Monday, 14 November 2016

Mission Bay, Hot Water Beach and Waitomo

(Note: On trying to upload all my photos and videos, I accidentally deleted about two weeks worth of them. I was livid. The photos below are Heidi's)

On returning to Auckland we stay in a different hostel in the middle of town. We get back on the Sunday, with a plan to sort out our bank account (which we started in Paihia) and Tax numbers the following day. However, we quickly find out on Monday that it's a public holiday, and the bank and post office will both be shut. We opt to do precisely nothing instead. On Tuesday we get this admin sorted out (which included a lengthy trip to a dreadful post office) then go to our new temporary home in an area of the city called Mission Bay.

We are staying the rest of the week with Mike and Eva. We discovered the couple on Cultural Exchange, which is the sister website of WWOOF, and is so similar you wonder why they need to be separate (something to do with the organic farming element). On locating their house through the rain, we're met by Eva, a super friendly French lady with excellent cooking skills. She gives us some tips for the surrounding area and some things in Auckland we missed. The deal for accommodation is the same as WWOOF - we are asked to do a few hours of work every day. We get up late Thursday morning and get to it. I'm on the power washer, cleaning the patio and driveway whilst Heidi sweeps. We then go on a jaunt to better  familiarise ourselves with Mission Bay. It's a very nice, chilled area and feels like a small town of itself, rather than a district of the city. The centrepiece is its sprawling beach, facing out towards the volcanic island of Rangitoto (more on this later).

When we get back we briefly meet Mike, but then I'm heading out to check out Mission Bay's art deco cinema to see Woody Allen's Cafe Society. It's pretty great. Mike and Eva have gone out so when I get back from the cinema, Heidi has cooked dinner. When Mike and Eva get back they set out a deal - we can have Friday off if we work a full day Saturday whilst they are there. 

After a few hours work the next day (Thursday) we go into the centre of Auckland and go to the art museum and the Auckland Domain, which is a Giant park. Not much to say here, to be honest. On our full day off we take the ferry to Rangitoto Island. This is Auckland's latest Island, being only 600 years young. It's a steep walk to the top (and it was pretty hot) but the views from the top were stunning. It's an interesting walk as well, seeing plant life trying to grow through the volcanic rock.

At the top of Rangitoto

The main highlight of this week was Mike and Eva themselves. We felt so comfortable in their home and this was due to them both being incredibly warm and friendly to the two backpacking strangers who'd emailed them a few days before. On Sunday, they had friends over for lunch whilst Heidi and I went to the cinema (Doctor Strange this time, 7/10) and by the evening, they were quite inebriated on red wine. It's the first time on the trip I've been a bit sad I'm not drinking, because I would have loved to have joined them.

Many, many months ago whilst planning the trip we booked a hop-on hop-off bus ticket with a company called Kiwi Experience. Monday is the first day we'll be hopping on one of these buses at 8.30 in the morning. Journey number 1 is to Hot Water Beach. The idea here is that because the Earth's crust is so thin, the water just under the sand can be quite hot. So, by digging a small hole in the ground you can make your own hot pool on the beach. This is easier said than done, not least when there are only a few places you can dig and 100 people are trying to do the same. Still, we do manage to get the gist (I think I burnt my foot at one point, occasionally it feels like stepping on an oven hob). Later on in the day, the coach takes us down to Cathedral Cove. This includes a great coastal walk. Cathedral Cove is a rather beautiful spot, as is a smaller area Heidi and I venture to called Stingray Bay. Unfortunately this turns out to only be a name because it's actually a delta we don't see any stingray. As it's Halloween, Heidi and I watch Friday the 13th for the first time back at the hostel.

Inside Cathedral Cove


Journey number 2 on the Kiwi Experience is to Waitomo Caves. On the way here we stop off at a gorge for a walk but after a short stroll we come to a locked gate. It was still very pretty. The caves at Waitomo are quite famous, and numerous companies have taken advantage of these natural wonders. For the more adventurous, you can do black water rafting, ziplining, tubing and abseiling in these caves, but the thing we're most interested in is seeing the glowworms. We're booked on a tour at 3. We're part of a small group and take the journey through the hilly countryside to the first of two caves. We're led in by our tour guide, hard hats with headtorches equipped, into the cave. After a short walk, we're asked to switch off our headtorches and we begin to see the glowworms...thousands of them. At this point they look like hundreds of small LED lights in the ceiling of the cave. We head further into the cave and hop aboard a small dingy, which floats down the river. Once again, we're asked to turn off our headtorches so that our eyes adjust. Our guide then smacks the side of the boat loudly and the cave lights up with thousands of glowworms. Now they remind me more of space, tiny flickers of light amongst the darkness.

After floating up and down the river for a bit we head to the second cave which is a natural showcase of interesting rock formations. I can't really say much more about this as I'm no expert, but it was pretty cool. After we're dropped back off we go to the pub where we eventually have an overpriced dinner (seriously, there is very little in Waitomo) then head off to bed.

Mancave



Next time - Rotorua (including Hobbiton!)

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