Whew, this week flew by fast! Merry Christmas to all who I didn't get to speak to! It was so much fun having the whole family here for Christmas, I wish they could have stayed longer... Saturday and Sunday (the 19th and 20th) were spent in anticipation of our family's arrival on the evening of the 20th. Luckily, I was working so that helped. Dan came to hang out on Saturday night and we went over to Bowentown to see the sunset. It wasa little cloudy, so I had to edit the photos a little, but it was still beautiful. And we saw an incredibly long shooting star. You know how when you see them they only last for a split second? I swear this one was flying through the sky for almost 5 seconds. So long. I'm sure Dan would back me up on this. Finally, Sunday evening rolled around and our families arrived in Waihi Beach! Sam had driven up to Auckland to collect her parents while I worked and once my brother and sister landed in the afternoon, both families drove down together. I was so excited!! For a celebratory dinner, we obviously went to Flat White because it's the best place to eat at and that's not just cause we work there. It was amazing, as always. Plus, we can just take a stroll on the beach to get there and back, and there's really nothing to complain about there. Monday we woke up real early to head down to Whakatane to take a tour of White Island, an active volcano off the coast. As a side note, 'wh' is pronounced like an f. Now sound out the name 'Whakatane'. Yes, that's actually how you say it. No, it's not a joke. There really is no good way of saying it. Anyway, we got there bright and early and boarded our ferry to go on the tour. It's about an hour and a half ferry to the island itself. Once we got there, another group was leaving the island so while we were waiting,the ferry captain took us all the way around the island so we saw it from all angles. We were issued yellow safty helmets as well as masks to protect our breathing while on the island. This was because of the high amounts on sulfur on the island and in the air. In fact there used to be a sulfer mine on the island! It's monitored constantly by volcanologists because of it's ongoing activity. There were a few larger eruptions in the '80s that resulted in the current crater. In that crater now, there is a lake that is highly acidic, a "good place to dump a body" acccording to our tour guides. While we were on the tour, the wind blew sulfuric air around us and the masks were extremely neccessary. You couldn't see through the air and everyone was couching! We also took a little taste of the sulfur,just to try it. We also tasted a bit of the water from a stream that comes from the lake in the middle, and it had high iron counts so it tasted like metal. The island is rich in minerals from the constant activity below the ground. At the end of the tour, we walked through the remnants of the old sulfur mining buildings. It was crazy seeing them because the arts that were wood and the parts that were metal look exactly the same! The deterioration that has occured there from all the elements on the island is so cool. All in all, the island was so awesome!! We took the ferry on the way home and almost all of us fell asleep on the way back. We made taco salad for dinner, which was so good! Tuesday I had to work, but I was able to fit in a workout on the beach beforehand with Sam, Uncle Chris, Rhys, Jess and Elena. The fam came to Flat White while I was working, which was fun too. Except I could hear my brother talking about me when I walked past (yeah, I heard that, Rhys), although the one time I was singing to myself, so it was probably deserving of a comment. After I got back from work, I hung out on the beach with Erin and we got to have sister bonding time. One thing I've really missed since moving away is being able to walk across the hall into her room to sit and chat. It was nice to have that back again, even if it was just for a little bit. The next day, the whole family went out to Karangahake Gorge and did a few of the historical walks there. It used to be a big gold mining operation (I talked a little bit about this a few posts back) and the walks show off this history. We did the rail tunnel loop, which includes a 1km walk through an old rail tunnel, and the windows walk, which goes through some of the old mining tunnels. It's pretty neat! After walking, we had lunch and then put our feet in the river that runs through the Gorge before heading back to Flat White for a 2pm staff meeting. Which ended up being a 2:30pm staff meeting. After that, Dad, Rhys and I took a trip into Waihi for some food as well as to rent the first Lord of the Rings movie. We were going to Hobbiton the next day, and Aunt Gerry hadn't seen it before! We got to the rental place, and the guy running it let us borrow it under his name because he "couldn't be bothered" to add a new customer into the system. Honestly, the people here are so kind and trusting, it's amazing. We watched it after dinner, and it made me so excited to see Hobbiton! Thursday morning my family and I headed out early to hike to Wairere Falls before meeting the Barlow's at Hobbiton. Wairere Falls is the tallest waterfall in the North Island, with water falling over 500 feet from top to bottom. The hike is nice, not too hard, but it had rained the previous night, so the path was a tad slippery and muddy. It was great though, and a good thing to do in conjunction with Hobbiton as they aren't too far apart. We had a picnic lunch before heading out on our 1:30pm tour. It was AWESOME. I loved it. It seriously just looks like a little village, although some of the doors were much much smaller than others. They have doors at different scales for filming actors at different heights near them, and our tour guide pointed out some cool stuff to us that shows just how detailed movies are, like that all the moss on the fences in Hobbiton are fake,made up of a mixture of wood chips, paint and glue and how there were a number of hobbit holes put in to be in the background of the film for a few seconds just to have continuity. It's crazy! We ended the tour at the Green Dragon where you get a free drink to enjoy. I also bought myself a souvenir; it's a magnet with the sign from the front of Bilbo Baggins' hobbit hole that reads "No admittance, except on party business". Obviously Bilbo knows where it's at. It was such a good day, I'm so glad we went. Erin and I cooked salmon, brown rice and asparagus for dinner to conclude a pretty darn good day. Christmas fell on a Friday this year, and it was spent in our family tradition of buying matching pajamas for everyone. However, usually we take photos in the privacy of our own homes. Not this year. To the beach we went, and it was hilarious. And I'm positive the lifeguards were having a time watching us. But we did get a great picture, so it was a successful venture. Then we drove to Tauranga for Christmas day/dinner with the Ian Smith and his family, who are the amazing people that we owe this New Zealand adventure to! Plus, they also took in 9 random people for their family's Christmas dinner celebrations. They are just amazing and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank them enough. The next day, all of us had to be out of our rooms at the Top 10 by 10am. Including Sam and I. We've now moved into an apartment below Ian's dad. After we had sorted all that out, we drove north of Waihi Beach to Cathedral Cove, which is a beach that you have to walk to. There are some caves to explore, we even swam into one. There was also a large rock not too far from the shoreline that you can climb up and jump off of. We did that, and Rhys caught it all on his Go-Pro which is fun. On one side of this same rock, there was a little tunnel-like thing where you could swim into it and pop up in the rock. That is a horrible description, but I don't know how else to say it. It was super fun, and the views were amazing, of course. This was also the day we had to say good-bye to our families. Super sad :( We had one last dinner together, and one last ice cream before we got into our separate cars and drove away. It took a long time, I don't think any of us wanted to drive away first! I also gave my family a ton of hugs each. I miss them already; I'm actually tearing up a bit as I type this. I know I'll see them soon enough, but another 4 months seems like a very long time. If you're reading this, I love you guys!! I didn't have too much time to dwell though, since Sunday was super busy at work and then Dan and I went for a spin on his jet ski in the afternoon, which was awesome! Monday and Tuesday were equally busy at Flat White, but this time there were two birthdays during the day, and so that was fun because we have a ridiculous hat that you have to wear. The rest of this week is looking about the same, I have work almost every day. Although Sam and I have some cool New Years plans! But you'll just have to read about that next time :)
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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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