Africa. It almost reminds you of being in Jurassic Park. There are sheep and cattle roaming everywhere and every other town you come to has at least 3 vineyards. It is seriously something that is beyond belief. We made it to the beach after buying a couple of local varietals in town and spent 4 hours smoking hookah, drinking wine, and exploring the beach that was completely unoccupied. Pictures hardly do it justice but here are a few examples