Auckland Day weekend

Friday evening was spent in New Market in search of the perfect calendar…again I returned home empty handed. They do not make it easy to find a good NZ calendar in late Jan., I guess you have to be on the ball as soon as they come out…perhaps in October. Store clerks all tell me more will be in when the 2008 stock arrives…thanks for the help. My mission is still determined though, I will find one! Other than that I met up with Jo and we did some browsing, and I got 2 shirts that are NZ souvies. In a record store Jo finally found the theme song to our trip which she has been diligently searching for. The next part was a little entertainment for myself…she popped it into the stereo and was listening to it through the headphones, and mustve had it up to quite the volume because when she turned to talk to me about it she was yelling throughout the entire shop “I AM SUCH A HAPPY GIRL RIGHT NOW” pause… “ I AM SO EXCITED I AM SWEATING” haha…the guy behind the counter and I shared some muffled laughter and I tried to let her know she was being pretty loud…but well she couldn’t hear me. So as you can see, she was pleased to find the cd and immediately purchased it. I browsed through some NZ bands and found Evermore which I really like. I was wondering if someone…perhaps young hip Christopher, could browse around and see if the CD is available at home to save me from having to purchase it here best price here is $20 CND. Sunday morning we took the ferry to Waiheiki Island for some exploring. Apparently most people book tours etc before they get on the ferry because we quickly realized all the busses out of the terminal leave pretty much as soon as the boat is cleared. I had my heart set on horseback riding, and this was my plan for this trip…ride then go to the beach. Unfortunately all the guidebooks that assured me this was a possibility were wrong as all outfits had stopped riding over a yr ago. My heart dropped. So instead we booked a bus tour that came with a free bus pass at the end so we could go out and pick the best beach etc. We had an hour or so to wait, for the next batch of busses that coincided with the next ferry arrival…so we hiked up the mountain by the docks and explored the Art by the Sea. It was pretty interesting, some neat sculptures like peek through sculptures that frame the cliffs, a xylophone bridge, clear towers full of fluorescent orange hats and pink sashes that you were to model for the rest of the hike, a huge bathtub plug floating in the ocean (which funnily enough had a sold sign on the label) and so on and so on. Some of the pieces were nice to look at while others were just odd…but that’s how art goes. I was broiling as we hiked around, at a quicker pace than the average participant as we had to be back to catch the bus. I was also wearing jeans so that didn’t help. We made it back in time though and began our winding tour of the residential area of the island. The homes there are immaculate….contemporary styles and huge windows in order to take in the spectacular views all around the island. Homes start at around 4mil if anyone is interested. The island is mostly comprised of artists, musicians, writers, tv personalities and sports related famous people. After the tour we settled in Onerewa I think and browsed shops before setting up camp on the beach. Another lovely swim for me. Upon retiring form the beach for our evening tea…we quickly came to the conclusion that Waiheiki does not partake in evening tea, and all the shops, including restaurants were closed at 4. We walked up and down the streets and found a fish n chips shop so I got a kids pack chicken and chips…Jo wanted something cold so we walked on and found an upscale place that served salads. We couldn’t sit down to eat because I had my takeaway box so Jo ordered it to go…only when it arrived they did not have to go forks so we both had to sit in the waiting chairs in front of everyone and eat our of boxes because we couldn’t leave with the fork. I felt like quite the knob. Every minute that passed felt like I dropped a notch on the cool scale. On the bright side the bartender was a work of art himself so that took away some of the sting. We then headed out to The Little Day In, Waihieke’s version of the Big Day Out held in Auckland a few weekends ago. The band playing when we arrived was My Life Story, and I also enjoyed their music, another recommend. Next on was Kora who was a more pacific style band so not exactly my style but still presented a good beat. I think they are pretty famous here as the crown went wild and knew their songs. I was in the crowd mostly by myself and I think I stuck out like a sore thumb…could also be why I didn’t enjoy them as much. Saturday…was not a good day on the Melissa Jo front. People who know Jo and her OCD tendencies will understand that Jo had to be at the tourist centre at 8am to check for the best rental places. I tried to tell her before that it wouldn’t open until 9, but again Jo is not easy to reckon with on these matters…she needs to check for herself (like the time we were half way to Queen street and she had to run back to the apt to make sure I locked the door even when I told her I had…which I had). So anyway…I don’t know how she passed her time until the place opened at 9, but I ate breakfast and packed a beach bag and paid the rent. When I arrived at the centre at about 10 after 9 I saw that she wasn’t there and assumed she had gone for a walk while waiting for it to open. So I browsed the pamphlets picking up maps and such on our destination for the day Coramendel. I was getting pretty excited about our first road trip! After awhile I began to think about how odd it was that Jo still wasn’t here and it was 25 past… I was staring aimlessly out the window waiting for her when a guide asked if I needed any help…I told her I was just waiting for a friend because we were looking into rental cars. That’s when another guide popped up and said oh she already left, she was waiting outside and when we went over the schedule she decided it would be easier to take the ferry than to drive so she had to run to catch the 9 ferry and told us to let you know. Ok so I asked when the next ferry left…9 am the next day…oh ok what about a bus…the bus leaves at 1 and will get you there at 5 and your friend will be coming back by then. I stared at them in silence, mostly because I couldnt speak. My options were swirling around in my head along with all this info, I tried to process this all, of course without crying in public. I managed to ask about what else I could do today. You could go to Waiheiki Island, its really nice there! Yes I know, we were there yesterday. You could go to Devonport they have a great beach, yes I know…we have been there a few times. Everything they suggested was old news and their surprised faces diminished when they heard we had been here awhile. They were truly sympathetic but didn’t have much else to offer. I looked into going to Piha beach a day early, perhaps hiking Rangitoto, or a trip up to cape rainga... even considered renting a car myself but that was too expensive to do alone…and well I couldn’t even imagine trying to navigate on my own. I walked the streets trying to get rid of the ‘burst into tears’ feeling and went to Becky’s building to see if she would like to do something. The apt building intercom wasn’t labeled and I didn’t know her number so I sat on the steps and collected myself. I wound up back on the north head where I spent the day on a secluded beach reading a book, just me and my ‘ol pal rangitoto. I caught the Red Checkers on my way back, NZ’s equivalent of the Snow Birds….and I caught the tail end of an outdoor concert a block from our apt (funny the tourist guides neglected to mention that) and then did some laundry (finally washed my staple sweater!) I had gone into a few hostels on my way home to ask about transportation to Piha beach, as I was losing faith in any previous plans. I found out about a shuttle that runs once a day and got the number but no answer when I called. I got up early Monday and booked seats out to Piha. Jo assured me she wasn’t leaving anywhere without me today so I booked 2 seats. We have taken to blaming the people at the tourist info centre as they gave us both different information. Our driver was quite chatty on the way out so we got more NZ lessons (Maui dolphins are the most rare in the world and were spotted the other day off Piha, maui is the name of the Moari legend who fished the north island out of the sea from the south island, minah birds came over from India with immigrants as pets, manuka is tea tree, pukekos are the only native bird farmers can shoot on sight), even a bit of Bible FYI (Ezekiel describes a helicopter in his chapter). Part way into our journey it began to rain. And we then aptly entered the rain forest…more breathtaking views! You could actually see the steam rising from the trees as the rain hit. Yes, I was shopping for property in Piha also. He told us about a great hike up the mountains and a route we could take to get to the 5 stage waterfall. Taking cover under the trees in the rain sounded better than hiding in a shop or sitting on the beach so we took off in that direction. It began to rain harder and I wrapped myself in my towel to protect my bags and then we were under the canopy and fairly protected. It was a sweet as hike and the waterfall was just large enough to be very impressive. We hiked up to the top and back around and exited the trails at around 12:15 (I believe we entered at around 9:30-10). At the top of the falls we got separated as while we both carefully watched our feet as we made our way across the treacherous terrain we were unable to watch the other person heading in the opposite direction, kind of funny really, Jo had headed back the way we came up and I had continued on the path. I assumed we would meet back up in a loop, Jo said she was screaming my name but any sound was absorbed by the lush vegetation (a thought that would make a lone explorer nervous I would think). After 10 minutes we found each other back where we separated after I trekked back not finding her, Jo was yelling and cursing while I laughed on the inside as I recalled how we handle our anger differently and I chose not to speak at all when returning on Sunday. She thought that this would make us even, but I figured it would only be even if I left her in the forest all day and send a messenger to tell her I was having fun down on the beach. It's a good thing we love each other eh? Nearly out of the forest a group of Spanish speaking tourists approached me whilst taking a photo of Jo on a bridge and volunteered to take our pictures together…or that’s what I assume she said as all I truly comprehended was Hola…the rest was sounds and gestures as she spoke rapidly and pointed to jo and took the camera. Luckily she didn’t run off with it (I definitely could’ve caught her). She took our photo and their interpreter asked if we were from Australia….that was a new one for sure. They seemed pleased that we were Canadian. Back in town we stopped in at an art gallery….very exquisite pieces I must say…some even copy-able and I think Jo took pictures so we can do just that. We went into the bakery so Jo could buy lunch, nothing to her palate, then into the surf shop because I was interested in renting a body board….but changed my mind with the prices. Jo got lunch at the surf café by the beach and we set up camp in the black volcanic sand in front of the lifeguard hut. Emily…I’m sorry…no funny Bondi like beanies…sigh. Now onto the swim. It was the first thing I did because I was pretty muddy from the wet hike (we had to cross many streams and tramp through the mud) so before applying more sunscreen I needed to “bathe”. I donned my rash guard to protect my shoulders while in the water and headed off toward the surf…passing a film camera on my way (I had seen a poster at the café looking for extras for a Nickalodian movie they were shooting on the beach late jan early feb….ages 25 was there with a fee of 150/day). Walking out for a swim was pretty tricky, as rushing water was constantly upsetting your footing in many different directions. It stayed shallow for pretty far, but at variant degrees because the ripple on the sandbar was 200x magnified what the little ripples at home are like…so it was deep shallow deep shallow. The waves put magic mountain to shame, and Lawrencetown would be jealous! For someone who is not a huge fan of the water it was a nightmare of fighting for survival. The broken waves were the toughies, large white walls of rushing sea water would pound you with impressive force hurling you back toward the shore, as if saying you weren’t wanted on its turf. I would dive under the waves and feel the awesome sensation of the huge rolling wave tunnel as it passed around me and then emerge on the other side. I would sometimes emerge and have the opportunity to push my hair out of my face, take some breaths and wipe my eyes before diving under the next or I would emerge to immediately see another oncoming white wall forcing me to take another gasp and dive under once more…or if unlucky I would emerge only to find out I wasn’t truly emerging but more so being rocked by the next wave and tossed and tumbled. My heart was pounding, my eyes were stinging, my throat was burning, I was constantly clutching my suit bottoms as they were struggling to stay on…and I was having the time of my life. What a great swim!! I had to pretty much force myself out of the water, eventhough a good solid rocking by a massive wave made it a little easier, so that Jo and I could do some more exploring. However, returning to the towels it was later than i thought and we rushed off to meet our shuttle, me still just wrapped in a towel! On the way out the strip of plastic that I proclaimed "looks like a slip and slide" was indeed such....and we watched some kids whip down the hillside and into the river. We stopped at the top lookout spot before making our way back to the city to take before and after shots of the coast line because it was rainy when we drove in. The shuttle driver took a great shot of us on the top but when reviewing the photo Jo discovered she had visible sunscreen all over her nose. I thought she had done it on purpose and had forgotten it was even there by that point...perhaps they can photoshop that off? My version is in Sepia colour so you cant even notice. To end the day and the long weekend, and our last weekend in Auckland there was only one perfect thing for us to do...one guess. Ice cream! Movenpick ice cream of course...we went out to Mission Bay and ordered our much loved Carmellita and tried a new one Vanilla Brownie....to die for! Did I neglect to mention that Jo and I were dressed in matching outfits? Atesting to the fact that our love has gotten slightly out of hand? We matched right down to the necklaces...we figured it was our last weekend here and if we hadnt been noticed yet it was time to take some drastic measures. And I report success...people stopped dead in their tracks to comment, some requesting an explanations, others just gawking, and the ones we liked best, adoring! We were like peas and carrots jo and me or should I say just peas and peas? On the way home our lazy butts decided to walk up the hill instead of bus, and this decision of mine ended up with us walking all over the city until midnight! We went to cut up throught the park by our apt aptly stepping over some papers strewn on the stairs...I looked down and read the title on one "tips on takign better vacation photographs" of course peaking my interest I bent to pick it up...and under neath lay a guys passport photos...dear me! I called out to Jo and she picked up some of the papers near her and exclaimed "He's Canadian!" Our maple leaf blood forced us to help our fellow travellor out so instead of securing the scene of the crime and searching for his body in the park (a la Kelly and LB) we brought his stuff (tickets, travel cuts stuff etc) to the cop shop across town. With our good deed out of the way we went home and collapsed into bed for much much needed sleep!