Rotorura - Yay, Oh, and YAY!!!

On our first group day, we stay in Auckland but leave the mainland and take the ferry to the volcanic island of Rotorura. I have - typically uncharacteristically - not prepared at all and trusted our guide, who said we walk uphill for 20 minutes, then back down and that's it. On the ferry, a nice Swiss man shows me his hiking plan, and I realize it takes a whole hour to reach the viewpoint and we can also add a nice loop. Yay and Oh! I'm slowly starting to wonder what balance I will strike between planning for myself and letting things happen. For I definitely wish for many Yays and relieved Ohs, not disappointed ones.
We all walk up together, with a small detour into the caves, but for the rest of the way, it's just the two of us, as the others take the same path back and want to return to Auckland on an earlier ferry. So, I only go back down with my traveling companion from Innsbruck, and then take a route along the sea for about 3.5 hours. It’s not only nice because we get to know each other better, but also because there are wonderful viewpoints and a beach with black sand along the way. As we ponder whether we want to swim there, I tell her about the improvisational theater motto 'YAY', and 5 minutes later we're swimming in the turquoise water with a view of the lighthouse. The cooling is refreshing, as we still have an hour's walk ahead of us in the blazing sun, and when we return to the ferry terminal, we feel a bit grilled. There, we also meet the Swiss guy again who announces he’s going for another swim - you can do that here too, Oh. And Yay! Because I just have to shout an 'YAY' to Frauke (that's my hiking companion), and we're also in the water. Back on the mainland, there's a reward ice cream (Yay!) and pasta at the hostel. Afterwards, we sit together in our group and realize that these will definitely be two beautiful weeks.