i arrived in auckland 22 december...i came to visit amy, a swimming friend of mine since middle school..she married a guy named ivan, whom she met when she had an overseas internship while in uni..the day i arrived amy was at a hens do, so ivan picked me up at the airport, and drove me through auckland..he asked what i wanted to see, but since i knew absolutely nothing about the city (or the country for that matter,) i had no answers..at one point we drove through a very picturesque area, filled with what he called lifestyle homes..people who want to be farmers, sortof..they have a bit of land, but don't really do much with it..hard to explain..he also took me to a beach called muriwai..it's on the west coast (auckland has two coasts) which is basically the "wild" coast...the beaches on the west coast have waves and currents and such, the beaches on the east coast are quite calm)..i got to have my very first fish and chips, YUMMY..it was served in what i would call a "proper" way..that is, wrapped in newspaper with the grease coming through..ivan asked what kind of fish was available, but of course i had no idea what either of the answers meant..we drove onto the beach, since he has a land rover, and it was awesome..he said it was a typical west coast beach..that is, wild and beautiful..i only found out months later what he meant, but he was right..amy arrived home not too long after we got back to their house, both ivan and i were asleep napping at the time..she laughed..i spent one night with amy and ivan at their house in auckland, and woke up pretty late the next morning..(time zone change)..amy and i went to the local dairy to pick up coffee, hot chocolate and turnovers..YUM..already, i loved new zealand! that day we drove to their bach on the east cape...i slept through bits of the trip, but i'm pretty sure we stopped in tauranga, and i know we stopped in paeroa...i had my picture taken with the ridiculously huge bottle of L&P...it's a drink similar to sprite or fanta, or a combination of the two...it's an 8 or 9 hour trip, we arrived at the bach early afternoon, and everyone got acquainted...during the trip amy gave me quick lessons on pronouncing many of the words i was seeing on signs..most of the words are maori words, and there are rules for pronunciation, i was having fun guessing how to say everything..hana had arrived a little earlier, having met up with jill (amy's mom) and howard (jill's partner) as well as two german friends of theirs in rotorua..since hana was living in canberra she took two weeks off for the holidays, and flew into christchurch, then drove up and saw bits and pieces of new zealand before the two of us got together...it was the first time i had seen hana in 2.5 yrs or so...
amy and ivan's bach is at onepoto, which translated means little beach..original, right? hee hee...anywho, there were about 10 houses, and when we arrived, the area was quiet..it's not exactly the easiest place to get to, it's a commitment to go there for a weekend..(the fact that it's out there is one of the reasons amy and ivan like it so much, and i can understand why)..there isn't anything but the houses there, you have to go somewhere else to get petrol and just about anything else..the water is spring fed, so you have to be careful about how much you use..
over the next 10 days, i explored the area, mostly with ivan and amy and hana, and met lots of new people...one day trip we went to an old station area, needing ivan's land rover to get there..while there we had a picnic lunch, and made our way to a small waterfall..before the country was the country it is now, this station area is one of the places sheep and other animals were kept while breaking from transport accross the country..it's really in the middle of nowhere, it must've been a very lonely place to live, even with family..but it's still beautiful, as is all of new zealand that i've seen..
since amy and ivan have explored the area quite a bit in their previous stays at the bach, so they know what to see, and where to go..one day we walked to a couple nearby waterfalls, saying hello to the cows along the way..
one day amy and ivan and i went to the little "town" just around the corner and hung out on the pier..ivan was fishing, i was laying out..it was pretty windy, and at one point my skirt flew into the water..my only option for getting it back was to go in after it, so i jumped in...COLD!!! it was so sunny and reasonably warm i guess i sortof expected the water to be warm enough as well..but believe me, it wasn't..i was shocked when i jumped in..hee hee...
we saw the easternmost lighthouse in the country, which is about an hour away by car..by that point several others had arrived, including dan..the night i first arrived in auckland amy had told me about dan, a schoolmate of ivan's..apparently dan was single, and amy thought we'd be a good match..nevermind that i have life commitments for the next while..first i have to go back to korea to finish a contract, then i'm traveling with hana..and later i'm traveling with layna..there is no room for a guy in that!! but when he and i met (as hana and i were sitting and reading around the remains of the previous night's campfire) there was definitely a connection..go figure, as we were driving to the lighthouse, i fell asleep..great first impression, eh? dan was the first to the top of the climb to the lighthouse, apparently he's like that all the time...the rest of us made it up not too long after..it was a beautiful day (as usual) and the views were expansive..we were able to look out over the water all the way to white island, which is the most volcanically active part of new zealand..dan and i argued over the length of the swim in an ironman triathlon, and i was wrong..oops..
as amy loves to play games, (both board games and card games and Wii type games) we had a couple nights of game time..one night dan and i were partners, and we would've won the game, if either one of us were artistically inclined..but we're not..at all...oops..another night i watched hana and amy play speed..funny to see how into the game each of them was..i enjoy watching others play games, but i'm not usually into games myself..
i saw lots of pohutakawas, which are also called the new zealand christmas tree...they're quite pretty, i love 'em!! they bloom right around this time of year, and are really red..gorgeous..the biggest one in the country is in a town really close to the bach...none that i saw were in full bloom, but they were all starting to bloom, and the colour is amazing..i'm pretty sure the trees are indigenous to new zealand, which means you likely haven't seen one unless you've been there, and unless you were there around the holidays or just after, you probably didn't know that you were seeing such an awesome tree..
amy and ivan had invited their entire group of friends to their bach for new years, so they all showed up in the days previous...two of the couples have little kids, it was fun to play with them...kade is the perfect two year old, he can amuse himself for hours, and he's pretty quiet, and tolerant of new people..the kids of the other family have a bit more energy, i liked them too..all the people invited knew each other, but some hadn't seen each other in yonks, so there was a lot of catching up going on...this was when hana and i felt a little left out, simply b/c we didn't know anyone other than amy and ivan..
one of the days after most everyone had arrived the boys used to go fishing...i think eight of them went out on the boat? they came back with a LOT of fish..none of them had caught the full amount they are allowed to catch by law, yet there was sooooooooo much fish...which meant that every meal from there on out involved fish in some way...baked fish, grilled fish, lemon juice cooked fish, etc...it was all tasty, but there was soooo much of it...everyone else knew the names of the fish, i was clueless...
new years eve was pretty tame..everyone gathered wood, and we used it to make a fire..from the time the fire was lit until late into the night, people sat around, stood around, ate, drank and were merry...it was a nice new years, and rather tame..just after the clock struck midnight, the boys set off some firecrackers..one guy in the neighborhood came out of his house to complain about the noise they were making? who does that? who complains about noise at midnight on that day of the year? argh..anywho, i think everyone had a good time..hana and i were the first of anyone we knew to celebrate the new year, simply due to time zones:)..i think i went to bed at 0200 or so?
the morning of new years day we had to get up REALLY EARLY (up at 0430) to make the drive to gisborne in time for our flight to auckland...dan, amy, hana and i all got in the car, none of us feeling very good...the roads were curvy, and i get motion sickness easily...hana wasn't feeling well, dan was feeling as badly as i was, though i don't know why...only amy felt slightly normal...it was nearly three hours of misery that none of us could avoid...ugh...hana and i were both booked onto that flight, (at 0630) then we took separate flights out of auckland...i was sad to go back to korea after such a fantastic holiday...how often do you get to relax so much that you completely forget what day it is? that actually happened during this holiday! im looking forward to going back to nz, to figure things out with dan, if there is something worth figuring out, and to see more of the country...i love new zealand...
i arrived back in korea 2 january after a loooooong flight...ugh...back to the land of pushy people who pay no attention to what is going on around them
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