Friday-Sunday

On Friday morning I got up and packed for my little trip to the Bay of Islands.  I went to class and the whole time was very excited about leaving to get on the road.  My excitement about going was quickly killed when I got all my things and carried them over to the meeting place and the boys weren’t back with the van.  The two that went to pick up the van were late and took a while to get back.  When they did get there, one of them wasn’t packed yet.  So, instead of leaving at 3 we left at about 415 (because they wanted to stop and buy alcohol).  I did however find someone else that didn’t drink when we stopped.  The other American girl on the trip doesn’t drink either and we were quick friends because of that. 

After the quick stop at Countdown we got on the road Steve (from the UK) drove for about 2 hrs and then I got in the drivers seat for the last hour.  It was pretty nice driving again.  I also loved that I was doing something because I didn’t know many of the people on the trip other than my roommate Craig.  There was also a strange kid named Kevin in the passenger seat that all he said to me was “let me drive” and “stay on the left side” the whole time.  He was the one that Craig and I tried to avoid the whole weekend.  He was just really strange and didn’t make you feel comfortable at all.  Very socially inept I guess.  So, we got there and it was pretty interesting.  The hostel we booked was double booked so they sent us to another one that had 2 rooms for 4 people (there were 8 of us, so it was perfect).  The drive up was pretty too! NZ countryside can be a cross of grassy fields or Jurassic Park jungle looking.  We also drove along the ocean at some points and saw some of the volcanic deposits in the water.  It was really a green drive up that took about 3 hours.

That night we spent a while getting our things in the room and then finding a place to eat.  When we did go out to eat I had “beef penne” and it wasn’t good at all.  They essentially browned ground beef and then put that over penne noodles.  It actually made me sick because there wasn’t any taste.  After that we went back to the room and sat there for a little while then went out to the beach (just down the road) and sat under the stars and moonlight.  I saw 2 shooting stars and it was a beautiful night.  That night I didn’t sleep well because the pillow was so thin it wasn’t even worth having it on the bed.  My neck hurt the next morning and I was pretty tired.  We did get up early though to go on our dolphin/bay cruise.  The dock was about 10 min walk away and 7 of us went (the weirdo didn’t sign up for it).  It was a cloudy start and then the sun came out and it was BEAUTIFUL! We got in the water twice with dolphins.  They were wild and there was just us with snorkels and fins.  It was in the open ocean and the water was 100+ meters deep.  The crew told us the day before that a group of orca’s were chasing pseudo orca’s through the water and tossing them in the air to kill them.  Luckily we, didn’t know that before we went into the water unprotected to swim with the dolphins.  I got rope burn on my butt from doing this as well.  They put a net out on the side of the boat and then we sat in it until we were near the dolphins.  Yea, it was really cool and cold and I was terrified the whole time.  I really don’t like water that I can’t see under, but maybe that was a good thing…

During the cruise we saw some pretty cool stuff and drove past where Captain Cook discovered NZ and stuff like that.  We also had an AMAZING stop over on an island after we went through the hole in the rock.  This island was like paradise with a beautiful beach and the water was so clear and blue.  I couldn’t believe what I saw because it was gorgeous and stuff that I’ve heard and seen pictures of but never experienced.  We snorkeled at the island and I found starfish.  I put one in a ziplock baggie but when we got back to Paihia everyone guilted me into throwing it back…so now I have no starfish souvenir for the day/trip.  The cruise lasted from 930 until 415 and it was really fun.  I’m glad I went on the trip and chose to do that.  After we got back to land we hung out on the beach and then everyone went to dinner.  I didn’t eat because I wanted to have what I brought.  The whole weekend I was getting sick after eating not my own food, so I sat with everyone while they ate and then made my own food back at the hostel.  So, ketchup here isn’t a commodity.  At just about every place you go they make you pay extra for ketchup.  They also usually give you one packet that’s smaller than the ones in the US for a heaping serving of fries (for example) and expect that to be enough, or you go and buy more. At the place we went to it was another $1 for one more packet of ketchup.  I was quite satisfied with my ramen and garlic bread (it didn’t need ketchup).

That night we stayed up pretty late because we were wired from all the exciting things.  We also couldn’t sleep because we all had those crappy pillows.  When we did get up Sunday it was quick packing up and getting out so we could get the car back to Auckland with enough time.  It was decided that I would split the drive with the weird boy, but I trumped that decision by saying that I wanted to drive the whole way and everyone else was cool with it.  It also didn’t help that I didn’t get out of the seat once I was in and that he was 19, so the older person (who was also a headstrong girl) put the final say into everything.  I honestly didn’t want him driving because he didn’t give/show me anything that he wouldn’t be weird and try something stupid while driving.  He also was the one that further wanted to delay us by stopping at some bakery for breakfast when everyone else had already eaten.  So, I drove the whole 3 hours back and loved it! Craig was my copilot and he and I just talked the whole way.  It was so nice driving back through all the pretty countryside and next to the ocean.  Driving on the other side of the road doesn’t bother me and I didn’t have any problems with staying on the left side of the road.  When we got back it was 1pm and everyone piled out of the car and went to their apartments.  I quickly pulled up skype and actually got mom online.  We talked for a while and it was nice to see someone from home because I didn’t take my laptop with me over the weekend.  After talking to mom I grabbed food and unpacked. Just about everything went into the laundry because it was all covered in dried saltwater.  I was pretty happy with my trip and glad that I made the decision to go along.  I wouldn’t change that cool weekend for anything.  Hopefully you all get to see my pictures and videos, but they don’t do it justice.