More travels & my first NZ job!

Sorry readers...I am a terrible blogger as it turns out =)  So much has happened since I last wrote. The girls and I ended up staying in Paihia in the Bay of Islands for almost a solid week, just relaxing and soaking up the scenery. One day, four of us (including a girl Caroline from Germany) rented a car and drove all the way up to the tip of the north island to Cape Reinga. It was by far the most beautiful part of NZ that I have seen so far! Absolutely breathtaking!! We all walked out to the end of this green mountaintop where there is a lighthouse. From there, you can look down and see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet--the waves of each of them crash into one another, and their slightly different colors. Awesome!

After we left Paihia, Sonja, Brigita & I traveled down to Whitianga in the Coromandel Peninsula. We were really lucky there with our hostel because they were set up into separate little houses instead of one big hostel. So, we only had to share a kitchen, shower & bathroom with 4 other people as opposed to 20 or more. In our same little house were two British girls Laura and Hannah who were really great & offered to take us with them in their rental car to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. That was another amazing day. Cathedral Cove is just this stunning area that is all over NZ websites, calendars, etc. However, we couldn't walk down to it from the cliffs because a cyclone had washed away all of the stairs last month. Instead, we could walk down to the beach area called Stingray Bay that was next to it & swim out and around these huge rocks in the water to get to Cathedral Cove. So, we did exactly that. Sonja, Brigita, Laura, Hannah & I all got quite the workout getting over there, but it was sooooo worth it! When we got on shore from our swim, there was a little mini waterfall to our left and the Cathedral Cove arch to the right. Words just don't do it justice--you guys will have to look up some pictures because unfortunately, none of our cameras would have made it thru the swim so we could only take mental pictures =(

Next, we swam back around, and walked back up the "stairs" to the top of the cliff. Now, let me describe these "stairs" for you...from the top of the cliff, they start out as nice normal stairs that may be expected on a cliffside, made of dirt and some support wood. About 20 stairs down, they become a little muddy. Another 20 stairs down, they are SLUDGE. Yeah, you couldn't even walk on them with your shoes or else you would fall straight on your arse...so, you had to take your shoes off, hold on for dear life to any twigs around you & walk down another 20 stairs or so in no less than 2 inches of sludge going between your toes. Good times =)  Anyway, when we made it back to the top of the cliff, we got back in the car & drove down to Hot Water Beach. This beach is a geothermal attracation because it has underground reservoirs of hot water. So, at low tide, everyone can go dig a big hole in the sand and make themselves a hot water bath. Some of the holes had water in them that was so hot you could literally see it boiling (no one was in those holes). The girls and I were able to hop around from abandoned hole to abandoned hole as people kept leaving haha..so we finally found one that was perfectly heated & hung out for a couple hours soaking it up. Loooooved it!

Next stop for Sonja, Brigita & I was Mount Maunganui. We had yet another really great group at the hostel there--we met Gustavo from Chile, Alex from England, Luke from Australia, and Hannah & Steve from Canada. All of us went out for drinks one night, then the next night we all played card games outside & had an absolute blast! We rented surf boards one day with Hannah & Steve but the waves were too rough & the current was too strong for us beginners--even Hannah & Steve opted out. So, I shall leave my surfing lessons to another day =) Our friend Hannah from Germany (whom we met in Auckland) came traveling through Mount Maunganui in her little camper van while we were there. Brigita decided to head out with Hannah when she left the next day, so our group of 3 became 2. Sonja & I then headed to Napier, which is where we are now staying for at least a month. By pure luck, we got jobs as waitresses the 2nd day we were in town. So, we are now working for the 5-star hotel that is right next door to our hostel. This is my first experience as a waitress & I am quite enjoying it! The chefs and kitchen staff we work with are just wonderful--Whitney, Khloe, Rachel, Deanne, Carl, Jason, Beau, and Daniel.

Hannah &  Brigita actually stopped by yesterday to see us on their way to Taupo, so it was good to catch up with them again. I'm sure we'll all cross paths again later as well. Okay, now that I  have written a novel, I will go.

Cheers,
A