After spending a day in Auckland, my first impression was: GET ME OUT OF THIS CITY! There's nothing wrong with Auckland itself, just that being back in a big city was horrible. Traffic, noise, huge busy streets lined with shops, people buzzing around like ants on their oh-so-important missions. I'm think I'm much more sensitive to it now, having spent so long in places like Peru and Bolivia; it was actually making me feel ill. Within just a few hours of walking around, I felt irritable, stressed, claustrophobic - emotions I haven't experienced since leaving England 4 months ago.
So I rushed back to my hostal, sat down at the travel desk and said, how do I get out of here NOW?! They sold me a flexible bus ticket and pointed me in the direction of Paihia, up towards the north end of the North island.
Paihia, 4 hours north of Auckland, is in the Bay of Islands. Its really quite beautiful, lots of green farmland, rolling hills, blue seas. But somehow, I just felt underwhelmed. Its so neat, so nice and well-to-do. It lacks the wildness of South America... I guess thats obvious but I'm finding it hard to adjust. I booked on a boat trip to see the dolphins that live in the Bay; a big group of us went out for 4 hours on a huge catamaran. It was a pretty cool trip, we went right out to sea and the waves were big, nearly everyone got seasick except the brave few of us who stood out on the front of the catamaran, holding on for dear life and screaming every time we took off over a wave and were left hanging in the air for a split second, before crashing back down again. After 3 hours we headed back to the coast having seen no sign of dolphins or whales. Finally we came across a pod of 3 common dolphins: the plan is for people to get in the water and swim with them if possible, but there are strict laws governing human interaction with dolphins and the boats aren't allowed to harass them. The skipper took the decision that they weren't really playing ball and so, after watching them swim around the boat for 15 minutes, we headed back to shore. It was still amazing to see them up close, the water was really clear and they were quite big dolphins. I had a sudden sense of how free they were, and I suddenly welled up with tears which surprised me. I'm glad we left them alone rather than force ourselves on them.
After that I went to sit on the picturesque beach and looked out at the perfect bay with sparkling blue waters but still feeling slightly underwhelmed. I got talking to a man on the beach who offered to buy me fish and chips, and we chatted for a while about destiny, the randomness of life, y'know the usual conversation topics for fish n chips! ;) I had a vague plan the next day to head back south and stop at Pakiri Beach, between Paihia and Auckland, as I heard of a horse riding place there. This guy said he was heading south too and offered me a lift in his truck.
So next day we set off early and arrived at Pakiri Beach at about 10:30am, where he dropped me off. I hung around the stables for a couple of hours before going out at 1pm for a half day ride. I was riding a lovely pony called Chico who was only 4 years old and really good fun. We crossed a stream, walked up over a sand bank... and then I saw Pakiri beach for th first time. Wowww, the most stunning beach I have ever seen! Miles and miles of fine white sand, completely empty and completely unmarked except for the footprints of seabirds. The water was aquamarine blue and when the waves rolled onto the shore, they were crystal clear. We walked for ages, maybe half an hour, in complete silence, just taking in the tranquility of the place. The rest of the group were inexperienced riders, so a couple of times me and one of the guides took a different route so we could canter, which was wicked! Once, she warned me that we had a sharp right turn coming up, followed by a drop down. We kicked the horses into action and they took off, galloping up a sandy hill and then suddenly SHARP RIGHT! I just managed to hang on, my hat was falling down over my eyes but I saw just in time the BIG DROP DOWN - and Chico's head disappeared as he raced down it, me hanging on for dear life! It was so much fun, I was laughing for ages afterwards. We were out for nearly 4 hours in total, and it was one of the best rides I've had.
After the ride, back at the stables, I had to face up to a dilemma. I hadn't realised how remote the stables were from the nearest town, and I had no accommodation booked even if I could get to the town. And its Easter weekend, so everywhere is going to be full. Oops. As we were fairly close to Auckland, I hoped that I could get a lift back with somebody, but nothing seemed to come up... Then a lady who had overheard me asking the stable staff for help, said that she and her family were going to a nearby town called Warkworth and I was welcome to get a lift with them. I agreed, as this was on the bus route back to Auckland for which I had a ticket the following day, and I was sure I'd be able to find a B&B or hostal or something once I was there. But as we drove, the family suggested I go back and stay with them, and they would drive me to the bus stop the next morning. And so, Carole, Erin, Anita, Trinity, Jamie, Nanny Katay and I, not to forget the Dachschunds Fonz and Kizzy, all went back to Carole's beautiful house which has amazing views of the rolling hills and woods, and is inhabited by funny fluffy chickens, a goat, a cockatiel who think she's a stripper, and the dogs. We ate dinner and drank wine made from a fruit that I can't remember the name of and sat talking on the verandah which was lit by the huge full moon. Before bed we went to look for glowworms in the garden, but the moonlight was too bright. The next morning, I woke up to calls of Happy Easter from Trinity and Jamie who were already eating easter eggs. We all had breakfast on the verandah, and they gave me an easter card that everybody had written in. After breakfast, they drove me into town and dropped me off at the bus stop. I don't think I have ever experienced such kindness; for them to take a stranger into their home and go to such lengths to make me feel welcome was lovely, and now I really feel like I have arrived in New Zealand!
Next stop is, well I'm not sure exactly where yet. I just booked a Wicked Campervan which I pick up on Tuesday and will have for the next 3 weeks, so I can drive around at my leisure and sleep in the van! Really excited about it all now :)
