The day started silently. Bibi and I didn't need to talk to each other. We were in agreement. This will be a lazy day. We slept in, then had a leftover breakfast of two eggs, cheese, and toast and put on our sweatpants. We chilled in the room and finally wrote our pending travel blogs. Later, we explored the town of Paihia, strolled along the beach, and finally did a big shopping at Countdown. In the hostel, we started cooking our spaghetti. We were surprised when we opened the package of noodles. We bought soup noodles instead of spaghetti. Really? :D We both laughed a lot. The noodles were not the ultimate foodporn, but they were still enjoyable. You just can't be too picky. Food on a high level is overrated here. And then? We wrote, or rather I finished writing my blog. I didn't hear a sound from Bibi after half past six. Today was really exhausting. :D
Fit and motivated, we started the day. We prepared a truly hearty breakfast. Scrambled eggs, toast with hazelnut cream, and yogurt. We had breakfast like queens. It should last us the whole day. Then we put on our hiking shoes and set off. First to the center, where we booked our two-day tour for Wednesday and Thursday. Then we hiked to the Haruru Falls. Unfortunately, Google Maps only showed us the fastest route. So we saw mostly asphalt roads. But we were rewarded with a magnificent view. The Haruru Falls. Gigantic amounts of water shot down from a height of about 5 meters. We were really fascinated. Then we finally found the hiking trail back to Waitangi. The route was truly amazing. Impressive landscape images were shown to us. A truly unique and long bridge through the mangroves led us to the other side. We were amazed, especially by the trees bending in all directions. Completely straight trees, branches that stretched snakelike to the sky, leaves in the most unusual shapes. One tree particularly fascinated Bibi and she said, "Gerlinde, look at this tree. It's so straight, it just doesn't seem real." We were soooo excited about what nature offered us. I will never forget the different sounds of the birds on this day. Sometimes it sounded as if someone was pressing the shutter button of a digital camera, sometimes it sounded like someone was opening an old creaky garden gate, sometimes it sounded like someone was playing the scale of a piano up and down. The birds' chirping gave a really great concert. A hidden passage through the rainforest finally showed us a wonderful lighting. It turned out to be a huge golf course. We rolled in the grass and enjoyed our independence. Thoughtlessly, we stared at the sky, felt the sun's rays on our faces, and enjoyed the feeling of the soft warm grass on our skin. We still couldn't believe that we were lying on a huge golf course in New Zealand. It was just crazy. Finally, we hiked back over a truly unique shell beach and treated ourselves to a delicious bargain burger on the way home. What an exciting day.
Full of anticipation for the day, we started again with our ritual breakfast. A hearty scrambled eggs with apple and stuff. At 9:45, we took the boat to the Hole in the rock. On the way there, we were fascinated by the lonely islands. Starting with the Moturua Islands, which are rat-free by the way, then on to the Motuarohia Islands, with Cook Cove, a small impressive bay named after Captain James Cook, and finally towards the Hole in the rock. On the way there, we couldn't believe our eyes. Dolphins. Dolphins were everywhere. :D They frolicked happily and leaped in wide arcs out of the sea and then dove back in. We couldn't stop taking photos and videos. And not only that, they also swam behind our boat. They splashed and puffed. I had no idea that dolphins could be so accessible on the open sea. When we arrived at the Hole in the rock, we could hardly believe it. The sight was gigantic. The hole in the rock was much larger than we expected. Fascinated, our gaze wandered from top to bottom, from right to left. At the beginning of the hole, there was a cute little baby dolphin swimming. A bit further in, "Bobby," the seal, was chilling. "Hello Bobby, say hello to our guests," shouted our tour leader. And there Bobby waved with its fin. The passengers all laughed Then our boat trip continued to the Urupukupuku Islands, where we enjoyed our lunch. A spicy soup, a beef wrap, and a chocolate cake were included in the tour. After eating, we explored the island. We trekked up the hill for a while and enjoyed the wonderful view of the open sea and the idyllic bays. Then we took the bus back to Paihia. However, we stopped in Russell, a slightly smaller historic town, first. Bibi and I decided to get off the bus and after about two minutes on land, we returned to the ship. One of the dockworkers smiled and casually said, "It looks boring for you, right?". We laughed, and at the same time, we were quite embarrassed. As usual, we had no plan, so we decided to go back to Paihia. When the ship docked, we quickly came up with the idea to go to Ngawha Springs. However, renting a car for half a day was just as expensive as for the whole day. Suddenly, Bibi had the IDEA. 'We'll rent a kayak and paddle to a deserted island," she said. I was immediately on board, always up for crazy ideas. So we grabbed a kayak and paddled away. We found a wonderful bay where we decided to stop. An incredibly carefree feeling spread inside me. We unpacked our toast and hazelnut cream, enjoyed a few sandwiches, and soaked up the last rays of sun in the evening. Back at the hostel, we were completely exhausted and fell into our soft beds.
The alarm clock rang at 6:30. A few spoonfuls of yogurt and then we were off. Dune Rider, a square van, picked us up shortly after seven directly from the hostel and gradually picked up some more passengers. During the bus ride, our bus driver "Paul" repeatedly told us interesting stories about special places and locations in the surrounding areas. Eventually, our path led us to the Ninety Mile Beach. We couldn't believe our eyes. An endlessly long sandy beach. A paradisiacal carefree feeling enveloped me. We drove along the beach directly with the bus. It seemed never-ending. And then it happened. It was "high tide" that day. Paul underestimated the high tide, and suddenly you could already see the water under the bus. A slight feeling of fear spread in Bibi and me. The bus moved forward and backward in small steps. There was a slight unrest in the bus. The bus driver did everything he could and drove at full speed. Finally. The relief. This hurdle was overcome. Now, off the beach, we went to fantastic sand dunes. There we raced down the dunes with boards. Man, it was a blast. At the same time, we were sweating quite a bit when we had to climb up the dunes. Then we finally reached Cape Reinga. A short walk took us to the lighthouse. When you stand there and look out over the ocean, you get the feeling of having arrived at the end of the world. This is where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. It gives you goosebumps. Of course, we took a thousand photos, without exaggerating ;) Then it was time for lunch, and finally, we started our journey back. On the way back, Paul also showed us a Kauri Forest. Kauri trees are evergreen trees and very typical for New Zealand. The wood is perfect for shipbuilding and various pieces of furniture. The resin that emerges from the bark resembles the amber we know. After two more short stops, we finally arrived back at the hostel. Now, after almost two weeks in New Zealand, it was time for the first time to do laundry. A mega laundry pile had accumulated. We threw everything into one machine, which wasn't a smart move. It seemed as if the laundry had been thrown into a puddle of dirt. But we didn't let that bother us and put the laundry pile into the dryer. Also not a good idea. The laundry was still as wet as after the wash. Now it was time to improvise. We hung all the laundry in our room. We laughed like crazy about this action until we finally fell asleep.
Today was departure day. And until the last minute, we didn't know where the journey would take us. Coromandel, to the Hot Water Beaches, was a hot tip. In vain. All hostels were fully booked. The buses were also completely sold out. Great. Now we had to rethink our plans. We racked our brains. Where should we go? Hamilton came to mind. Done - Hamilton it is. We managed to get two beds in a 6-bed room at the last second. The bus was also checked. Now we could have breakfast in peace. This time it meant breakfast using everything we had left. We had an estimated two liters of milk, three apples, and half a liter of yogurt. So we had cereal with milk and three cups of hot chocolate each. After breakfast, we felt like bursting. We quickly checked out and trudged to the beach with our bags full. There we chilled under a tree overlooking the beach and wrote our blogs. Before leaving, we grabbed avocado makis and fish n' chips. Then the bus came. First to Auckland. We waited there for about two hours for the connecting bus. During this time, we managed to get pancakes for the very last time. Finally sitting in the bus, I fell asleep immediately and woke up again in Hamilton. Finally arrived at the hostel, we were not very enthusiastic. It looked like jail inside. We quickly got ready for bed and skeptically crawled into our prison bed for the night.
