New Zealand Index

Auckland
Northland
Heading South
Wellington
Traveling again
West Coast
Picking Apples
Road to Qtown
Kinloch
Southland
Queenstown
Heading North
Queen Charlette Wilderness Park
to Taranaki
Central Plateau
The End

It wasn’t that late, about 6ish, so I decided to push on that night, and head all the way to Thames, the gateway to the Coromandel. The drive over was nice, and I really just enjoyed being on the open road, knowing I didn’t have much time to drive left. I arrived around 9 o’clock, just about the latest I had arrived anywhere on these travels. So I really had no time that night, and I decided I’d just figure out what to do he following day. I spent the next day doing nothing, just hanging out, wondering about the town, watching movies, and figured out my plan for the next couple of days. The big decision was whether to do the Pinnacles walk in one or two days. After talking to the hostels owner, I decided to do it in one, as it wasn’t that far. And so the next day I did it, and I was very glad I didn’t try and stay overnight, for I reached the top in about two hours, and would have just been exceedingly bored if I was to stay at the hut all day. The walk itself was really nice though. Through cool forests, and up stairs that were carved into rock faces. And then at the top, the Pinnacles themselves were awesome. Partly for what they were, these rocks jutting up on the top of a hill, and also for the way up. I was really surprised that none of the books, or signs anywhere made any reference to the final track. It was like rock climbing. Just crazy paths, that anyone who was not agile would not be able to do. But I had a great time on them, and found it a great bonus on the adventure. Then there was a nice way back a little different then the path up, which I took. This one came through an old logging area, and had remnants of there equipment. A place where they had to find a way to get logs out of an area where the only available way was down a 200-meter waterfall. Cool stuff, and some nice scenery. Well after that walk, (and a ran down the later part of the trail) I was pretty tired, so I just chilled at the hostel, watched a movie or two. The next day I was off again, and I had no idea where I was to go. I started by driving up the coast, and found myself in Coromandel town, where I had lunch, but then decided to continue on, and drove to the other side of the peninsula. So I made it to Whatianga, and found a place to stay. The weather was kinda crappy, and I decided to just stay in. The next day I made my way down to Hahei beach. I walked down to cathedral cove, which was a nice little walk, then I found a hostel. From there I went to the main reason I was in this area, Hot Water Beach. This was definitely one of the coolest, strangest things I did in the country. This is a place where you can dig a hole in the beach, and find hot water. It’s really weird. It was slightly raining out, so I was being rained on, and soaking in a small amount of hot water, and the waves were only 10 feet away. It’s really hard to explain, but was cool nonetheless. The following day was my last drive, as I was heading to Auckland, and nearing the end of New Zealand.
So I arrive in Auckland. It feels kinda good to be in my last place, but I’m not really looking forwad to spending 10 days here. First things first, I need to find a hostel. The number one priority is that it’s not right downtown. There are two decent areas on either side: Parnell on the south, which I had stayed in for a night after northland, and ponsonby, on the north. I decided to stay in ponsonby, and found a nice hostel that had parking. I then went for a wonder around town, to acquaint myself again and see how far away from town I was. It was nice to be in a real city again, with people and buildings. And then I set upon clearing out everything from my car, and cleaning it. The following day, with the car cleaned out, I set out to make fliers. The first decision I had to make, was what was I going to ask for the car. My goal was to be the cheapest car posted, and still get a good price for it. I decided on $750. and with that I would be able to sell it for $600, at the least. I also found a short term job at the IEP office, that I could do for a day or two. I wanted to finish all the stuff with my car that day, so I decided I’d come back the next, and the guy there said there should be plenty of work. Well, there wasn’t as when I went back the next day, they already had enough workers, and apparently they finished. But that was justa minor setback, as the day after putting up my adds, I sold the car. And I got $700 for it. I was stoked, as I had paid only $500, and though I had put money into it, when you sell something for more then you paid for it, it just feels good. And then I was free, that was my last real obligation in the country, so I had to figure out what to do with the rest of my time. I considered going out to one of the islands, for a day or two, just to break up my time in Auckland, but when to do it. I contacted my friend who I had met in National Park, Theo, and found out he had the weekend off, so I wanted to stay around for that. I ended up spending the next couple of days going to the central library, and doing research on a project, and that made me feel as if I wasn’t just wasting my time. By this time I had been making friends at the hostel, and most of them were living there long term. I started making plans to do stuff it the weather was nice, but it kept being just not nice enough. Then the weekend came, and I went from just trying to kill time, to having way too much to do. Friday night, I was out with a group of people, and then before I knew it,, it was time to go to a party with Theo. It was fun to go to a real Auckland party, and there were bands in the basement and all that. And after a while we went to town, and to a bar that they knew the door staff, and se stayed there for the rest of the night, and couldn’t pay for any drinks, spindled. Then the next day I got a tour of West Auckland, including great beached just half and hour from the city, and crazy parks and dams. (sorry I didn’t bring a camera, so no photo’s) having done that I actually felt like I was doing stuff, and went out to see some live music that night, a very full day. Then the last few days, just kind of happened. I was hanging out with my friends at the hostel a lot, and one day went out to a beach by city bus with my Hungarian Friend, Judit. I did my taxes, and thought about packing, while putting it off till the last moment. I spent a lot of time thinking about the Sun and Australia, and how weird it was to be leaving New Zealand.