So its been a few days since i last wrote... left taupo on weds to meet dain in auckland which we decided to get out of as soon as possible!! We looked at the quickest and cheapest route out and decided on a place called Tauranga which was 4hours away. Turned up and managed to get in at a little backpackers in the town. Headed out for a beer then just chilled out. Friday we got up and headed for a ferry over to Mt Maunganui which we waited for for a while then got bored and headed to the Information centre to see when the next one was. Good job we did as we would have been waiting a long time!!! the ferry only runs when cruise ships are in town. So anyways we grabbed a bus and headed to the mount to begin our ascent! The walk was pretty easy until we decided to choose the toughest track up to the summit!! Was good prep though for a 4 day hike soon to come!! And was also worth it as the views once we hit the summit were incredible. You could see the islands out in the gulf and the sun was blazing so was just beautiful...(like everything in NZ it seems!) I never cease to be blown away by the natural beauty of this country. Also saw some crazy ass birds aswell whilst we were walking. There are so many young backpackers here who miss all this or do not seem to appreciate this fact as they are here to do dot to dot tourist activities. Glad i didnt do Kiwi experience now.
So we had a mini picnic up at the top, admiring the surf beach of Maunganui (wanted to grab a board and jump straight in, reminded me of newquay!! Obviously way nicer) We climbed back down the mount (on an easy route this time!!) and ambled on the beach. Dain picked up a couple of shells which were ring shaped (worn away cone shells) and so now i am the proud owner of a shell ring, its awesome...reminder of the sea whereever i go...and it was free, hehe!! HEaded back to Tauranga and collapsed after dinner and a couple of well deserved beers!! Wanted to move on so looked for the next cheap bus somewhere else and opted to return to Roturua, one coz Dain hasnt been and i loved it and two because it means we can arrange a days caving in Waitomo from here. Now it looks like Im doing a full adventure trip with abseiling, climbing and caving, awesome!! So So scared but i think it will be an experience i will never forget...plus i much prefer land activities than jumping out of planes like lauren and shane did. they loved it but it sounded crazy, they even began questioning it as they were flying up there!! Best go as i am starving and its tea time, yum, still avoiding noodles and keeping New Zealand in business with brocolli!!! Love to all xxx
