It’s been over a month since my last post, which is far too long. I’ve had a lot of life planning and other stuff going on, but I’ll update you all on that later when I’ve got some finalized plans. For now, I’ll let you know about the last few weeks...back in New Zealand! My trip back ended up being pretty last minute. I was in San Diego to celebrate the Fourth of July but what ended up happening is me leaving to go back to Auckland on the 3rd. That meant that I skipped July 4th because when I landed in New Zealand it was the 5th. Which was a little sad. But that’s okay. It’s been all go go go since then, but now I’m sick watching Grey’s Anatomy all day so I have time to write! I got a job working for little bird organics in Auckland, so I’ve been doing that on weekends and fitting adventures in during the week. We’ll move on to those, they’re way more fun to talk about! My first weekend back was spent in Raglan, which I hadn’t been to before. I had meant to get out there before I came home in May but ended up not getting there, so it was cool to see it now. Raglan is known for it’s left breaking waves and is super popular with surfers around the world. It’s winter here, so it was a little quieter than normal. We stayed at the backpackers in town, which was very “surf bro.” Honestly I have no other way to describe it. The guys were all sitting in the common room watching surfing when we got there, and then they were all up and out early the next morning to go surfing as well. The backpackers also had the cutest puppy! After a few beers in the spa pool, the next stop was the pub in town. The food was so good, I had a seafood chowder that was amazing. The next day was for exploring before heading back to Auckland that night. The day started with pies from the bakery and a stroll through the market before heading to the beach! This park nearby the beach had a skate park and a mini dirt bike track. This family was on the track and an adorable boy who was about 7 was biking around and laughing the whole time. So cute. We headed to the main surfing beach, where the the views from the cliffs were amazing. We also sat on the rocks and watched the surfers give it a go on the famous break. They weren’t the top guys out there so we watched a number of people fall of their boards in spectacular fashion but there was one kid that was killing it. It was a little windy though, so we took off. Just out of town we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls to take in the waterfall. You can walk all the way down to the bottom. That’s one thing I’ll never get sick of, the amount of waterfalls in New Zealand! The next thing on the table were some hot springs before making it back home to Auckland. Speaking of Auckland, I’ve been going on some picture taking adventures. Having no work during the week lends itself for lots of adventure time. Jess and I headed up to Mount Eden (one of the biggest dormant volcanoes in the Auckland district), Castor Bay and Long Bay over the past few weeks to take some photos. I also took a bunch at the Domain (which is a large park in Auckland), and then on one evening we headed down to the waterfront to take some more photos before meeting Dan after work. The sunset was gorgeous! I headed out to the next day to Long Bay, which is a short drive from home. I took a bunch of photos there as well while walking around. I also witnessed a phenomenal amount of Pokemon Go in action while there. I haven’t quite figured out the draw to that game. The best part of the last few weeks has been the visits from my mom! She had two Auckland layovers back to back and since United only flies to and from Auckland every 2 or three days, she had tons of time to go on adventures with me! On her first layover, we went out to Waiheke Island, which was awesome because I hadn’t been there before. You take a ferry from Downtown and then can hop on a bus and go explore! Waiheke is known for its wineries, so we spent the day wine tasting and winery hopping. We started at Wild on Waiheke, which was also offering archery. Not sure wine and archery should mix, but there it is. Our favorite was their specialty red, The Wildling. Our next stop was Stonyridge, which was right next door. The view from their tasting room was gorgeous and we took some good photos of the inside of their building, which was also pretty. After trying (and failing) to find some other wineries on the list, we headed back to Wild for some of our favorite and some pizza before catching the ferry to head back into Auckland. On that visit, we also had some mussels that were SO GOOD and they were massive! On her second visit, I took my mom and one of the pilots out to Bethells Beach. I talked about this place in February, it’s one of the black sand beaches out on Auckland’s west coast. I think it’s by far my favorite. On a gorgeous day there are sea caves to explore and beautiful coastline to view. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a gorgeous day. It was raining and the tide was up, so there wasn’t much exploring to be done. But the best part of Bethells is the giant sand dune that’s less than a mile inland. It’s the coolest thing, and luckily the rain took a break for our time walking all over the dune. I don’t know where you can see anything like this dune in the rest of the world. It’s surrounded by hills that have all been formed in a similar way but foliage and grass were able to take root, but for some reason this dune remained bare. Its pretty crazy, and when you’re hiking up, if you hit the right angle, it literally looks like you’re walking on the moon. We ended the day excursion with a visit to the pub and a plate of seafood to share. In between my mom’s visits, I took off to spend a few days in Waihi Beach, where I was living when I first came to New Zealand. On the way out I took a quick stop at Hunua Falls, which I hadn't gotten to yet. It was a little bit of a misty day, weather wasn't great, but that led to me getting a pretty cool photo of the waterfall with a rainbow in the foreground! After that it was time to hit the road again. It was so nice to be back at the beach and see all my friends, and have some time to chat with them about life and where things are going. It’s awesome to know that, even as a nomad traveler, I’ve been able to make relationships in a short time frame that I know will be around for a long time. While I was out there, I decided to hike up to the top of the Pinnacles, which is north of Waihi Beach in the Coromandel. I didn’t get to do it while I was living there, so I thought “why not!” Online it says it is a 6.5 to 7 hour hike, but I ended up completing it in 4.5 hours total, including stops for photos on the way up and down, as well as almost a half hour spent at the top. It was such a cool hike, with tiny bridges that were tiny. And of course I had a great adventure in the last little bit, which involved climbing up some boulder rock faces with just some metal rungs. That wasn’t even the adventurous part. Obviously the rain and insane winds had to bust through right as I got to this part. I might have almost died about 5 or 6 times, I’m not too sure. But it was awesome, I highly suggest it! After that mission, I drove the 2 hours back to Auckland and then tried to come up with a way to make sure my legs weren’t sore, but that didn’t really work. Alright, so this post isn’t super long for the amount of time that I’ve neglected it, but it’s a kick start to get back into it. And I’ve got some pretty crazy adventures coming up when I tour the South Island in 7 days next week! Stay tuned.
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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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