After breakfast burritos, we packed up the car and headed out of Hot Water Beach. On the way to Tauranga, we stopped at a small fruit van for nectarines and strawberries. We chatted about music and high school life on our way. Thinking the holiday park next to the mountain and beach would be good, we went to it but found that it was more expensive than others. Instead, we found the Cosy Corner holiday park. We checked in and found a spot amongst the small permanent campers. We put our food away, which we had accumulated a lot of from a couple groceries runs, and made really good sandwiches for lunch. We put up our tents and headed for the city center.
We walked to Burger King for a few minutes of free wifi and then continued on to a few shops. I said "hey we should get a drink" as we were passing a cute little cabana bar so of course we went right in. We ordered a delicious coconut mango margarita pitcher to share. The lady accidentally brought a second one for us which we had to awkwardly decline because they were over priced and we weren't looking to get our buzz on just yet. We walked around a bit more and then made another liquor run. Of course they needed our passports to check our ages but we haven't been carrying them around so we had to go back to the car for them. Back at the holiday park, we headed for the poolside with tequila drinks in hand.
We laid in the chairs for awhile, Michealla got in the pool after a bit, then Cassela cannonballed in and I went off to refill our drinks. I came back and we all got in the hot tub. By that point, we were feeling pretty good and started to make our future plans together. Cassela got in the pool then Michealla and I jumped in with the GoPro. Once we were back in the hot tub, a dad and his two kids came into the pool area, and the two kiddos hopped in the tub with us. Bella was 2 and the cutest little girl and James was a sweet 5 year old boy. We had so much fun with them, James was swimming around with the GoPro and we were all helping Bella get around the tub. I'm sure they would have loved to do this all night long. Then their mom came over with their 4 month old sister, Sophia.
Their parents attempted to get them out of the water but it didn't last long since we all just went over and got in the pool. It was so cute and fun playing with them. They eventually vacated the pool area and so did we. Back at the car, we got ready to go out. Walking back and forth from the bathroom, we started talking to a couple girls from Sweden who were hanging out with another girl from France and another from New Zealand. We sat on the grass with them, played the guitar and chatted while watching the NZ girl's brother play on his hover board which was quite comical. We walked out to the street with the two Swedish girls, in hopes of getting a ride to the downtown strip.
We kept our thumbs out and after a bit, a dad with his daughter in a big van picked us up. The young girl said she told her dad to turn back around and pick up he girls on the street. After a short drive, we made it downtown. Talking with the other girls, we found out they are going to the same music festival that we are for New Years, we got pretty excited about that. A particular bar/club was open and packed with a long line out the front. Michealla went to get in line while the four of us went into an Indian restaurant across the street for takeaway. It was expensive and took a long time. We ate some of it real quick and then joined Michealla in line. After a minute or two, we got in.
We walked around and saw that a lot of people were dressed up really nice but we were only in cute simple dresses. Apparently, tourists go out and drink a lot on the holidays. We got shots of tequila then walked around, talking to people and danced a little bit. After another shot of tequila, we went up on stage with a couple that Michealla met in line. The place closed down at 12 so we went outside with the crowd and got into a cab. We knew it was going to be expensive and it sure was. The driver, who didn't look over 14, went the wrong way so we had to direct him, which costed us more as well.
Back at the park, we reconnected with the Swedish girls in the kitchen whilst eating the rest of our Indian food. Off to bed we went, but not until I blew up my stubborn air mattress while tipsy.
