Last night we both slept a lot better than the night before. It ended up pouring most of the night so maybe that helped. We had laid some towels and bathing suits out to dry on the picnic table and they were completely soaked in the morning. It’s also weird because it’s hard to have a concept of time here. When it gets dark, we take showers and get ready for bed. We were both in our van bed last night and were wondering why we weren’t really tired yet. Katy checked the time and it was around 9 o’clock. I went to sleep anyway.
We had to get up around 7 this morning to catch our bus tour to Ninety Mile beach. Our tour was barely half full and of course we were the youngest ones on it, like always. And even though there weren’t that many people on the tour, there was still a question asker. There’s one on every tour and in every college class. How long does it take for an avocado tree to bear fruit? What type of cows are those? What does the name of this town translate to? Has this beach eroded very much in the last few years? Do the chickens have large talons? The poor bus driver. You could tell he was so annoyed. And of course she was American, ugh. And I think also a little bit racist.
First we stopped for ice cream. I got some weird kind they have here called Hokey Pokey…it’s vanilla ice cream with pieces of honey comb in it and it tastes like crème brule, yum. Then we stopped at a gum tree preserve…some sort of ancient buried forest where they used to (and still do I think) get resin and amber and all that Jurassic Park type stuff. We took a short tour and the question asker asked questions.
Then we went up to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. You can actually see the waves from the two bodies of water crashing together, it’s crazy. There was also a lighthouse at the northern most point.
Then we went down to Ninety Mile Beach to dune surf. They gave us boogie boards and an instructor gave an overview of how to do it without eating a mouthful of sand or flipping over. Then he showed us where we would be walking up the dune. I thought for sure they would have some type of tram or something to take you up there…apparently not. It was STEEP and walking up such a high hill in the sand really sucked. He had us go down one by one and made sure we had the right form laying on our board. It was SO fun. You go really fast and have to put your feet down in order to stop. Some nice Australian lady who wasn’t doing it agreed to take pictures of us. I’m the blue spec in the picture and Katy is the green spec. Needless to say, we only did it once since walking up the dune was so awful.
When everyone was done “dune surfing,” the bus took us down to Ninety Mile Beach. Turns out Ninety Mile Beach isn’t 90 miles, it’s about 60. We hit a sea gull while we were driving down the beach, haha. Other than that, the drive down the beach was pretty uneventful. There’s absolutely nothing down there…just beach, no houses, nothing. We were on a dirt road at one point and the bus driver called it “the highway.”
It ended up being a really fun tour and only cost us $68 NZ. We got a discount because we bought something called a Holiday Card that gets you a discount on these campsites, attractions, and certain restaurants.
When we got back, we grilled again…same stuff. We’re not tired of it yet. Tomorrow we’ll probably be driving most of the day to get to our next area. Not sure of the next time I’ll be able to post but hopefully soon.
We had to get up around 7 this morning to catch our bus tour to Ninety Mile beach. Our tour was barely half full and of course we were the youngest ones on it, like always. And even though there weren’t that many people on the tour, there was still a question asker. There’s one on every tour and in every college class. How long does it take for an avocado tree to bear fruit? What type of cows are those? What does the name of this town translate to? Has this beach eroded very much in the last few years? Do the chickens have large talons? The poor bus driver. You could tell he was so annoyed. And of course she was American, ugh. And I think also a little bit racist.
First we stopped for ice cream. I got some weird kind they have here called Hokey Pokey…it’s vanilla ice cream with pieces of honey comb in it and it tastes like crème brule, yum. Then we stopped at a gum tree preserve…some sort of ancient buried forest where they used to (and still do I think) get resin and amber and all that Jurassic Park type stuff. We took a short tour and the question asker asked questions.
Then we went up to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. You can actually see the waves from the two bodies of water crashing together, it’s crazy. There was also a lighthouse at the northern most point.
Then we went down to Ninety Mile Beach to dune surf. They gave us boogie boards and an instructor gave an overview of how to do it without eating a mouthful of sand or flipping over. Then he showed us where we would be walking up the dune. I thought for sure they would have some type of tram or something to take you up there…apparently not. It was STEEP and walking up such a high hill in the sand really sucked. He had us go down one by one and made sure we had the right form laying on our board. It was SO fun. You go really fast and have to put your feet down in order to stop. Some nice Australian lady who wasn’t doing it agreed to take pictures of us. I’m the blue spec in the picture and Katy is the green spec. Needless to say, we only did it once since walking up the dune was so awful.
When everyone was done “dune surfing,” the bus took us down to Ninety Mile Beach. Turns out Ninety Mile Beach isn’t 90 miles, it’s about 60. We hit a sea gull while we were driving down the beach, haha. Other than that, the drive down the beach was pretty uneventful. There’s absolutely nothing down there…just beach, no houses, nothing. We were on a dirt road at one point and the bus driver called it “the highway.”
It ended up being a really fun tour and only cost us $68 NZ. We got a discount because we bought something called a Holiday Card that gets you a discount on these campsites, attractions, and certain restaurants.
When we got back, we grilled again…same stuff. We’re not tired of it yet. Tomorrow we’ll probably be driving most of the day to get to our next area. Not sure of the next time I’ll be able to post but hopefully soon.
guestion guy, i hate you!
ReplyDeleteoh yeah, i like your multiple references to napoleon dynamite...flippin sweet!
ReplyDeleteDunes, nice! How is your coccyx? Its weird because Napoleon was on tv a couple days ago and I hadnt seen it in SO long so it was like I was watching it for the first time... classic. NZ is crazy! There are sandy dunes and crashing waves from oceans and grassy mountainous formations all within reasonable distance from each other. Pretty remarkable. Sounds like youre having a good time, too. Welp, til next time...
ReplyDelete