The past month has involved a lot of people coming to visit, which is SO FUN because then I get to have a great excuse to go on some pretty cool adventures. Also, I got to be a pirate a few weeks ago at Dan’s little brother’s birthday party. Which was a pretty great adventure too :) The first visit was from Heather and Kira: Sam’s kayak coach, Heather, came out to visit with us as part of her 30th birthday trip through Australia and New Zealand. They got in a few days before and Sam went up north of Auckland with them for a day. When they got to Waihi Beach they came in for dinner at the Flat White while I was at work. It was awesome because then we got to play Heather our birthday song and bring her some cake! I realize I’ve never talked about the birthday song, so I will now seize the opportunity. I love our birthday song, but I don’t like being the one to deliver the cake. We play the birthday song and come out wearing this obnoxious cake with candles hat and then give them their cake and make them wear the hat. I hate it, but people seem to like it. You can have a listen here and imagine me walking out with a very fake smile on my face as the chorus starts. Don’t worry Heather, my smile for you was real.
Once we figured that out, it was a lot easier. We had mud literally all over, and then going into the sulfur spa was cool as well. The sulfur left a sort of silica residue on our skin that you couldn’t see, but could feel. It was gone by the next morning, but our skin felt so smooth. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but it has something to do with the mud and sulfur combination acting as an exfoliant. After we finished there we were famished so grabbed some grub at a cool bar in Rotorua before heading back to Waihi Beach. The next day they did some more adventuring, but I joined them for lunch at the winery nearby! It’s called Ohinemuri Winery and it’s across the street from the historical walks in Karangahake Gorge. They offer a tasting of their 6 wines for $20 NZD which is such a deal. They also have amazing seafood chowder. And sign that was hilarious. It was a nice relaxing day. And then Richard made me go swimming when he showed up in Waihi Beach for the weekend.
And then last week brought on the arrival of Matt and Mama Sue, my other family: They had told me they’d see me on Sunday, and I had told them I was working until 6:30 and I’d see them afterwards. But naturally, they had to surprise me, so when Matt stuck his head around the door at work, I got such a shock! Obviously a good one! They hung out for a few days in Bowentown on Waihi Beach, so when I wasn’t working I went to hang out with them on the beach. I had three days off while they were here though, so after work on Tuesday I took off with them to go on some pretty great adventure! Tuesday afternoon we drove the hour and a half from Waihi Beach to Rotorua, where we were staying for the night. We stayed at the All Season’s Holiday Park there (which was dinosaur themed, shoutout to my time with Kristi Curry Rogers in Dinosaurs class), and met the wonderful woman who owned it named Tracee who had been to Orlando before and had been featured in a magazine article about the best way to explore Orlando! Pretty small world. They’re going back in a few years, so I gave her my email just in case she wanted some inside scoops. She also gave me the number of some people she knows that are always looking for apple pickers for their orchard, and they offer accommodation. Let me just say, I love this country. In the span of a few days, I was offered multiple places to stay for my last few weeks in Waihi Beach and was offered a potential job. It’s awesome. Anyways, we set up camp by erecting the tent and hooking the hammocks up to a tree the car. That’s right, hammocks. Matt and I slept in them every night we could, they were so comfortable! I felt like I had my own little cocoon. for dinner we grabbed some fish and chips and took them to the edge of Lake Rotorua to eat while the sunset, which was gorgeous. After that we grabbed a beer, took a dip in the hot tub, and then headed to bed. Sleeping outside was amazing! Except for that night when there was a very serious fight going on between some cats. And when it started to mist rain a little at like 4am. Matt and I were so groggy, we couldn’t decided if it was actually going to rain or not, so we just decided to stay and hope for the best. Which worked, because it didn’t rain on us, thank goodness! Also there was a house party of some kind going on because there was some definite bass bumping. But honestly that makes it sound much worse than it actually was.
After all that in the morning, we grabbed sushi for lunch before heading out to Taupo. On the way, we stopped at Wai-O-Tapu: Geothermal Wonderland (which I visited before, and you can read about here) so Matt and Mama Sue could see all the cool geology in Rotorua. The weather was perfect, and the champagne pool was just as amazing as I remembered. And since the world is so small, we ended up running into a couple of Americans that Matt had seen at the Auckland airport when they got in. Pretty crazy. Afterwards we explored the “hot cold springs” nearby. Basically, there’s a river that is fed by a hot springs along the road. There are two pools, one very near to the hot spring which is extremely hot, and a second one further away that is still warm, but a little cooler. It’s pretty neat how you can have two different pools right next to each other that have two different temperatures. We headed out to Taupo from there and enjoyed a nice relaxing spa pool swim at the campgrounds after setting up camp for the night. The next day our adventures continued. Sam had come down after work and joined us late the night before, so we were all together. In the morning, we chatted with a Canadian couple in the communal kitchen before heading out for our big adventure: bungee jumping! But I’ll talk about that later in the next post. After that craziness, we headed to a bakery for lunch and walked around some of the stores in Taupo. Huka Falls was obviously a stop on the Taupo tour, as well as visiting the Huka Honey Hive. They let you taste all their different honeys and they were al amazing. We were feeling a little hot at this point, so we went to cool off with a dip in the Waikato River, which runs north and starts at Lake Taupo. The water was a little chilly so Matt tried to pick me up and drop me in but I know that tactic so I just made sure I didn’t let go so he crashed into the water as well. Heehee. To warm up, we headed down to another thermal rover nearby. It’s also on the Waikato, but there is a hot springs that runs into the main river, and you can enjoy the heated water there as well as the colder water from the Waikato. A natural spa! We cooked burgers that night at the campsite, with a nice big salad! Our last day in Taupo was spent extremely well. Most of the day involved the number one thing that I wanted to check off my bucket list...skydiving!!!! (Again, I’m so sorry, but you’ll have to hear about that later…). After all that excitement, we relaxed the perfect way with a beer and some pizza from a small brewery in the main part of Taupo. And a nap. It got really cold and windy (our tent almost blew away!) that evening/night, so that was a bit of an adventure too! I know I’ve been annoying with not telling you about all the most exciting pieces. But I need some time to get all my thoughts and feelings and videos organised, so you’ll have to just have to tune in later to read the next adrenaline-junky post :) All in all, it’s great having people visit, and I can’t wait to see you all when I come home!
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Meet AnyaHi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao!
I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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