Paihia, Cape Reinga and Russell - 22 December - 26 December 2007

On 22 December I hopped on the Stray bus and headed up north to Paihia. I was quite excited about going up there because I heard it was completely amazing. Not only that, but Melissa from the UNCC study abroad office lived up there the year she was abroad and worked at a hostel called the Peppertree Lodge so I decided to stay there. I was highly amused that there were new owners and had missed the old ones by two weeks. At any rate, I enjoyed staying there.

I spent my first day wondering around being amazed by the beach and booked myself on a catamaran the next day. I'd never been sailing and it was such an amazing experience. All the islands, the blue water and people from all over the world made for an excellent day. Unfortunately I didn't put any sunscreen on my legs and consequently received the most wicked burn of my life (just so you know, the whole in the ozone layer is over New Zealand and the sun is intense). I met quite a few people that were on a Contiki tour and spent half the day with them. At one point we saw dolphins that swimming along with us. It was such an amazing sight watching them.




After I went sailing, I met up with an American girl named Julie who had been teaching in Gisbourne for about four months. We decided we were going to walk to Haruru Falls. I thought I'd read somewhere that it was a 2 hour walk or something but disregarded that and ventured off...wearing jandels (aka flip flops). It was truly a beautiful walk and Julie and I talked about so much I will never forget that walk. One of the best parts was when we came across this long bridge with countless mangroves surrounding it. As it was high tide, it was such a spectacular sight and walking amongst them made me feel as if I'd discovered some sacred place. Eventually we came across a sign which said we had walked 4 K's and it was 1 more K to the falls. Um....what??? Right after that, we realised that the trail had been closed off due to fallen trees. Like rebels, we hopped over the gate and continued on our way. When we finally reached the falls, we decided to walk back on the road since it'd be getting dark soon. There was a couple that stopped and asked if we wanted a ride, and I'm sure they were nice people, but had I hitchhiked I know that my father would have been on the next flight over to kick my butt. We kindly declined but it was a LONG walk back.

The next day I had another crazy adventure. I went up to the Cape where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. I was in complete awe at this place. The Maori people believe that when they die their soles make their way up to the Cape and enter the underworld through this Pohutukawa tree.

After that, we went dune surfing at Ninety Mile Beach. You pretty much ride a body board down these dunes. I had sand everywhere but it was so much fun. So the day up at the Cape was Christmas Eve and the weather was perfect. I can't say the same for Christmas Day though. It rained ALL day and I just hung out and watched movies with people at the hostel.




On Boxing Day, I went to Russell which is like a 10 minute boat ride from Paihia. I made my way over to Long Beach and was completely at a loss for words. The pictures do not do it justice but it was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. I didn't want to leave, but I had to catch my bus back to Auckland. I wish I could have spent another week there, but the 6 days I was there were fantastic.