Whitianga Part 1

Friday: 23.12:

I spent Friday vomiting in the hostel - alone.

In moments like these, you just want to go home, be taken care of by your mom, and be nursed back to health. But no, there I was, alone with a plastic bowl on my bunk bed, throwing up into the bowl and emptying it afterwards, as far as I could reach from the bed without passing out.

The next day, everything was fine again and I cautiously started my morning with toast - without anything on it.

In the evening, Lisa (my dad's best friend who lives in Whitianga) picked me up.

After we had brought all my stuff inside, we sat in her kitchen, enjoyed rice/vegetable/curry pan, and exchanged gifts.

Afterwards, I went to a 'job interview' in town (and that on the evening of the 24th - can you believe it?)

Everything went well, and on the 30th of December I can start working at Dino's Pizza & Pasta.

On the 25th of December, we went to an old couple whose family was there for Christmas. We celebrated Christmas together, exchanged gifts, and then had a big feast & delicious cake.

At around 4 pm, Lisa and I headed back and went to the beach (Simpsons Beach).

We sunbathed for about 2 hours before we headed back and prepared pasta salad at her place.

Monday, 26th of December: Today, I submitted an application to the supermarket (New World) so that I can work several hours a day instead of just in the evenings at the restaurant. I walked back along the beach and enjoyed the sun. I went back to Lisa's, packed a lunch and then laid in the sun on the beach - Lisa still had to work today, so she didn't have much time for me.

In the evening, we planned to go to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach the next day.

Tuesday: 27th of December 2016

At around 10:30 am, we set off for Cathedral Cove. We went to the 'upper' car park and were lucky - we got the last parking spot there. Then we started a 40-minute walk, the path was still relatively new (Lisa didn't know it - she hadn't been here for 5 years).

At the beach, people were walking around, a total tourist attraction - some hadn't even walked the path but took the water taxi.

Cathedral Cove itself is really beautiful to look at, not only the white sand and the clear turquoise sea, but also the wonderful white rock formations are simply incredible - but probably a thousand times more beautiful when it's less crowded!

We enjoyed the good weather and sat on the beach until Lisa called one of her friends and asked if he still had 2 spots available on one of his boat tours (Hahei Explorer) - and he did.

So, at around 2 pm, we made our way back, it was scorching hot, but luckily a bit windy, so the 'hike' wasn't too exhausting.

We took the car and drove to the end of Hahei Beach, 4 others were already waiting there, who were supposed to ride the boat with us.

Not even 10 minutes later, the small motorboat arrived and picked us up. We first went over to Cathedral Cove - in the sea far away from the masses, everything was even more impressive.

Then to the different islands (Poikeke Arch, Motueka Island, Mahurangi Island) - at the latter, we drove the boat into one of the caves - absolutely crazy; the water was so clear, you could see various fish and several meters of rock beneath.

Then we continued to 'Champagne Bay' - similar to Cathedral Cove, there are white rock formations in the water here.

The absolute highlight, however, was the 'Blowhole' - a cave-like entrance but from the inside a round hole up to the sky - according to the narrator on the boat, the Maori used to come here to be healed.

All in all, the boat tour lasted a little over an hour. What fascinated me the most, however, was the clear turquoise water - simply breathtakingly beautiful!

Wednesday, 28th of December:

I spent the morning alone on a bench at the beach, enjoying the sun and the view. Around 12 o'clock, Lisa came back from her meeting & we took the ferry together, we walked along the beach to Shakespeare Cliff, from where you have an incredible view of Lonely Bay & Cooks Beach.

We walked a small footpath down to Lonely Bay - where you are not so lonely at this time of the year. Once again, white beaches and clear water. We strolled along the beach before we continued on to Cooks Beach. We sat in the shade of a tree and enjoyed the day.

The way back led through the bushland, which was nice to hike through, and thanks to all the trees, it was pleasantly shady.

We were back in Whitianga at around 4 pm, we played a few rounds of Rummikub before I sat down at my PC and caught up on a few episodes of the series I missed.

Thursday: 29th of December

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't good and it was quite windy, we went to a pretty lonely beach (Otama Beach) and spent the morning there before we got a pizza at 'Luke's Kitchen' and then drove to another beach, but it was so windy that we didn't stay long - the sand was whipping our faces.

Friday, 30th of December:

We left pretty early (around 10:30 am) to go to a few beaches beyond Otama Beach - we put on our shorties (short wetsuits), put on our snorkeling masks, and snorkeled along the reef - there were large fish the size of a hand all around us - it was really beautiful. After about 1.5 hours of swimming around, we got out of the water, took off the wetsuits, and laid in the sun.

In the evening, I took a shower before I went to my new workplace for an hour.

Afterwards, Lisa picked me up; we made milkshakes and played a few rounds of Rummikub before we watched some Disney movies together.