I woke up around 630, got my things together, and caught the airport transport bus to the international terminal. I set my stuff down and walked around looking for Cassela and Michealla in case they arrived early. I waited for them in the area in front of where the arriving passengers walk in for a bit before going to get coffee. I went back to standing in the area and finally, the girls walked out of the door. It was so good to see them! Seems like so long ago, they bought their tickets and we started planning for the trip and now they were actually here, in New Zealand.
We sorted things at the airport for a bit and then caught the rental car shuttle to their building. We did the paperwork and got our car. Of course all the controls were in Japanese, again, and there was no aux plug in. We set off for some food and ended up at a mall where we got sushi and went to Countdown for groceries. We stocked up on food and then headed south. We made it to Thames where we found a liquor store and then a hardware store for a cooler and ice. We kept going until we hit Hot Water Beach 2.5 hours from Auckland. We checked into the holiday park and settled in. After making a small lunch, we walked down to the beach. We walked past a spot where the sand was very hot and away from it, found a nice place to sit down in the sunshine. It was a perfect temp with the sun and the breeze.
We got a little restless so the two of them decided to go down into the water. I was GoPro videoing them for a moment and then decided to join. Just in our sports bras and shorts, we went all the way in the water. It was a bit cold at first but we got used to it. The waves were quite large and we were jumping up as they came into us, playing around and trying to avoid getting mowed over. It was hard to stand upright in the surf and we were just fumbling around but it was a blast. We were all laughing so hard and got swept under every now and then. We kept going out as far as we could in front of the big waves. The GoPro videos turned out pretty awesome. All the sudden, Michealla felt something latch onto her leg. She headed for the shore and her leg started to sting a little bit, which was most likely a jellyfish. That concluded our frolicking in the ocean.
We walked back to the holiday park, which was one of the nicer ones I've been to. It had clean facilities, a small store and restaurant, a big grass area near a patio with tables and the barbecue, and a big plastic blow-up trampoline that we enjoyed for a few minutes. We went back to the car for a bit before going to the kitchen to make dinner. We had cooked veggies mixed into a curry soup, it was quite good. We got out the booze and back at our camp, we played cards. Michealla taught us how to play Golf and Cassela taught us how to play Trash. We played by the light of our lanterns for some time and then got ready for bed. Before we crawled into our tents, we laid on the hood of our car and watched the stars, for it was a clear night. This was peaceful and amazing, just what I needed. In the tent, I heard the rain begin to fall so I hoped the next day wasn't a wet one.
