The Dock of Paihia
After a night with eight German (do I still need to say that, or is it now obvious) girls in a room, I was pretty exhausted, but at least I didn't have to walk far to the toilet (even though the door couldn't be closed anymore because one of the ladies, afraid that someone might see her, turned the wrong doorknob to lock it until she finally had it in her hand) and I didn't have to worry about tearing down nonexistent tent walls while getting dressed (okay, that was a lot of nothing). Applied extra sunscreen quickly, as it was still cloudless outside, and squeezed my feet, covered in ant and other insect bites, into shoes and off I went. Down the main street, bought an anti-itch cream at the pharmacy (the following was of course in English: Pharmacist: 'So this one works with *technical term* *technical term* and this one has *technical term* as its active ingredient and is also *technical term*. Both cost the same. Which one do you want?' Me: 'Ummm?' Pharmacist: 'This one is better.' Me: 'Then I'll take that one.' Pharmacist: 'And next time, use your insect repellent.' Me: 'Yeah, I will.'), then got some fruit, doesn't weigh anything, and went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. They are not far from Paihia, so I walked a few kilometers. The entrance fee was a bit more expensive than expected ($40, that's two nights at a campsite), but the price included a guided tour and a Maori performance, so why not. For those who don't know, the Treaty Grounds is where the foundation of New Zealand was laid in the form of the Treaty of Waitangi, which includes New Zealand's affiliation with the British Empire and the actual equality of the Maori. The many treaty breaches, its various versions, and how it came about are all explained in a museum and its role in the present is also well presented. But the museum is only a fraction of the grounds, so I also joined the guided tour that went around the grounds. The friendly guide humorously informed us about various things, including communication (never respond to something in a language you don't understand yourself. This happened to one of the discoverers of New Zealand, when he jokingly blew the trumpet in response to horns. However, that was seen as aggression and soon his ship was faced with 3 large war canoes and he suddenly wasn't so eager to explore anymore), world records (the world's largest war canoe is displayed on the grounds and is still rowed out into the bay once a year on National Day - provided the rowers are not too busy with selfies), and Ikea houses (the house of the British ambassador, which can still be visited today, was built in Australia, taken apart and reassembled in New Zealand, judging by the numbers on the pillars probably following instructions). After the tour, I also participated in a peace ceremony, where our motley crew suddenly became a tribe including a tribal leader, who later had to pick up the peace symbol and give a speech (of course, the men literally fought to be as far away from the ceremony hall as possible, in other words, suddenly everyone was two meters further away and 10 cm shorter). Finally, an older Asian took pity on us and the peace ceremony began, we were classified as not dangerous and peaceful enough (or too stupid to be a serious threat, that is of course also possible) and there was a performance of various dances. I can only say this: if you are interested, you should see it for yourself, a description would not do it justice. So while others took pictures with the performers at the end, I explored the grounds a bit more, especially the large forest, which had several wooden paths, and then left the grounds. I completed them in just under three hours, but you can easily spend a whole day there, they are definitely worth a visit. But I still had other plans, so I set off on the path along the Waitangi River through forests and mangroves to the Haruru Falls. As warm as it was, I soon ran out of water and realized once again, too late, that I should have brought my groceries to the hostel in advance. Well, now it was definitely too late, so I walked to the falls at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the surroundings (mangroves are truly impressive). It was at the waterfalls that I realized that I had to walk back the same way, so I bravely trekked back (my feet!!!), staggered past the Treaty Grounds to Paihia (thirsty!!), and took a break there and refilled my bottle at a public water refill fountain (yaaay). It was harder to use than expected and I ended up getting completely soaked (so much for water waste and I don't want to know how dumb the people around me must have thought I was), but in the end I finally had something to drink again. Back at the hostel, I quickly took care of my feet (the bites were swollen, but the cream worked really well) and then went to bed. The following day was much less eventful. Doing laundry, filming a karate video on the beach (no, I don't want to show off), going for a swim (cold!!!), and getting a sunburn despite sunscreen. In the evening, I quickly booked bus tickets to Whangarei (after some login and WiFi problems, it actually went quickly) and packed ('I'll never be able to get this thing back up.'). The bus stop the next morning was fortunately not far away, so I reached the bus on time and was in Whangarei before noon. However, I had to walk a nice distance in the scorching sun with my backpack until I reached my campsite. I was already missing the privacy of my tent, so I would spend a few more nights in it. My sunburn felt pretty bad through my two backpacks, but there was nothing I could do. So I set up my tent, went shopping, and explored the town. Whangarei is as difficult to describe as it is beautiful, it has something (e.g. pedestrian zone with open WiFi, which I am not currently using), but it is not beautiful in the classical sense. After a night in which I discovered that very large beetles lived in the tree above me, I headed towards North Kiwi, a museum that has a kiwi night house, a lizard house, and several outdoor buildings from an older time. It's quick (and cheap) to get there by bus from the city center, and the people there are very helpful (a 15-minute introduction to where everything is, what's especially interesting, etc.). $15 is definitely worth it. After inspecting the geckos as best as I could ('Where's the damn thing? I can see the whole glass case.'), and seeing a lizard that occurs exclusively in New Zealand and can live to be 150 years old, I made my way to the kiwis, which in the dark were little more than moving shadows ('Is that a stone? No, it's moving. Must be a kiwi butt.'). Luckily, I passed the reception again because I was reminded that the kiwi feeding was about to happen (I should pay more attention to the time). And indeed, I got a relatively good look, even though I still think they look like mossy stones on stork legs. Then I visited the museum again, which covers various topics and is quite interesting, and then went outside to look at the old buildings. It was still hot, but it was bearable if you scurried from house to house. The houses were quite interesting, nothing special, but that was probably because the clubs that can normally be visited and provide information about individual areas were closed. Well roasted, I finally took the way back and didn't do much for the rest of the day On the following day, I wanted to try out my new hiking poles and hike the Hatea River Walk. It starts at the Town Basin and follows the river to the Whangarei Falls. Actually an acceptable, easy route. So I set off cheerfully, following a bridge and good signage through mangroves and across roads until I reached the Parihaka Reserve. The reserve surrounds a volcanic cone on which there is once an observation point and remnants of several Maori settlements, and the path just passes by its edge. However, I wanted to enjoy the view, so I followed one of the paths uphill. I may not have gotten lost, but I definitely underestimated the climb - it was 1.4 km of large wooden steps. When I reached the top, which was only possible with the help of my poles, my knees hurt so much that I had to take a short break. But the view was worth it, at least. Then I realized that I also had to go back down and started the descent. Downhill, I could hardly walk because many steps were so high that I had to jump down, which did not go well for my ankles and toes. Nevertheless, I marched on bravely and enjoyed the stretch through dense forest along the river. Until the path ended on a road, which I then had to follow. Fortunately, not for long, because soon I reached the next reserve. There, I again didn't choose the direct path but walked along a wooden bridge past large kauri trees. Definitely impressive. Then I came back to the main path and walked through a pretty meadow landscape to the waterfalls, which are beautiful on the one hand and have plenty of pushy residents on the other. A duck sat down right next to me (and by right next to me I mean two centimeters from my foot) and hypnotized my food until I made my way to the bus. I was about to wait there when suddenly the downpour that had been promised all day finally came. So I put on my rain jacket and hoped the bus would come. It didn't disappoint me and took me back to the center. There, I quickly made a few purchases and then went back to the tent completely soaked. Of course, the inside of the tent soon became as wet as the outside, thanks to my wet clothes. Nevertheless, I slept surprisingly well in it. Today is laundry and preparation time again because tomorrow I will continue traveling north towards Cape Reinga. Pictures for this will follow when I am in a hostel with good WiFi-
