We continue to explore New Zealand’s rugged west coast, with its beautiful black sand beaches and vast sand dunes.  It turns out that Muriwai is about a 40 min drive from our place in Greenhithe – and a much pleasanter drive than that of Piha!

Shelore at Muriwai

The black sand is merciless on your feet on a warm sunny day….even with flip flops on the sand gets on your heels and over your toes….there is a lot of wincing and whimpering as you run from the parking lot (which is sand) over the dune and down towards the water.  The parking lot is sheltered by a sandy ridge, making it the warmest part of Muriwai.  Once you are over the ridge and settled on the beach there always seems to be a strong cool wind so it’s never very hot (except for that sand!).  The water is also not so hot…all in all not an awesome place to bask in the sun and lounge in the water – but beautiful all the same.

Muriwai has a bit of a bad rap for drowning…tourists…surfers….New Zealanders….I have to say that I was really sceptical about the “dangerousness” of the west coast waters.  But, after a couple of uncomfortable situations where I felt how fast and strong the waters are here – I am now a bit afraid of the water which I have had a hard time coming to grips with as someone who has spent half her life in the water.

To the left side of the beach is a rocky outcrop where the fishermen are (always where people drown).  Looks like a lot of fun – will definitely have to give that a try at some point.

There is a large Gannet colony at Muriwai.  It was baby season at the gannet colony which was super cute.  We might have taken a ridiculous amount of photos of the gannets – but got some pretty wicked ones of the gannets in flight.  Who would have thought that I would move to New Zealand and become a bird-lover?

Baby Gannet

From on top of the Gannet colony you can see for miles the black sand beaches and sand dunes that stretch up towards the tip of the north island.  The pictures really don’t do it justice.

Muriwai Gannet Colonies and Coastline

Following up on the very successful “Sheep and Dead Fish” outing I decided the next stop on the kiwi “tour” would be in the land of boiling mud and stenchy sulphur.  The land of Rotorua.

Google. Maps. Suck.  In New Zealand.  A less than direct route to be sure – but we certainly got an eyeful with the giant dog and giant sheep made out of corrugated cardboard along the way.  Never seen that before J

Clayton discovered the unique traffic safety ad campaign launched across the highways in NZ.  Of course we don’t have a picture of them – and can’t find any posted on the internet – but it is a “clever kiwi” campaign where kiwi birds make wise decisions about their driving, including: clever kiwis nvr txt n drv, clever kiwis take power naps, and Clayton thinks he saw one suggesting that kiwi birds should smoke dope and drive.  Clayton.

I had described to Clayton how Rotorua smells….like being trapped inside a massive vat of boiled eggs.  As usual he thought I was exaggerating -  however I was, if anything, under exaggerating.  Rotorua is situated in a geothermal belt powered by sulphur.  There are boiling mud holes and steaming water everywhere.

We thought we would visit the Agrodome and catch a Sheep Show as it seemed like a funny/fun thing to do (nothin but mutton), however upon arriving at the Agrodome we discovered it cost $100 to watch some dogs chase sheep and watch a sheep shearing.  Maybe not a $100 funny.

We mulled over the option to Zorb, or to visit the safari nearby, but ended up deciding on a more cultural experience at Te Puia which was pretty wicked. The singing/dancing reminded me of the luau in Hawaii which brought back awesome memories of romantic photos in front of a setting sun with my cousin Laura   Te Puia is also the home of the NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute which was awesome as well.

I took this - and it rocks

We wandered through Te Puia after the cultural show – in the rain because after a full day of sunshine driving in the car it rained the few moments we had to wander outside – and got rained on by a sulphur geyser.  It was not wicked.  Clayton hadn’t quite believed me about boiling mud – but I believe this settled that debate.

A boiling mud pool

One day in Rotorua was definitely NOT enough.  Apparently we missed out on the luge, and probably a better place for looking at pools of steaming coloured water/mud (Wai-O-Tapu) not to mention the Lord of the Rings tour at nearby Lake Taupo, so I guess we will just have to go back to Rotorua.

I woke up in the middle of the night…in quite the panic.  It felt like there were tiny claws pinching into my forearm…the thought occurred to me perhaps it was a huge spider.  After hitting my arm and swiping the sheets I woke up Clayton so he could make sure the coast was clear.  Clayton turned on the lights and looked on my side of the bed for any misshapen spiders.  Telling me the coast was clear I relaxed and looked over to where I thought the creature would be.

It was still there.

Ace Ventura had missed the very large and long stick insect that was clinging onto the side of the mattress.  To be fair I didn’t know at the time it was a stick insect, as they are docile and harmless.  I just saw a huge weird looking insect.  I may have flipped my lid a bit…and shrieked at Clayton to get rid of the insect.  I thought it was understood that “get rid of it” means irreversibly destroy.  Suggestions include flushing down the toilet, crushing until all that remains is a smear…you know.  Destroy.

I was left very unsettled wondering where the mysterious creature came from, how it ended up crawling on my arm while sleeping, and whether there would more.

In the morning after much contemplation, I decided that the creature from the night before must have been a  weta which I had seen once on a screen door.  Disgusting creature.

Turns out it was a stick insect.  How did I find out?  Well, apparently when I asked Clayton to get rid of the insect, he took that to mean don’t kill the insect and throw it into the garbage can….alive.  So as I was making lunch the next day, and I went to throw something in the garbage….the stick insect popped out of the top of the garbage can as soon as I opened the lid.

Stick Insect

Long story short…..we freed a somewhat maimed (1 broken leg) stick insect back to its environment on the tree outside the front door.

Stick Insect in Tree

The second official road-trip I took Clayton on proved to be informative…for both of us.  One of us learnt that a cow is not a sheep, and that sheep are smallish wooly quadrupeds.   And perhaps that same one of us also learnt that chitons are not fossils.  If you’re thinking “Wow…Sheila you should know better…you have a Biology degree for god’s sake” then you are right.  I do know better   The first week for Clayton in was educational, and he no longer points at cows and says sheep.

We did a bit of a tour north of Auckland, hitting Goat Island, Leigh, and Tawharanui.  We travelled first to Goat Island which is a really cool spot where there is great scuba diving/snorkeling.  We did neither.  But we did check out the tide pools and will definitely head back in warmer weather for some snorkeling.

Myna Bag at Goat Island

On the way down to Tawharanui from Goat Island we stopped in the town of Leigh first, checking out the seaside and the wharf.  There were quite a few people fishing off rocks (very common here in NZ) so we took our time trotting across the rocky shore, poking around in tide pools.   It was my first Lord of the Rings (or LOTR as it noted on maps) re-enactments…first of many I’m sure.  I found myself crouched beside a tide pool eagerly poking a dead fish…in a similar fashion as my good friend Gollum…although I didn’t whack my fishes head on a rock

Next stop was Tawharanui which is a well-known regional park on the North Island known for its beautiful beach and safe surfing.  The drive started innocently enough.  Green rolling hills, no cars on the road, sheeps on the hillside.  It turned into another one of those “excellent” NZ drives…down narrow windy gravel roads which at some cases barely fit two cars (and I really mean barely) which goes on for what seems like eternity.  But when you finally get there it is definitely worth it.  We wandered down the beach, through some small caves and onto a sheltered bay.  NZ can be a bit deceptive…the bright sunshine and harsh UV rays do not make up for the strong cold wind that always seems to be wherever you are.

Clayton Chasing Sheep

It was a great day of adventuring.  Goat Island and Tawharanui are definitely places I will return to.  Perhaps though not too soon in the future…some of the beach bathers may remember Clayton for his uncivilized behavior…chasing the sheep just off the beach.