I love New Zealand. It's my home away from home. Literally. (My mother lives there.) I love how I never get homesick, or feel like I need to be back in California ASAP because it kind of reminds me of home with its Green hills, coastal views, big cities, fresh food and great wine. I also love that I can opening say "awesome" as much as I like. (Can't do that in other places without getting strange looks).
As much as I love Aotearoa, I always feel a slight pang of guilt at traveling to a place I've already been to more than twice, considering there are so many places on my list that I'd like to see. Luckily, there's so much to do there that you can't do it all on one trip.
This time around mom and I headed to the Northland and Bay of Islands area, which was not only stunningly beautiful, but actually warm. Since I always go in winter when it's cheap, I have a tendency to think of the place as being balmy, rainy, muggy, and chilly. This was a nice departure. It almost seemed like I was visiting a country I'd never been to before.
We took the Awesome NZ tour - see, there's that word I love again - from Paihia, where we were staying to an old forrest full of ancient Kauri trees. Our guide told us that if we hugged it, we'd feel refreshed and awake. I didn't feel so jetlagged anymore, so maybe it worked. Although I had already been there for a few days . . .
Then we drove down the 90 Mile Beach, which is a highway where cars go at 90 KPH, that's only like 55 MPH, but needless to say I almost lost my mom to a reckless Audi and a mistunderstanding between her and some Singaporean tourists who were taking pictures. They were telling her to look out and she thought they were telling her to get outof their photo, so she ran right in front of the on-coming car. She was looking right . . .
Needless to say, she didn't get run over and we then headed on to the sand dunes, where I've now discovered something way more fun than body surfing and snow sledding: sand boarding. You basically take a Bodyboard, climb up a huge sand dune, lie on the board on your stomach and go. Although, word to the wise, I don't recommend screaming down the hill. Sand is nasty when it gets in your mouth.
We then headed to the Meeting Point at Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. It's a spiritual place for the Maori. It's beautiful, so one can obviously see why it's a special spiritual place for them. Our guide was of Maori heritage, so he told us there is a prayer they always do when approaching the place, which he chanted for us. Last year we when we went to Christchurch, we went to a reserve where did the god-aweful touristy thing of participating in a Maori warrior reenactment. It was cheesy, but interesting at the same time. Who doesn't want to learn how to do the Haka like their national rugby team, The All Blacks?
I've always found the Maori culture fascinating, probably because it kind of reminds me of the Hawaiian one and I remember being ten and how learning how to say a few words in Hawaiian were just the coolest thing ever. I feel super cool now that I've learned a few Maori words from our driver. Ok, really only "nui" which means big, but it's a start. Once you've got Kia Ora and Aroha worked out it's smooth sailing from there. Sort of . . .
I guess we spent too much time on the killer sand dunes because we arrived late to Maunganui, which means "big shark" according too our guide, because we only had a few minutes to grab THE best fish n chips I've ever had. (And I've eaten a lot of fish n chips in my lifetime.) The thing that always kills me about New Zealand is their stinginess over condiments. I'm American. I like my condiments! They always charge extra for ketchup and tartar sauce. I mean, I can understand why. It's an added expense, but seriously, you need
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