Ok, so a lot seems to have happened since I jumped out of the plane. It's been a really good ending to my trip. I leave tomorrow and have very mixed feelings. So ready to be done travelling, but not quite ready to say goodbye to New Zealand. I'm ready to see Peggy and Ginny (and the rest of the family too), but will miss the people I've met her
e. Anyways, to update you on the last week or so. I headed up to Thames on the Coromandel Penninsula after my sky dive. I really just relazed for a day, did laundry, that kind of thing. On Saturday, Simon arrived for the long weekend (ANZAC Day). We hired a car and headed off. We went to Hahei which is a little resort community on the east coast of the Coromandel. It was pretty beautiful there. We hung out on the beach pretty much the whole day. Not a whole lot of swimming (cold water), but lots of sun time. By mid afternoon we were being beaten by the clouds, so we headed to our hostel. Dinner, then we headed off t
o Hot Water Beach for low tide. Hot Water beach is one of the strangest things I've experienced. You could wiggle your feet down into the sand and the water was hot; like burn your feet hot. Simon and this other guy had shovels and were digging like crazy to make pools to sit in, but they weren't having very much luck with the waves. It was low tide, but some of the waves were still coming right up. We had fun anyways. The stars were spectacular that night. Haven't really seen a sky like that yet. Anyways, Sunday we headed to Cathedral Cove for a bit of a hike. It was a very cool place. The rest of Sunday and Monday were spent hanging out on the Coromandel. A little tough cause the weather wasn't great, but. Tuesday we headed into Auckland where we had lunch and then headed up the Sky Tower. A little disappointing as it is really not that tall. I mean it's taller then anything else in Auckland, but compared to the CN Tower, it's 200m shorter. Anyways, Katie would be pleased to know I had no trouble with the glass floor here. After the tower, Simon had to catch the plane back to Nelson. It was definately nice to have him come up and it was a good visit before I go back. Wednesday morning, I caught the bus up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. I headed to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the Treaty of Waitangi (NZ's founding document) was first signed between some of the Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown. Interesting to compare that history to Canadian history. Tuesday night I met up with a guy from Ontario, he and I organized a cruise in the Bay of Islands for the next day. Well, what a beautiful day for a sail around the Bay. I wa
s looking forward to swimming with the dolphins. So we spotted a pod quite early, but weren't allowed to swim with them because there were two babies in the group. We headed out to see "Hole in the Rock" which was actually pretty cool looking. Then back for lunch on the beach of 'island #7', (creative Kiwi's). Well, the weather started to take a bit of a turn then and it wasn't long before we were in quite a storm. Robin would have been very sick. But we saw dolphins, but nope, the water was too rough. Anyways, 3/4 through the day and I was ready to go back. It ended up being no swimming with dolphins and a hell of a lot of rain. Ah well. So Chad and I went for fish and chips when we got back (very yummy). Today I leave Paihia at 1, and the tomorrow I leave NZ. Kinda crazy, can't wait to see you all!
e. Anyways, to update you on the last week or so. I headed up to Thames on the Coromandel Penninsula after my sky dive. I really just relazed for a day, did laundry, that kind of thing. On Saturday, Simon arrived for the long weekend (ANZAC Day). We hired a car and headed off. We went to Hahei which is a little resort community on the east coast of the Coromandel. It was pretty beautiful there. We hung out on the beach pretty much the whole day. Not a whole lot of swimming (cold water), but lots of sun time. By mid afternoon we were being beaten by the clouds, so we headed to our hostel. Dinner, then we headed off t
o Hot Water Beach for low tide. Hot Water beach is one of the strangest things I've experienced. You could wiggle your feet down into the sand and the water was hot; like burn your feet hot. Simon and this other guy had shovels and were digging like crazy to make pools to sit in, but they weren't having very much luck with the waves. It was low tide, but some of the waves were still coming right up. We had fun anyways. The stars were spectacular that night. Haven't really seen a sky like that yet. Anyways, Sunday we headed to Cathedral Cove for a bit of a hike. It was a very cool place. The rest of Sunday and Monday were spent hanging out on the Coromandel. A little tough cause the weather wasn't great, but. Tuesday we headed into Auckland where we had lunch and then headed up the Sky Tower. A little disappointing as it is really not that tall. I mean it's taller then anything else in Auckland, but compared to the CN Tower, it's 200m shorter. Anyways, Katie would be pleased to know I had no trouble with the glass floor here. After the tower, Simon had to catch the plane back to Nelson. It was definately nice to have him come up and it was a good visit before I go back. Wednesday morning, I caught the bus up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. I headed to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the Treaty of Waitangi (NZ's founding document) was first signed between some of the Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown. Interesting to compare that history to Canadian history. Tuesday night I met up with a guy from Ontario, he and I organized a cruise in the Bay of Islands for the next day. Well, what a beautiful day for a sail around the Bay. I wa
s looking forward to swimming with the dolphins. So we spotted a pod quite early, but weren't allowed to swim with them because there were two babies in the group. We headed out to see "Hole in the Rock" which was actually pretty cool looking. Then back for lunch on the beach of 'island #7', (creative Kiwi's). Well, the weather started to take a bit of a turn then and it wasn't long before we were in quite a storm. Robin would have been very sick. But we saw dolphins, but nope, the water was too rough. Anyways, 3/4 through the day and I was ready to go back. It ended up being no swimming with dolphins and a hell of a lot of rain. Ah well. So Chad and I went for fish and chips when we got back (very yummy). Today I leave Paihia at 1, and the tomorrow I leave NZ. Kinda crazy, can't wait to see you all!
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