So, now that you've gained an idea of the have-to-do's it's time we discuss a bit of the fun. After all we don't have jobs yet and we are in quite an incredible place. Who wouldn't take advantage of such a scenario?
We arrived Thursday afternoon. Made it through customs after they washed our hiking boots of any foreign dirt. They seem to be very careful about anything that might threaten their incredible surroundings. We caught a bus into the city and quickly located our hostel. At this point it was too late to go to a bank or cell store so we decided to take it handy.
Morgan and I desperately needed a shower! I hadn't even taken my socks off in two days! It's amazing how a hot shower can turn around any poor situation. After the showers we met our new roomies. DeeDee and Daniel. Two Danish travelers who were spending their last month in NZ. They were sun kissed from a couple of weeks in Thailand. They began their travels in Washington DC. From their they went tocalifornia, Peru, Brazil, South Africa, India, and Asia. I'm missing a few countries but we all get the point. They had each saved $18,000 for six months of travel. They bungi jumped the highest in the world, they got tattoos in Thailand by bamboo, and DeeDee even had here appendix removed in Belize. Anyway you get the point. They were incredible... And exhausted.
We went walking. Soon we stumbled on this tiny pedestrian street with high balcony beer garden type drinking areas, picturesque is an understatement. We found a burger joint, climbed the stairs, and parked our weak and famished bodies at a tiny table looking down on the street below. We shared a meal of hot wings, a blue cheese lettuce wedge, and a cheese burger. We also had a crisp NZ Sauvignon Blanc. It didn't take us long to find quite a hipster hangout. After dinner we walked across the street to a Belgian bar called Occidental. We each had a Lefe and toasted to a year together. Struggling to stay awake, yet excited to explore we went to one last roof top bar and had a cider each. Not so impressed.
The next day was marked with buying a car, phone, tax number... All that jazz. We did, however, find ourselves on K Street. What a cool part of town! Adorable thrift stores, scrumptious Asian food, music, bars, and parks! Oh the parks! When we figure out how to upload pictures on this blog I will reveal to you the splendor of Myer's park. I grabbed a cold Dr. Pepper and Morgan went with a cherry coke. We sat on the tip top of the hill and basked in the sun. Locals had wrapped burritos or take away Malaysian and gathered here to chat and enjoy the wonderful view and weather. This was a glorious moment.
After buying our van, just off K Street we went into a bar to have a celebratory drink. Turns out it was the gay version of deadwood! Wild Bill's I believe it was called, but we paid no mind. The bartender was delightful and the cold $5 beer was the ticket.
Back down the hill to our hostel. The streets we're alive at Friday rush hour. We met our new Danish friends and made plans for dinner next door. We ate our individual pizzas and exchanged stories of travel and home. After dinner we went to a few bars that Morgan found. The first was way overpriced so we moved on. After what seemed like much aimless wandering we finally found Rakina. Local Dj's spun some hip hop and we danced our pants off as we always do.
The next morning we set out for Mission Bay. A nearby beach town. We weren't exactly sure how far but we figured we had nothing else in the world to do so one foot in front of the other we went. About two or three hours later we rounded the corner to an adorable bustling beach town. We scarfed down a couple of chicken wraps and collapsed on the sand. Beck, my sis, kept stressing the importance of touching the earth with bare feet and this was the first real time. Oh how sweet it was. What a literal way to ground yourself to your experience. Here we are, finally, long awaited.
Ice cream and a bus back into the city. We met our new roomies. A couple from Manchester. They seemed great. As they went to a house party we enjoyed our room to ourselves. Showered and found ourselves asleep at around ten.
Sunday! We woke up early, packed a picnic, rented bikes, and caught the ten o'clock ferry to Waiheke. One arduous uphill climb and we realized bikes were a bad idea! No bother, we hiked down to the white sandy beach and made our lunch. Morgan ventured down towards the water and I sat journaling about my disbelief. The cove we found ourselves in was peppered with docked sail boats, presumably resting from exotic sailings around the south pacific. Jagged rocks dissected the beach and deep green trees and bushes reached from the edge of the sand towards the green water.
We walked for about twenty minutes and found ourselves on another beach on the exact other side of the island. By this time large heavy clouds had begun to roll in. The weather seemed to match this beach. Unlike the white sand at the previous beach, this one was comprised of dark rock. Blacks, purples, burnt oranges. We were in heaven. Morgan because of the geological gold mine and me because of the richness in color. Although at this point our reasons seem to bleed together. We read about a short hike to a nearby vineyard so we set up the mountain. On our way to the top we could see the ocean on either side of the island and mountains and volcanoes galore.
Cable bay vineyard.
It sat atop a green treeless mountain and over looked the city beyond. We enjoyed a wine tasting and lounged in the sun on the patio. I joked to Morgan that this is where I would be proposed to. We were in one of those places that makes you just sigh over and over only because you can't seem to take it in any other way. After talking with a family who invited us to their home we made it back to the ferry.
Last night we got back to the hostel, made some grilled cheese sandwiches and watched movies in our hostel.
I watched a movie called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I must quote a line from it.
"The biggest failure is the failure to try and our greatest success is measured by how we cope with disappointment"
How true these words rang in my heart.
Morgan and Liz
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