New Zealand: It's Like Scotland, But Farther!

Since we last blogged, we've done plenty of maxing and relaxing, shooting some b-ball outside of the school. We stayed three nights in a tiny community called Miranda where we had a huge hot mineral pool (not just a small hot tub) where we stayed in until the slightly eggy smell made us get out. On our last night the caravan park turned into some sort of retirement community, as caravan after caravan rolled in, full of the grey-haired nomads. Up until then, we enjoyed chatting with people in the pool from America, Poland, and South Africa. Even though this is our "early retirement", we decided it was a good time to move on.


Our next destination was the slightly bigger beachside town of Waihi Beach, only about an hour down the highway. On our way we stopped at Karangahake Gorge, which offered many different hiking trails through an old mining area. Long sections of the hike were through pitch-black mining shacks where you had to crouch to avoid the low ceiling. We carried a torch (that's a flashlight for you non-Kiwis) to light our way, although it did not stop Craig from making wild animal and spooky noises to try and scare Andrea. It's these kind of adventurous and slightly dangerous hikes you just can't find in overprotective Canada, so we are taking full advantage of every opportunity!


Luckily we found our way out of the labrynth of tunnels and made it to Waihi Beach unscathed. This was a cute community right on the beach (as many places are here) with a population of 1700 that just about quadruples in the summertime. The caravan park we stayed at here was incredible - it had a gym (with great new equipment!), a hot tub, a heated pool, satellite tv and movies in the common room, and pet eels. Even though it is the low season, we finally met some fellow (YOUNG) backpackers. Because of all these reasons we ended up staying there six nights. During the day we did some hiking and beach walks. Every night we hung out with Erik and Bjorn, two Dutchmen who were just finishing a year around Australia and New Zealand in a campervan and were on their way to Southeast Asia. Many hands of cards were played over many bottles of beer and wine. As true Canadian ambassadors, we introduced the sport of shakey face to our new Dutch friends. For those of you who are not familiar with this national sport, it is when you shake your face back and forth very fast and someone takes a picture while your face is mid-shake, making for very entertaining snaps.

After six nights, though, it was time to carry on. Right now we are listening to the soothing sound of the ocean in our campervan, as we are camped only a few metres from the beach in Mount Maunganui, right beside Tauranga. This is the biggest town we've been to in awhile, with a population over 17,000. It is also a town with a LOT of money. Because the beach stretches the entire length of the town, it is lined with amazing mansions that have incredible views. Here is a picture of last night's sunset from the beach at the end of our campsite:

Today we hiked "The Mount", a dormant volcano at the northern tip of the town. It was only about an hour-long hike but it gave a great panoramic view of both towns from the top. Here we are at the top. You may notice Craig's sideburns snuck into this picture as well:

Some of the more observant people reading this blog may have noticed a stuffed beaver that sometimes appears in our pictures. Burley the Beaver, as he is known by the grade 3/4 class at Port Stanley Public School, has come along for the ride with us. He is getting his picture taken with as many different animals, in as many different situations, as he can. Here is Burley with some donkeys. There were four white donkeys that were all brothers at a caravan park we stayed at, named: Hee-Haw, Slow-Mo, Kick-Back, and Sir Chews A Lot. Funnily enough, they all talked like Eddie Murphy.

We just found out a friend we met in Australia from Vancouver is arriving in Auckland tomorrow, so hopefully we can meet up with him somehow in the next couple of weeks. As always, we have no idea where we will go next. Thus is the life of a couple of gypsies like us.