One week down in New Zealand! Had a few days to explore Auckland thanks to the Austin family, and Sam and I can’t wait to see them next weekend, when Sam and Rochelle race together at a regatta. Auckland On Tuesday Sam went for an early paddle in the morning and then in the afternoon we went into town to try to get a bank account setup for work. We walked in and they said “Yes, we can! But you need to make an appointment and we don’t have any available until next Tuesday.” Which obviously didn’t work. So we decided we’ll just have to deal with that when we get to Waihi Beach. We hung out with the Austin family that evening, and we’re discussing the potential change in New Zealand’s flag; they have to vote during the first referendum in the next few weeks. They have 5 options to choose from, all submitted by New Zealanders, and then the winner in this round will be in the second referendum against the current flag, where they’ll decide to change it or keep it as is! A lot of people like the idea of changing it since their current flag is awfully close to Australia’s. It’s quite exciting. You can see the 5 they’re choosing from right here; personally, I like the first two (Silver Fern [Black, White and Blue] and Red Peak). Not that my opinion matters, let’s be real. Wednesday Sam and I spent the whole day out on Rangitoto Island. When I heard about it, I was STOKED to go. My inner geology nerd really let loose out there! So, Rangitoto Island is the youngest and biggest island/volcano in the volcanic zone that Auckland sits on. It’s only between 600 and 800 years old! On the timeline of the Earth, that is nothing. Nothing! I’d never seen rocks that young, and especially an entire island that young! Rangitoto was a volcano under water that eventually erupted out of the ocean to form the part we can now see and explore. It’s age and history is known through a few things, including tree rings, records of the Maori (native people) that were living on the island next door who actually saw it happen, and amount of weathering on the rocks. The rocks are barely weathered at all, they’re almost what I’d consider “sharp”; it’s a little hard to describe. It was literally so cool, I cannot even describe fully. I loved it. Anyways, Sam and I walked up to the summit after having gone to explore the lava caves that you can walk through. These were (obviously) created by the lava flows during the formation of the island. Before we ventured into the cave, we were warned by a 7 year old on a school trip that we should definitely have a torch because it’s really dark in there, but it wasn’t scary, it was really fun. She was right, it was fun. After that, before reaching the summit, we got to a lookout at the edge of the volcano’s crater. Near to it, there is a photo of a sketch of the crater from the mid 1800s that clearly shows almost no vegetation, whereas now the entire crater is coated in vegetation. It’s crazy how much can change in such a short period of time. The summit was pretty cool; you can see the city centre of Auckland across the water. What was also cool was during World War II, the New Zealand armed forces took over Rangitoto, closing it to the public, in order to use it as a lookout just in case the enemy were ever to arrive. The fortifications they built are still up there. The island is only accessible by ferry, so we took the ferry back to downtown Auckland and walked around the shopping streets around there. I found a cafe that was sporting a sign that read: “It’s nice to be important but more important to be nice. And drink real beer. And love your mum.” Honestly, the best rules to live life by, in my personal opinion. We got the train back to the Austin’s part of town, but before we went back I took Sam up to One Tree Hill, which is where I had gone running with Rochelle on Monday afternoon when we flew in. On the way there, we passed a lot of sheep (they’re everywhere. It’s not just a rumor.) and from up there we got quite a good view of the city. One Tree Hill is actually the inspiration behind the U2 song, which is then the inspiration behind the tv show. Fun fact. Another fun fact, One Tree Hill is the second tallest volcano in Auckland’s volcanic zone, behind Rangitoto. So we saw both of them in the same day! Also, there was a sign on one of the hills spelt out in rocks that read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE. 24” with sheep all around it. My next birthday is my 24th (yikes…) so if anyone is having trouble finding the perfect Hallmark card, I will also accept large signs on hills written in stone surrounded by grazing sheep. Just some food for thought. Thursday was Thanksgiving, although it didn’t really feel like it. Plus, I’m 19 hours ahead of the rest of my family, so when I woke up on Thanksgiving for me, it was still Wednesday night for them. But to anyone that I didn’t talk to, I hope you had a wonderful holiday and ate more stuffing than necessary in compensation for my lack of consumption. I’m sure at least one of you did :). And we didn’t just let it pass without celebrating! My family has a tradition of making dessert turkeys out of oreos, icing, whoppers and candy corn, and I wasn’t going to miss out! We picked over the grocery store in Auckland for all the materials. Apparently, candy corn isn’t a thing over here, but we found everything else so we improvised on that one. It felt really nice to continue the tradition. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Rochelle had finished her exams on Wednesday (woohoo!!) so on Thursday she took us out to the beaches on the west coast, which is where the famous black sand beaches are located! We drove out to Muriwai Surf Beach, on the southernmost point of Muriwai Beach. The whole beach stretches about 50 kilometers north from there. We walked along the boardwalk to Otakamiro Point and saw the breeding colonies of the mainland gannet. Gannets are a bird and this time of year is when the chicks start hatching. We learned some fun facts about them: 1. They mate for life, so after being apart of almost 8 months, partners will find each other again at the breeding colonies each year. 2. They will greet their mates with the bird equivalent of kisses and hugs (neck rubbing and feather preening). 3. They take their first trip at 4 months old, flying all the way up to Australia and staying up there before returning home when they are ready to find a mate and settle down. This made me think about how birds date. Which led to me picture bird speed dating. Honestly, my knowledge of bird mating is exclusively from Happy Feet, so I know nothing. But come on, bird speed dating does sound pretty interesting. We headed down onto Maori Bay, a beach on the south side of Otakamiro Point, and the black sand is very black and felt amazing! It’s extremely fine grained, especially in comparison to normal white sand, since it’s made up of eroded volcanic rock material instead of the sedimentary rock that normal sand consists of of shell. It’s so so smooth. The volcanic activity that brought the iron-filled sediment to the beach comes from the volcanoes that erupted inland on the southern island. The sediment was moved up to Muriwai (on the north island) by longshore drift before being deposited on the shores. It’s pretty awesome geologically! Waihi Beach Friday morning we packed up our stuff at the Austin’s house before getting on the bus to Waihi. We used Intercity because they allow a lot more baggage per person, and they even let Sam put in her kayak paddle (which was an extra bag so would have been charged extra) for free. Three hours later, we pulled up in Waihi. Waihi is the closest town to Waihi Beach and it’s about a 20 minute drive away. We were picked up and headed out to our new home: the Waihi Beach Top 10 Holiday Resort. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by the employees. Everyone has been so lovely! I can’t wait to get to know all of them better. Saturday and Sunday was spent organizing/relaxing/exploring our new home. We have a few things to do, and it’s one of those things where you get one thing done, which then leads to two more being put on the list. Monday was our first day of accomplishing stuff as we opened our New Zealand bank accounts and sent off for our tax numbers. Plus, I’ve been driving “the cube” around, which is the Holiday Resort’s cube car and decorated in extreme orange. I'm quickly getting used to driving on the other side of the road! It’s really not that bad, the only thing is that the indicator is on the opposite side of the steering wheel to what I’m used to, so a few times I’ve turned on the windshield wipers by accident! Whoops. I’ll get more used to it soon, I’m sure. Tuesday might be the most accomplished so far: Sam and I bought a car! We have a lovely 1997 Nissan station wagon with tinted windows and a back bench that can fold all the way flat so we can put an inflatable mattress in to sleep on when we go on camping trips! This is going to be so helpful to get around. We also now have a New Zealand phone number (thanks for the phone, Nate!), which makes organizing a lot easier. And on top of that we bought a mini Christmas tree for our room, which I am excited about. When we got home from that full day, we cooked hamburgers and homemade chips (french fries, people) in celebration! Today was pretty busy, we had a work meeting which ended up being about 3 hours of work for me as I shadowed people around learning the ropes. For those of you that don’t know, Sam and I are working at The Flatwhite in Waihi Beach, which is a cafe/restaurant on the beach. I’m looking forward to it, everyone seems very nice so far! Then I drove into Tauranga for a meeting about playing on a senior water polo team here in New Zealand! And it’s official, I’ll be playing! We have a couple tournaments over weekends, so now just to get my work schedule organized. After the meeting the coach of the u14 girls asked me to stay behind to coach their goalkeepers for the evening. I immediately said yes; anything to get in the pool and be around some water polo. And she’s asked me to come back next week, which is awesome! Even though we’ve gotten a lot done, we’ve still got a busy week ahead of us as we get fully settled and accustomed to life here in Waihi Beach. Shouldn’t be too hard with the beach right next door! I’ll let you know how it all goes, and I promise to include photos of our new digs next time!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
All
|