The Adventure to New Plymouth

I’m back, safe and sound! First of all, sorry to any of you who were worried about me after the earthquake in Christchurch. I was farther north on the North Island, and Christchurch is on the South Island, so we didn’t feel any effects. However, it is a tragedy for the country…after just five months since the last earthquake, and this one was much stronger and has claimed lives, unlike the last. Although New Zealand is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in the world, it is also in a precarious spot. Located on the edge of two tectonic plates is never a good place to be, and almost all of the mountains are volcanoes. In fact, the black sand beaches that we visited this week are made when lava flows down and turns into the sand (thanks to Alex for being my Wikipedia informant on that one :P). It’s just a reminder that you should live each day to the fullest, because you’ll never know what will happen the next. And that’s exactly what we did this week!

Laura, Nicole and I arrived in New Plymouth around 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon after a full six to seven hours of bus time. Usually this would be irksome to me, but I was unfazed after my twelve hour flight! I got some reading done and spent a lot of time just gazing out the window at the amazing scenery. I would have tried to take some pictures out of the window, but they were pretty dirty…oh well. So we arrived, and started the trek up the hill to the hostel, which was located fifteen minutes walk outside of the city center. On the way, we encountered a roundabout. However, we handled it well and followed the nice street sign that directed us how to continue onto the hostel. Then it started drizzling. Then it started pouring. Then we couldn’t find our turn-off. We finally reached a dairy (aka convenience store), where the man spoke basically no English, but was kind enough to bring out a map. We had apparently taken the wrong turn at the roundabout, and so headed back down the hill in the rain. Let’s make it clear that I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt as well as flip flops…flip flops and rain do not mix. I ended up walking barefoot down the road looking like a drowned rat. Suddenly, we all heard a shout from the other side of the street: “ARE YOU GIRLS LOOKING FOR THE HOSTEL??” Yes!! “Wait in the garage, I’ll give you a ride!” And so we met June, a wonderful woman who took pity on us and called us over to her neighbor, Dorothy’s, house. As we stood in the garage with Dorothy waiting for June and her car, I inquired if she could recommend somewhere to eat in town. She replied, “Well I don’t go out much anymore. I’m an old woman now. I’m 95!” She looked great for a 95-year old! After we managed to convince her that no, it was not necessary to invite us in and make us dinner and dry our clothes, June gave us a ride to the hostel. She even came in to report to the lady working the counter that the sign “needed to come down, or I’ll be calling the council’s office! And I’m good at doing that!” Then she offered to drive us to the pub with her because it was quiz night. We gladly accepted, and had a fun night at the Ugly Duck. Our quiz team was called Waifs & Strays.

The following day we headed out early to catch the bus to Tongaporutu, which Laura had read about in one of her guidebooks that exclaimed that it was “the most wonderful place on the North Island.” We were dropped on a street corner in the middle of nowhere. Let the giggling ensue. After walking down a gravel street, we came to a small carpark and camper van area (there were signs posted stating “NO CAMPING”) with a single (cobwebby) toilet. We walked out onto the beach, but the tide had already begun to come in and we were unable to get around the bend to see the rock formations and waterfalls that the author of the guidebook had promised. Then we sat down at a picnic bench and attempted to find a way to contact the author of this guidebook, who led us to this deserted location where we were now stuck for the next eight hours.

After a little bit, we decided to walk up the road to see if we could get some better views. We discovered the Whitecliffs Walkway, which turned out to be one of the most beautiful walks ever. We spent two hours hiking out (Nicole and I were in flip flops, mind you) amongst the locals. They weren’t too talkative, but were in fact scared of us and would run away as we approached. But we just want to be your friends! A stealthy group of sheep climbed up a hill and observed us warily from atop their kingdom as we walked by. After walking about as far as we could bear, we found a tiny little spot of shade, with a great view of a fence and some trees. Although we had to share the space with some cow pats, it wasn’t all that bad. After refreshing ourselves, we headed back and jumped over some more fences while the cows and sheep watched us with suspicion. After arriving back at the beach, we found that the sand we had walked out on earlier was completely gone. It was pretty crazy! We changed into our bathing suits and took naps out on the grass in the carpark near the water (don’t worry, we applied copious amounts of sunscreen beforehand). We then waited on the side of the road for a looong time, probably looking like hitchhikers. But the bus finally came! And we arrived back in New Plymouth safely, a little sunburned and very hungry.

The following day we headed out on the same bus to Mokau, another black sand beach a little farther away from New Plymouth. This one was really upscale; there were two cafes, two public toilets, and postcards! Insane. We walked down to the beach and played in the caves and climbed rocks and slid on mud and examined shells and teeny crabs. After taking a long walk down the beach, we turned back and headed up for some lunch. I tried the local delicacy, whitebait, a small white (duh) fish. It was served in a sandwich in what appeared to be some kind of pancake-egg concoction. Not too bad! Then I ate most of Laura’s fries, and lunch was fantastic. Afterwards, we wandered up to a little grassy area and repeated our routine of napping and reading under the sun. Unfortunately, the spot was right next to the road. Some people had pulled over (I assume to get a look at the view or to pick up some ice cream), and commented “What are they supposed to be, road kill?” It’s not definite that they were referring to us, but entirely possible. Oh well. After an unpleasant meeting with a bumblebee, I got some ice cream to sooth my woes. Laura and Nicole followed suit, and it was another fun day at the beach. By the time we made it back to dinner that night, we were a giggly mess however. I think all of that sun exposure did us in. It didn’t help that Laura’s “special friend,” Sam, showed up in New Plymouth…what?? Nicole and I lost it and collapsed on the pavement in a fit of laughter (…it’s a long story). I think a lot of people thought we were a bit tipsy, although none of us had a drop of alcohol. After one last night in the hostel, we headed out on the morning bus and arrived back in Wellington about 3:30 this afternoon. It was fun, but I’m glad to be back and to not be woken by an alarm early tomorrow morning!

Also, here are the public links to my pictures so far in case some of you are not on Facebook. I'll try to remember to include them from now on:

Week 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=615104&id=597595706&l=ba81ced46a

Week 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=616569&id=597595706&l=ca62e436a4

Week 3: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=619675&id=597595706&l=16eba6633b