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.
Sheila had been to Omaha but had not been any further north so we decided to go for a drive. We didn’t really have any plans and just sort of stop at a few places along the way that looked cool. Sounds like a pretty bad strategy but it was a really nice day and anywhere on the coast is going to be pretty.
Our first stop was Goat Island. It is supposed to be some of the better snorkling in New Zealand I think and there was a lot of people there snorkling and kayaking. Just from the rocks I saw a few pretty big fish cruising around. We decided it wasn’t warm enough to snorkel yet and that we would wait a few weeks and come back. We are going to Fiji next weekend and I am sure the snorkeling will be a lot better there anyway. Instead of snorkling we walked around a bit on the rocks and took a few pictures.
Our second stop was a warf a little bit further south from Goat Island. It wasn’t really a “tourist stop”…we just kind of drove around and ended up there. Was pretty cool…I imagine there are thousands of little coves like that all over the country. Highlight of the stop was a dead fish in a tide pool. Which one of us picked up…not going to say who. Seemed a little bit like Nova Scotia because there were a bunch of small fishing boats.
Next we stopped at a protected wildlife area called Tawharanua. It had a bunch of pastures with sheep, a bird sanctuary and really cool beach. The road to it was crazy…so narrow and windy and the locals were driving like retards. It was supposed to be 30km/h but most were driving like 50ish. At times it was down to one lane for both directions even around crazy corners. The beach was really nice and had a few different parts…there was like one section that had a lot of people on it then there was like a small cave that you could walk through and there was a whole different beach that I thought was nicer and had a lot less people. The water was really turquoise at Tawharanua.
Pictures from Goat Island, Tawharanua and the warf:
The second beach in Tawharanua
Woke up and wasn’t feeling jet lagged at all….yeah!
We had decided the day before that we were going to go on a day trip to Piha. Sheila had gone before by herself but was rushed so she wanted to go again. The drive was insane…really twisty/turny road that two cars can barely fit through and there is no shoulder what so ever.
About half way there a truck coming the other way was flicking its lights at us…we noticed but didn’t really know what dude was trying to tell us. A few minutes later we drove into a road stop…there was a cop breathalyzing the drivers. A drunk driving checkpoint at 11:00am…awesome. The cop could tell we seemed a little bit surprised by it and made the observation that “you guys are not from New Zealand are you?”….apparently it is normal here or something. Getting a DUI would be embarrassing anyway but could you imagine the embarrassment of getting a DUI before noon on a Friday? New low…
Sheila passed the breathalyzer and we kept driving….
Later while watching tv they showed an advert of a guy getting breathalyzed and getting thrown in jail for being on drugs so I guess they are testing for more than just alcohol. I also saw an advert/public service announcement warning people that it is never “ok” to shake a baby. The more you know…
We arrived at Piha a little before noon and it was overcast which kind of sucked because it was actually really nice when we left Auckland. Piha is a really cool cove with a huge rock in the middle called Lion Rock. The sand in Piha is kind of black and has really cool specks of shinyness in it. Even though it was overcast the sand was still so hot that it still hurt to run across. We walked around on the beach in the rocks and caves and took a bunch of pictures then went up to the top of Lion Rock.
Sheila had seen signs saying there were penguins at Piha the last time She went there but she didn’t see any last time. This time we ran into a park ranger/worker and he told us that they only come out really early in the morning or around 11pmish at night. So we didn’t see any penguins which was slightly disappointing but we still saw some pretty cool stuff.
Photos from Piha:
The Lion Rock in Piha
I left Toronto at noon on Tuesday and arrived in Auckland on Thursday at 6:30am. A bit of an odd feeling to be in the air for 17 hours and losing an additional 18 hours due to timezones but I felt pretty good when I landed and wasn’t really jet lagged for some reason. I guess the Halcion did its job because I slept most of the second flight.
Air New Zealand was pretty good..I had never flown internationally and not been in business class so I was a little concerned about that but the seats were actually pretty big and I was comfortable. I was able to switch from a middle seat last minute to a window seat which was a huge win…:-)
Since I had applied for a visa and was electronically approved I was expecting to have to provide some proof/documentation to support all the stuff I had filled out but for whatever reason the lady just stamped my passport and told me to keep moving… Funny how I get stressed about stupid things like that and it turns out to be nothing. I had visions of them rejecting my visa application on some technicality and putting me on a flight back to Canada and not even getting to see Sheila..:-(
Stepping out of the airport it was like mid-20′s and really sunny which was a nice change from the Toronto/Minneapolis weather.
We ended up spending most of the day just hanging out at the apartment and catching up on lost time. Around dinner though we decided to go to Takapuna since it was such a beautiful day.
Photos from Takapuna:
Flip flops + shorts in December...nice!
After a walk on the beach we went to a “hole in the wall” Chinese dumpling place and had dinner. Those of you that know me and my eating habits (steak and potatoes or lasagna) can probably guess that the dumpling place was not my pick but it was really good. Sheila is a little more adventurous about food than I am but I always end up liking the things she picks…:-)
-Clayton
