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Check out my new page. It’s there to add a little excitement to your visit when you have some time to kill and perhaps I haven’t updated in a while. Push the button and it’ll take you to a random post in my archives; there’s nearly 1 and a half year’s worth of posts to delve into and my journey of thoughts has been interesting to say the least – in that time I have considered relationships (past and present), anxiety attacks, novel writing, body confidence, my time in Newcastle UK, emigrating to Wellington New Zealand, job hunting in a recession and a newly discovered obsession with small and furry critters. Definitely so random.
On Monday I decided that since Kiwi had spent all weekend working (whilst I had been out having fun and frolics) that he needed a day off. So I told him I was packing a picnic and to decide where he wanted to go. Kiwi chose to drive out to the Wairarapa coast, where I’d not been before.
So I made us lamb and stuffing sandwiches with mint mayonnaise and salad (by the way, my sandwiches are awesome – you should try my chicken tikka sandwiches with hot mango chutney, raita, onions and salad. Oh wow, I think I just dribbled a little). The sandwiches came with a side of crisps (or ‘chippies’/'chips’ to my NZ/US readers) and a flask of hot cream of tomato soup.
Anyway, we hopped in the car and drove out towards Martinborough. Kiwi had chosen a place called Lake Ferry, which has a wharf where we’d stop for our picnic. So at the intersection where the signs pointed left to Martinborough and right to Lake Ferry, we took a right. Ten minutes down the road, we realised we were very close to ‘empty’ on our petrol meter, and that there were no shops for miles. So we turned around and headed back towards Martinborough where we knew we could fill up.
After turning back around in Martinborough and starting back out to Lake Ferry, we instead decided to take a road which led to Tora beach, because the scenery looked so much nicer and what we’d seen of the road to Lake Ferry was dull. The Tora beach road was surrounded in hills which appeared to be covered in lush green carpet. Lambs were skipping about everywhere, cows were ‘wild and free’ (or rather they’d escaped the fenced fields and were walking on the road beside us), and the whole place just encapsulated ‘New Zealand’ on a postcard.
It was a good thing we had stopped for petrol, because the road went on, and on, and on, and on, without any sign of a beach – we couldn’t even see the sea. But there was a river running alongside the road so we figured it’ll lead us to the ocean. At one point the road turned into a gravel path, and still it went on, and on, and on… It was nearly half past 1 (we’d left the house around 11am) and I was thinking let’s pull over and eat on the road side, there’s obviously no beach around here, but Kiwi spotted a speck of sea water between two hills (it looked another million miles away) and so we kept on truckin’.
Eventually we turned a corner and there was beach alongside us. Gorgeous beach with beautiful green-blue sea. Kiwi got all excited because he saw a few cars out in what was otherwise a deserted place, and saw men dressed in wetsuits holding spear-guns and cray bags (for keeping crayfish in). And so our little picnic turned into a full blown plan to go camping out there for a night with Cat Woman and Wetsuit Man, so the men can hunt and the women can cook their catch on a barbecue. Sounds good to me, and I think we’ll be doing it soon cause Wetsuit Man has some surgery ahead which will put him out of spear-fishing action for a while. Only trouble is we’ll have to ‘rough it’ properly because there’s no amenities out there – no power, no toilet (well, there’s a long drop but I’d rather go in the bush than hover my bum over a pile of tens of other people’s sh**…) Oh I am *such* a princess!
Anyway, the story comes to an end with us driving back a shorter route home. And now I have to stop typing and go hotfoot it to the shower and then to work. My shifts have increased at the cinema again (the school holidays are near), so I worked yesterday and today and I’m working tomorrow, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday… yay for money, yay for decreasing my boredom but not yay for my job hunting and social life…
As usual I’ve left it a few weeks before blogging about what I did last weekend 3 weekends ago… I left the house, I left Upper Hutt, I had some fun, for a whole weekend! *Yay me*
Me, Kiwi, Cat Woman and Wetsuit Man, went to Whakapapa and (a ski area on Mount Ruapehu in National Park) for the weekend (the ‘Wh’ in Whakapapa is pronounced ‘F’ – I’m not pointing this out because I think it is in any way humorous, because that would be immature… *ahem*). Can I just point out on a total tangent that Cat Woman and Wetsuit Man are two friends of Kiwi’s – Cat Woman a friend from uni days, and Wetsuit Man a friend from school. I met Cat Woman and we got on really well because we’re both as neurotic awesome as each other. The first time we met she was chatting about being single and it sucking. I told her about one of Kiwi’s friends – Wetsuit Man, who is pretty H.O.T. (not that I think so, I mean I’m practically married and therefore blind to attractive men…) Anyway, he’s a nice guy so I purposefully invited them both to my birthday party, where they barely spoke. I thought I’d failed at the old set-up, but cupid had other ideas and Wetsuit Man asked a few questions about who that girl Cat Woman was, and asked for her number. They’re now all loved-up, yay 
Back to the weekend away. Cat Woman and Wetsuit Man stayed over at our place on the Friday night so that we could get up at 4.30am on the Saturday morning and get on the road for about 5am. I was hideously tired as I didn’t sleep until 1am – I was tossing and turning over that email (which I’d received the day before we went away) and generally feeling morose about my job prospects in New Zealand. I was also feeling panicky about the drive out to the mountain and whether I’d have an anxiety attack in front of Cat Woman and Wetsuit Man. I was in an overly upset state and even told Kiwi I didn’t want to go away. Luckily he knows to just ignore me, tell me to go to sleep and see how I feel when I wake up. I woke up before everyone else at 4am and after showering and dressing I felt much better. The four hour drive out to National Park was fine – except that I got tireder and tireder as the drive went on, but because I can’t sleep in cars I kept having to watch Kiwi (who was driving) to check he wasn’t falling asleep. He was pretty tired too. But we arrived safe and sound at the lodge we were staying in that night.
The lodge was awesome. It belonged to friends of Cat Woman’s Aunt, and her Aunt was staying with us too. The lodge has a twin room, a room with two bunk beds, two double bedrooms and a mezzanine floor which can house 10 mattresses and is amazingly cozy as the heat from the fire in the sitting room rises and sits in the mezzanine above. There is a games room with pool table, an open plan sitting-room-come-dining-room-come-kitchen, and even a room with a spa pool which we never got around to filling up. I have plans to be going back, and taking friends when they come over to visit for ski season (hint… you know who you are) xx
Soon after we arrived (around 9am) I was in a zombified state so I had a nap for an hour. After I got up Kiwi, Wetsuit Man and CW’s Aunt went off to Whakapapa to snowboard. Cat Woman and I had no snowboarding gear (and I couldn’t afford to rent gear for the weekend) so we had our own fun. We headed off to Whakapapa as well, just to have a coffee at the cafe which sits at the bottom of the ski area. We had a HUGE pain au chocolat each, the best I’ve ever had. The pastry was huge, glazed in chocolate and two slabs of chocolate ran right through either side of the centre of the pastry. Amazing. We had a shopping list of food to pick up so that Wetsuit Man could cook us a beef casserole, so after our coffees we headed to Okahune (the local ski town) to the supermarket, about 25 minutes drive away. After we had dropped the shopping off back at the lodge, we headed back out to Chateau Tongariro, a large hotel which sits at the bottom of Whakapapa. I’d heard they served High Tea there (tea served with little cakes and sandwiches in a very quaint ‘English’ manner) but after our pain au chocolat (and the McDonalds we’d had on the drive from Upper Hutt to National Park) we decided against any more food and instead had each some bubbly (I had their best Brut – I asked for something cheap and bubbly. It was bubbly but it cost $10 which is more than a glass of real champagne in a normal bar, so hardly cheap… Cat Woman got a beer, which didn’t cost much less). The Chateau was lovely though; we sat in the lounge, on sofas overlooking a floor to ceiling window with a view which stretched for miles of National Park. We just chillaxed and chatted for a couple of hours, before Kiwi called to tell us they were heading back to the lodge. So we finished up and headed back too.
We spent Saturday night eating practically intravenously. I’ve discovered Maggi Onion Dip and couldn’t. stop. eating. it. Smothering carrot sticks, cucumber, crackers and crisps with onion soup powder mixed into reduced cream. SO GOOD. Then there was the beef casserole, and CW’s Aunt had made an apple crumble. I left the apple crumble for breakfast the next day. We all had an early night; the fire blazing, the exceptional amount of food and the alcohol after an early morning start had me feeling very drowsy.
On Sunday the weather for snowboarding was terrible – high winds and low visibility. So we all decided to go sledging instead. We rented sledges and some waterproof clothing from a local ski shop and headed up Whakapapa. All the ski-ers and boarders were heading down the mountain – you couldn’t see infront of your nose, it was wet and freezing cold. But the sledging area was fine and there were only a few people on it. It was so much fun, except for the part where I blasted right into a wall of ice, which is just as hard as a brick wall, and came out with a few bruises and a sore arse. Once we were wet right through we gave up and headed back to the lodge, so we could pack up and be on our way back to the Hutt.
I wish we’d had more time out there, but I know it’s only a taste of what’s to come. Me and Kiwi have some good friends in Cat Woman and Wetsuit Man, so it won’t be our last trip together – it’s the first of many.
I am so behind in posting about what I’ve been up to that I can’t even backdate new posts because I’m unsure of the dates things happened on. If that makes sense? I’m going to do a round-up so I can finally catch up on myself, but the following things have taken place over the course of the past month.
It all started with a trip up to Auckland to see Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion. We drove up on a Thursday morning, to Kiwi’s Aunt and Nana’s house in Te Aroha where we would stay until Saturday. (Te Aroha is about 1 and a half hours drive south of Auckland, so made a nice stop-off en route). It took us about 8 – 9 hours to drive the 6 hour journey because we took a new ’short’ route, which although scenic was round-a-bout-and-back-again, through National Park and past the mountains on winding roads, and wasn’t so short at all. It was so good to be out on the roads though, driving from one end of the North Island to the other (well, not quite, but Te Aroha is more than half-way up). Kiwi had been working hard up until the day we left, (he even had to take his computer with us so he could work at his Aunt’s while I chillaxed by myself), so the journey up was a good time to catch up, have a laugh. We listened to the radio, ate far too many pretzels, stopped off for a healthy lunch at Burger King, he snored his head off while I took over the driving for a bit. We then had to pull over so we could both have another nap later on because I refuse to sleep in a moving car and Kiwi felt tired again. I can NEVER sleep in a car since an incident in which the person driving a car I was in (while I was asleep), fell asleep themselves and drove up the pavement and I woke up just to give a yelp so the driver awoke and narrowly missed a lamppost… So now I must stay awake at all times to sit and watch the driver for signs of heavy eyelids. It’s a fun car-game to play, a bit like “I Spy” except I only spy the driver. I have so many transport issues it’s not funny – I panic on trains and buses, I’m scared of flying and I can’t sleep in cars… I’m delightful to travel with, really I am.
Anyway, tangent, we arrived at Te Aroha early evening and Kiwi’s Aunt took us all (me, Kiwi and his Nana) out for an early dinner. We were shattered from our trip up (even with all the napping) so after dinner we managed nothing else but a bit of TV and early bedtime. On Friday, Kiwi had work to do so I entertained myself taking Zack, his Aunt’s Labradoodle for a walk and watched the entire first and second series of Gavin and Stacey (one of the best-written British comedy series ever, or so I think anyway). I even managed to drag Kiwi out the house for another dog-walking session later on. This is no mean feat, as Kiwi doesn’t do walking. He finds it boring and pointless. But a 50 minute walk later with Zack and I think he actually enjoyed himself. That was pretty much it for Friday, we had another early bedtime to prepare ourselves for the next day when we would be heading to Auckland.
On Saturday I went out for another walk with Zack and Kiwi’s Aunt this time. We went out for brunch in Te Aroha with Kiwi’s Aunt and Nana, where Kiwi had Eggs Benedict and I had a really, really nice cream cheese and salmon bagel. Afterwards Kiwi had more work to do, so I headed back in Te Aroha for some window shopping and generally killed time until 3pm when we finally headed off to Auckland where we would stay for one night. We were staying in a hostel called Base, where we’d got a private room with it’s own bathroom. It was in the centre of the city so we decided to go out for dinner and drinks on the town. We went to Tony’s Steakhouse again (if you read my North Island Mini Tour series, you’ll know this was the place I had the best steak of my life). It was so popular that when we walked in at 5.30pm, we were told we couldn’t get a table until 8pm, they were booked out until then (it’s a HUGE place too). So we made a table booking and headed down the road to the “London Pub” where we had a few drinks before going next door to the “Irish Pub” called Father Teds, where they were serving mulled wine (remember it’s Winter in New Zealand). After a few drinks we decided it was a good idea to get a souvenir from Father Teds. They were selling t-shirts which were a rip-off of the FCUK French Connection brand. These t-shirts said FCEK Irish Connection. If you watched Father Ted (it was a comedy series about some Irish priests), you’d get the joke. When we finally got back round to Tony’s Steakhouse I was starving, and although I ordered more food than I could eat, it was all as good as it was the first time we went.
On Sunday we went out to the North Shore of Auckland, and had coffee outside a cafe on the waterfront. We decided to go to Kelly Tarlton’s, Auckland’s Aquarium to kill time since we didn’t need to get to Cirque du Soleil until 4.30pm. At the Aquarium we managed to see the Sting-ray and penguin feeding time – we got to see the penguin’s up close as we took a snow cat ride around their enclosure. We made friends with a sea turtle and bought ourselves a keyring souvenir in the gift shop. Kiwi decided he wanted to take me to Auckland Domain, a park in the city which houses Auckland Museum. We took a walk around the park, where there are glasshouses with tropical plants, and sat down by the duck pond for a while. We still had a couple of hours to while away but we were both tired so we sat in the car, which was parked in the sun, and slept for a bit. You can call us the Lord and Lady of napping…
Eventually we drove to Cirque du Soleil. Kiwi was so excited because it’s something he’s wanted to see for years. We both enjoyed it – him perhaps more so than me, it was very impressive. It’s the best circus in the world (or so its reputation says). There were trapeze artists, trampolinists, contortionists, clowns, all sorts and plenty of amazing costumes and sets. We had some of the best seats too – 4 rows from the front (we didn’t need to be any closer or we would have had tunnel vision to the stage and missed half of what was going on. But we were close enough to feel we were part of it). After the show, we drove the 1 and a half hours straight back to Te Aroha to stay our last night at Kiwi’s Aunt’s again. On the Monday morning I couldn’t believe it but I managed to persuade Kiwi to take Zack for another walk with me. I took him the same route Kiwi’s Aunt had taken me on Saturday – around the wetlands which were stunning. You walk all around the ‘marsh’ and there’s plenty of wildlife – we saw a Tui (one of NZ’s native birds which has a really distinct sound) and there were ducks, geese and I think swans too. It was a 45 minute walk and we both needed it before being couped up in the car for the 6 – 7 hour journey home. We took the usual route on the way back, having learnt from the trip up that our ’short cut’ wasn’t that short.
And so ends our trip to Auckland, and my very relaxing mini-break. It’s just a shame Kiwi had to work through the time we spent at his Aunt’s because he deserves a restful break far more than I do.
Today is a write off. A non-day. It might as well not have happened; we could have skipped today and moved on to tomorrow and nothing would be missing. It’s grey and drizzly and although it’s just gone midday it’s too dark to be light outside but too light to be dark. It’s the kind of cloudy sky that you see in an epic disaster film before the alien spaceship/tornado/armageddon darkens the sky and everyone screams and runs for cover.
It’s 1:15pm and I am still in my pyjamas. I got out of bed 15 minutes ago and migrated to the sofa, back under some blankets. I have my fourth cold since I arrived in New Zealand four months ago. My immune system is obviously actually a non-immune system and right now I am up to my earholes in mucus. I have to work later too, which is fun. But for now I have another couple of hours before I have to get showered, dressed and out the door.
Kiwi too is having a non-day. We both went to Kiwi Girl’s husband’s birthday party last night; to which I drove, spent the night drinking tea and taking panadol while others drank gin, bourbon, vodka and rum and took turns to mock me for my granny antics. I said it then and I’ll say it again; tea is the drink of the party people – I am setting a trend, just wait and see… I left around midnight, leaving Kiwi who was already well on his way to alcohol-related-misbehaviour. When I woke up this morning, there was still no Kiwi in my bed. After a few unanswered calls and a text which said ‘you are in the doghouse for not letting me know you weren’t coming home. You could be lying in a ditch on the streets of Upper Hutt for all I know,’ I finally got hold of him when he picked up my call and grunted ‘pick me up’ down the phone. He was still at Kiwi Girl’s house. I drove around the corner to pick him up and found him asleep on the sofa, surrounded by gladwrap (cling film). Someone had gladwrapped him from top to toe when he passed out last night. I didn’t want to know anything else; I’m sure he made a complete goon of himself and as he can’t remember the night we’ll just leave it at that. He’s been sick, taken some painkillers and gone back to bed where I’m sure we won’t see him move from until tomorrow.
Catching up on the week just gone, I spent some of my spare time this week spectating sports. I watched Kiwi Girl play darts; she used to play in the Nationals and has taken it up again. Her team won too so I must be a lucky mascot or something (or maybe they did it on their own merit, but I like to think it was me). I had a quick go myself and threw my first dart – it landed in the red circle outside the bullseye! It was pure fluke though because the next two darts landed in the carpet box around the dartboard… I also spectated a game of indoor netball. I’ve said I’ll be a casual player if I’m not working during their Friday night matches. I have no idea about the rules and my hand/eye coordination doesn’t bode well for throwing or catching, but it’ll be fun… I think.
I have had to have a rethink about getting a skin consultation just yet; I’d completely forgotten about my residency application which will cost around $1700 and make a nice dent in my bank account. With expenses like that I don’t really have anything left for unnecessary luxuries. I’ll be back to square one with my savings. Kiwi and I opened a joint bank account at the beginning of the week and decided we need $10,000 in it before we can move into a place of our own – money to keep us afloat if ever we have a quiet month or three with work. This money malarky is getting to be the bane of my life. I can’t afford to do anything. Most people come to New Zealand and travel for months, go sky-diving, bungee-jumping, zorbing and all kinds of other exciting ‘ings’ whereas I arrive and start knitting and aqua-jogging and spectating games of darts. Can someone remind me I am 25 and not 85?
Saying that, things are looking up in the financial department; I have been asked to quote for another copywriting project and Kiwi has something like 6 clients he’s currently working with and some potential for future projects too. I’m feeling so much more positive about the possibilities of working for myself; I can do it – the work is out there. I’m getting a business card printed in the next couple of weeks and Kiwi has designed my holding page so I have a starting point for finding clients. I can’t wait much longer for my website to be properly finished, but paying clients are Kiwi’s number one priority so that’s the way it has to be for now! As for chances to do something a bit more exciting, we have tickets for Cirque du Soleil in Auckland sometime in July or August (Kiwi booked the tickets, I have no idea when for) so that will mean a drive up North. Maybe we could take some time to drive further North than Auckland and see some places I’ve not been. Although it will be mid-winter and 90 mile beach won’t be as inviting as it would mid-summer… Even just a drive up North and seeing the circus will be amazing in itself, plus we can stay with Kiwi’s Nana and Auntie on the way up/way back down, which I’ll look forward to. Their house is gorgeous, has a great view and it’ll feel like a luxury holiday which beats staying in a Motel.
Lastly, I haven’t called my family or friends properly in a while. The clocks have gone back/forwards (which way again?!) and it’s now a 13 hour difference instead of 11 or 12, so it’s either too early in the morning for me or too late at night for them; or vice versa. I’m sorry I’m so useless, but I’ve been working late nights which means sleeping in the mornings. Doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about you all though; always! xx
In 25 minutes, I turn 25 years old. 25 is a funny age. At 25 it’s acceptable to have already married and/or already sprung a sprog or two. You could have a mortgage, rent with housemates or still live with your parents. It’s acceptable to still be living the student life, taking a post graduate course by day and drinking away the nights, re-living your first student years over and over. Or you could own your own business, be on the career ladder or simply be wasting away in a dead-end job. 25 has no expectations, it’s old enough to be independent but young enough to shirk responsibilties.
But needless to say, we all have our own expectations of where our lives will be at 25. If you’d asked me when I was 18, where I’d be at 25, I would have said married to my then ‘fiancee’ (engaged very young, I don’t really count it), living in St Albans (near where I grew up), we’d probably have a mortgage and a dog. I’d probably be working in Hotel Management, and life wouldn’t be hugely different from where I was at age 18 – same friends, same home town, same pub every Friday night.
If you’d asked me at age 22 where I’d be at 25, I would have said living in Newcastle, taking a Hotel Management course for Hilton hotels. I remember even thinking about my 25th birthday back then; because it’s a ‘big’ number I would have had my parents down for a weekend and gone out for a special meal at McCoys at BALTIC (which isn’t there anymore) and stayed in the Malmaison.
If you’d asked me at age 23 what I’d be doing at 25, I would have said living and working in New Zealand. It’s something I’d talked to Kiwi Girl about – she said I could stay with her while I get on my feet. I thought I’d journey over via America, travel around then work over in NZ once my money had run out then travel back to the UK via Australia and Asia for further travel. It was a passing dream I seriously considered but never believed I could make happen since I felt my debts were never ending. I was only half wrong.
In my 24th year I achieved a lot, which I haven’t really credited myself for. I made a niche for myself as a copywriter and realised it as my dream job; I got myself out of £5000 of debt, saved up another £3000 for my NZ fund, paid £800 for plane tickets and another few hundred (maybe a thousand) on other New Zealand related costs. I quit the job I loved, but although I have looked back I realise I had nothing else to offer there and it was time to move on if I was to achieve the copywriting dream in full. And now I’m here, both in a new country and my 25th year, I feel I have even more to achieve. I’ll make or break my own business at which point I’ll either work on successfully or try and mould a career somewhere new; Kiwi and I will bust our butts to save up money and move into the city, into a place of our own. We’ll build a home for ourselves and create the life we want but are still waiting to find. It’s a prospect which feels daunting and unachievable right now, but to think how far I’ve come I’m sure I can do it all over again.
And as I finish this off, it’s 12:05 am and I have been 25 for 5 minutes. Happy Birthday me.
Two hours later and more time and effort than I was willing to expend, I have roughly mapped out our whirlwind tour of the North Island of New Zealand. It takes a little while to load but if you click the link you will be taken to a Google map with a blue line representing the route we took. We left on 13 January and were away for just 8 days, spending 3 days in Auckland so the rest of our tour really was fast and at times furious (I’m not the most chillaxed traveller at the best of times, add PMT to my reasons for a mood swing and you create an unpredictable ball of fury waiting to combust…)
I will divide our journey into a day-by-day account, but so you can follow the map route from A to Z in the right order, here’s a quick lowdown:
13 Jan – Day 1: Begin at home in Upper Hutt (use left panel and click on landmark labelled ‘Home!’). Follow Highway 2 (red shield marked ‘2′) all the way North to Hastings and up to Napier.
14 Jan – Day 2: From Napier retrace steps back down to Hastings and across to Ocean Beach. Retrace your steps back to Hastings and follow Highway 2 up to Napier. Just North of Napier pick up Highway 5 (red shield marked ‘5′) up to Lake Taupo. From Lake Taupo take Highway 1 (red shield marked ‘1′) up to Tirau. Pick up Secondary Highway 27 then take a right at Secondary Highway 26, follow 26 to Te Aroha
15 Jan – Day 3: From Te Aroha carry on up North on Secondary Highway 26. At Kopu take Secondary Highway 25 and follow up the Coromandel Peninsula. Take a big, loooooong loop around the Peninsula and back down along Secondary Highway 25A. At Kopu take Secondary Highway 25 west and pick up Highway 2. Take Highway 2 to Highway 1 then travel North to Auckland
15 Jan to 18 Jan – Day 3 to Day 6: Stay in Auckland until 18 Jan. From Auckland city centre, take Highway 1 to North Shore, take a right and travel down to Devonport. Retrace steps back to Highway 1 then start heading back down south. Take Highway 1 back down to Highway 2, then take Highway 2 back to Secondary Highway 26. Take Secondary Highway 26 back to Te Aroha
19 Jan – Day 7: From Te Aroha follow Secondary Highway 26 south to Secondary Highway 27. Take Secondary Highway 27 and pick up Highway 5 just south of Tirau. Take Highway 5 east to Rotorua
20 Jan – Day 8: From Rotorua take Highway 5 south to Lake Taupo. Pick up Highway 1 and follow all the way down south toward Wellington. Come off Highway 1 just north of Upper Hutt and follow roads back home!
To make my life easier I have also back dated the posts to the correct day – so scroll down to find them or click on the corresponding days above.
Knowing we were ready to head home we packed up and left Rotorua as fast as we could. We both felt tired and irritable, we missed small home comforts and were pretty much ‘over it’ in terms of being constantly on the move. Due to our pre-arranged trips to Big Day Out in Auckland and Wellington Cup Day back in Trentham, we didn’t have time to take our time. We had to speed through each place, seeing the sites through the car window and talking about the activities we could have done if we’d been able to stay. The trip allowed me to see the many faces of New Zealand from beach to national park and urban cities to rural towns and enabled me to meet Brandon’s family which made it all worthwhile, but it left me feeling a little underwhelmed because it didn’t live up to my expectations in terms of being the type of life-changing trip which a few of my friends have expressed to me about their travels in New Zealand. But unlike them, who had to go back home to the UK, I am here to stay so I have all the time in the world to go back and re-visit everywhere I’ve seen and all the places I missed, and next time I’ll do a little research and make sure I do everything there is to do and stop for a while to take it all in.
Our journey back to Upper Hutt took us via Lake Taupo again, but this time we didn’t stop. However, I have posted below the photos that I missed out in my previous post about our quick Taupo stop on the way up the North Island. The photos don’t do justice to the size of Lake Taupo. It is so vast you could be forgiven for thinking it was an ocean rather than a lake. Unlike the photos I have stolen from Google, it isn’t so tranquil and clear either – it’s packed with people swimming, paddling, kayaking and boating. In the distance, to the North West of the lake, the mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro can be seen with their snow capped peaks. This is where Kiwi will snowboard in the winter (and where I will attempt to snowboard but will probably end up resembling a human sledge, spending most of the time sliding down hill on just the seat of my salopettes)…
There’s not a lot left to mention now that I am ending my rendition of our North Island trip. Six hours driving and one tearful tantrum later (I can only blame a mixture of tiredness, hunger, PMS and generally being a girl) and we arrived back in Upper Hutt with a huge sigh of relief. It’s only a matter of time before we get itchy travelling feet again but for now we’re happy to be settled in one place. But not for long I assume, as soon as the reality of life hits and we realise that it’s back to business-searching and becoming slaves to our bank accounts.
After a good nights sleep in Te Aroha on our luxury airbed and a late brunch with Kiwi’s family, we were back on the road again, this time headed to Rotorua with its sulphuric lake, natural thermal pools and guises. We made the decision that since we had spent our entire travel budget which was supposed to last at least 2 weeks (that’s what happens when you ‘camp’ in 5 star accommodation), that we would spend just one night in Rotorua and travel back home to Upper Hutt the following day. We also made the decision that yet again we would find a hotel room instead of a campsite, since it was our last night and all…
On arrival in Rotorua we pulled into Rainbow Springs, ‘Nature Park and Kiwi Encounter’. We had missed the last Kiwi Encounter tour of the day, but we were able to walk around the rainbow trout ponds, see native birds like Tui, Kea and Morepork, enjoy the native plants and walk through the indoor Kiwi house in which the nocturnal birds slept during the day. We did get to see a Kiwi, but she was tucked in the corner of the enclosure pressed up against the glass in low lighting so all we really saw was a big bundle of feathers curled in a ball. It was disappointing for the $25 entrance fee, but the money goes toward the conservation of the park and its native species, so it was worth it for their sakes. I think the only way we’ll get close enough to a Kiwi for me to think the experience was ‘real’ is the opportunity we’ll have to release them on Ocean Beach.
After our average Kiwi Encounter we found an average hotel-come-motel and were barely in the room 5 minutes before we headed back out again to find the Polynesian Spa which had been recommended to us. The Spa offers outdoor mineral pools, each a different heat and levels of acid or alkaline water. The perfect place in which to enjoy our last evening on holiday. On arrival we had the choice of paying $20 for access to the adult spa or $40 for access to the lake spa deluxe, advertised as ‘overlooking Lake Rotorua’. We decided to go with the $20 adult spa and we’re glad we did – it also overlooks the lake to the extent that you can sit in one of the pools and you are right next to the lake, looking out to the sunset (as modelled in the photo below, replace the bikini clad girl with a bikini clad me and that was my main position during our spa visit). The $40 charge for a ‘deluxe spa’ just isn’t worth it – it’s simply a tourist trap.
The Polynesian Spa also offers mineral treatments for visitors of which I fancied a mud wrap. But at $80 for 30 minutes I decided against it and instead visited the gift shop and bought myself a gigantic tub of Rotorua Thermal Mud for just $20, so I could do my own mud treatments as many times as I like. I hope it’ll do my skin some good since it has broken out in acne over my arms, chest and back. I grow up without skin troubles then get teenage acne at the grand old age of 24… lucky me.
After our spa we headed out for dinner, finding a Thai restaurant called Amazing Thai Restaurant. It was good, the food was lovely but the service was so-so and we have eaten better Thai (Udong in Newcastle, Westgate Road, truly is amazing) so it didn’t live up to its name. All travelled out and ready to head home, we went back to the hotel-come-motel and had an early night ready for our long drive home.
Jan 15 – Day 3:
The drive around the Coromandel Peninsula took a lot longer than I anticipated, the deceptively small area and seemingly short drive (judged from looking at the AA map) took us about 3 or so hours to tour. We stopped for lunch just past the town of Coromandel itself, parked up on a grass verge overlooking a thin slice of beach and bright blue sea which seemed to go on forever. We had packed a picnic and tucked into it on plastic picnic plates on our laps, sat in the car as the wind was whipping the sand around. Having taken 1 hour and 45 minutes just to drive from the bottom of the Peninsula up to Coromandel town, just where the road takes a turn from the east coast and travels over to the west coast, we were aware we’d have to move on quickly if we were to meet Kiwi’s friends in Auckland on time. We washed our picnic dishes in the sea and drove on, following the highway west away from the coast and back down the other side, enjoying one picturesque view after another for miles on miles of road.
Back on the main highway, Highway 2, we headed across to Highway 1 which would take us to our destination, Auckland, for where we had tickets to Big Day Out, a one day music festival plus we were staying in style for three nights at the five star Sky City Grand Hotel. On arrival we met up with 3 friends of Kiwi and checked into the hotel. We had adjoining rooms complete with robes, slippers and complimentary mini-cakes. We relaxed for a while in our rooms, freshened up in the luxury showers, changed for the evening and headed out onto the streets of the big city. We didn’t get far since we were all starving after our long day travelling and found a Turkish restaurant called Midnight Express just down the road from Sky City. The food was delicious, even though it was served by surly waitresses who were not impressed to see us waltz in at 10pm asking for a table for 5; they obviously wanted to get us out as soon as possible so they could go home. After dinner we headed back to the hotel where, still jetlagged, I collapsed in bed anticipating a long day ahead at Big Day Out.
Jan 16 – Day 4:
Since we were living in luxury we decided to dine in luxury for breakfast, spending $40 each for the pleasure of an extensive hot, cold and continental breakfast buffet. We filled our plates and ourselves to the brim to keep hunger at bay during our day at Big Day Out. Big Day Out was a long, hot, sweaty day of music, dancing and lounging in the sun, topped off with seeing the headlining show from Prodigy. We headed back to our hotel, covered in a pool of our own sweat (and probably that of other people too), washed ourselves down and collapsed in bed again, our exhaustion made worse from the lingering jetlag.
Jan 17 – Day 5:
We spent the day shopping for my dress for Wellington Cup Day – the NZ equivalent of Ascot. I came away with a purple chiffon dress decorated with silver and crystal sequins and beads, bought for the bargain price of $40 (about £15) from Portman’s – the NZ equivalent of Monsoon. Feeling tired and achy from the previous day’s antics we went back to the hotel where we made the most of the luxury facilities with a trip to the pool, sauna and jacuzzi. We ended the day by going out for dinner, again walking not far from the hotel before we found a Steakhouse and Seafood Restaurant called Tony’s. The portions were generous, and we were nearly full after our starters – for which I had fried camembert. I chose a Pacific Steak for my main course, cooked rare, which consisted of a steak stuffed with crab meat and topped with crayfish and a tarragon sauce. It was the best steak of my life so far and I highly recommend to anyone visiting Auckland that they find Tony’s on Wellesley Street. Again, for the third night in a row I could barely manage to last past 11pm and once more collapsed at the hotel for an early night, this time leaving Kiwi who went out and didn’t arrive back until 5am.
Jan 18 – Day 6:
Our 3 nights in Auckland were up and after finding brunch in Wendy’s burger bar in the city centre we parted ways with Kiwi’s friends and carried on with our North Island tour, this time heading back home. But not before we travelled across the Northern Highway to Devonport so Kiwi could show me where he lived for a short time when he was 16. Devonport is a very pretty beach town situated overlooking Auckland city across the causeway. We had a walk across the main high street, along the path by the beach and through a small park where children were playing in the sun. I found myself imagining this would be the kind of place I could live in future, but it’s a highly sought after area and therefore expensive, and it’s easy to see why. It has the best of both worlds, being both beautiful and coastal and within a stone’s throw of the bustling city with all it’s high rises and concrete mass. The perfect get away for those who work the 9-5.
With Kiwi feeling tired from his early morning bed time, and me still feeling jetlagged, we decided to head back to Te Aroha, back to see Kiwi’s Nana and also his Aunt, Mum and Step-Dad who had gathered there for the weekend. The journey back was less than 2 hours as we took the direct route, wanting to just relax, enjoy some time with the family and replenish our energy. It was the first time in a few years that the whole of Kiwi’s immediate maternal family were together in one room and it was good to be a part of it and I felt that I belonged. I was told I had the thumbs up from his Mum, Aunt and Nana, which is good to know since I’m a big believer that if you can’t get on with a partner’s family, they aren’t necessarily your ideal partner. Essentially you are your parent’s children – you carry their traits and they created your background – so any differences with their family can be telling. It’s a cynical attitude but I’ve found it to be true in my relationships at least.
So, yet again we had a comfy place to put up our feet in and relax for a night. Our ‘camping’ trip had so far only involved 1 night out of 6 in a tent, which suited us just fine. Although we did spend the night on the airbed as there weren’t enough beds for everyone – not that we were complaining as it is a bed that sweet dreams are quite literally made of.
He said, then she said...