Travel Time!

Thanksgiving, Waterfalls & Kittens

meganpd — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:10:00 GMT

So now that I'm getting ready to leave Mount Maunganui I better catch you up on what I left out between Thanksgiving and today!

When I got back from Motiti Island Thanksgiving was less than a week away! I decided I was going to show everyone a real American Thanksgiving so food was bought and plans were made for a huge celebration at the hostel! Here is a little video I put together to show you what it was all about!

Thanksgiving In the Mount!

After Thanksgiving we had some serious beach time, hanging out in hot pools, trips to waterfalls...

(holding some shells and kissing the starfish on my shoulder I just collected)

(Waterfall in Te Puke)

(hot pools right beneath Mount Maunganui and down the street from where we lived!)

and started apartment hunting! After weeks of searching we realized that looking for a room was easier than finding a place that would let 5 or more backpackers stay! Andre and I found a great room in a house with a fantastic woman named Nicky complete with cute 10 year old twins and 2 adorable kittens.

(Ewok)

(Cornflake getting cozy with Andre)

We have the whole bottom level and the best part is, just when we thought we'd have to separate from our friends Caitlin and Tyler, they happened to get the other room!

From then on I began working hard, almost 7 days a week between Yumm and Mount Backpackers. When Andre and I had days off we took some day trips. One day we spent the whole morning at the beach and then went to Whakatane and a beautiful beach town called Ohope. Here are some highlights!

Another day we went with our housemates to Rotorua to enjoy the Polynesian Spa!

While we were disappointed in the rainy weather we soon realized it was the perfect day for sitting in pools of steaming hot water!

When we're not working and traveling we like to hang out with friends or enjoy the beautiful sunsets here! :)

(view from our backyard)

(Pilot Bay)

So now, fast forward to today where we will be leaving the mount in less than a week! Andre needs to find more work and I am excited to see new places so we've decided to do a little WWOOFing and head to Hastings where we will be apple picking for 5-6 weeks before heading back to Australia!!! While WWOOFing we will be staying in the homes of Kiwis getting food and accommodation in return for a few hours of work on their farm, garden or wherever they need us!

But the most exciting part of this new adventure is being able to share it with someone special. I never thought I would find someone to share my love of travel with, making the trip all the more enjoyable! Can't wait to share more stories with you soon! TTFN!

Motiti!

meganpd — Mon, 9 Jan 2012 17:57:00 GMT

I went to the airport (and I use this term lightly) with my friends Alex and Caitlin to depart for Motiti Island!

We got on our plane that fits 4 (3 passengers and 1 pilot) and headed over the ocean towards adventure!

I have to admit I was a little scared in this tiny plane but we lucked out with barely any wind and a smooth ride!

We landed in a huge field and were greeted by the Maori people who grabbed our bags and drove us towards their home.

Before entering the Marae we had to partake in a Pōwhir, a welcome ceremony involving speeches, dancing, singing and hongi (a traditional Māori greeting in New Zealand, done by pressing one's nose and forehead to another person).

As an elder Maori woman began to sing we all walked slowly towards the benches in front of the Marae, women in front, men in the back. As we sat on the benches an elder Maori man with a carved wooden cane walked forward and began talking in Maori. The language is so interesting and is spoken almost like a song. One of the Maori men in our volunteer group then got up and spoke back to the elder man in Maori. He then put a piece of paper on the ground which represented a peace offering. The elder Maori man then picked up the peace offering and welcomed us towards them. The men then received Hongi (a traditional Māori greeting done by pressing one's nose and forehead to another person) and the women kisses on the cheek. We were then directed towards the dining hall where we had a huge lunch with tea and cakes.

(Our Volunteer Group)

I have never felt more welcomed than when I was on Motiti. Everyone was so warm and excited to share stories about their culture and the history of the Island. After lunch Graeme, the elder man who led our welcoming ceremony, invited my friend Caitlin and I to come see his home.

Without a second thought we quickly followed him, forgetting our shoes, walking through fields and painful prickly grass. His house had huge murals on the walls inside and out, painted by his son. His son, Graeme Hoete or ‘Mr G,’ is a well known New Zealand artist living on the mainland in Tauranga. He recently acquired some fame after painting a mural on a container in Papamoa Beach.

Graeme continued to show us his house, including pictures of the island dating back to the 1940s when there was a school and horses plowing the fields. Now mostly retired people live on the island.

Motiti Island is completely run by the Maori that live there. There is no law but their own. Graeme explained to us that because of this he could build his house however he wanted, wherever he wanted without any restrictions. This made me feel as though I was in a real life mini utopia where life was just lived completely naturally.

After our little tour we headed back to the Marae to head out for our first day of cleaning beaches. Our group went down to a rocky beach where we were instructed to throw the oil covered rocks into the ocean. Apparently that is all we can do. After hours of volunteering we went back to the Marae to shower and have another huge home cooked meal! There’s nothing more incredible for a poor backpacker than a FREE, endless buffet of delicious food 3 times a day! With not much else to do we headed to the Marae to set up our beds. About 30 of us slept mattress to mattress. Every night we would put the mattresses down with our blankets and pillows and every morning we would put the mattresses back and put our blankets back in a little storage room. We were usually in bed by 9pm and up at 6:30am. This schedule continued everyday and meal time was definitely what all of us continuously looked forward to while spending hours in the heat throwing oil covered rocks into the ocean!

One of the nights some of us got to go out with the Wildlife people and search for oiled penguins. We didn't see any wandering around but we got to look inside a penguin nest! On the last night we were there the people on Motiti threw us a little going away party in their "bar," which was really like a VFW hall run by the few people on the island. There was one local who took a creepy interest in me but after he was banned from our gathering, I safely had a great time playing pool and even having some sing alongs with everyone! It was great hearing the Motiti family sing some old Maori songs!

It was hard and very sad to see how their beaches have been destroyed by the oil. The Maori are a very sea oriented people and used to rely heavily on the seafood they caught on Motiti. Now they will probably have to wait years before things are somewhat back to normal. It's also difficult to accept that all we could do was throw the oil covered rocks back into the sea where "mother nature was supposed to do her job." This is what one oil expert flown all the way from England told me on his short day trip to Motiti. But if that's all we could do it felt good to help in any small way possible.

We weren’t allowed to take many pictures in the village but on the last day I managed to take a few. One of my favorite parts on the island was playing with a couple of the incredibly cute babies!

When it was finally time to go we said goodbye to everyone and got back on our tiny plane.

This time I got to sit in the front. As we started to take off I realized the door on my side was opening...I tried to tell the pilot who didn't seem concerned and casually reached over me to close the door while saying "you can fly with the door open it's ok!" Shortly after my friends and I were scared for our lives the pilot told me I could fly the plane with the controls in front of me. Thinking there was no way he would actually have my controls turned on I laughed and started to turn them back and forth which proceeded to make the plane go back and forth putting my friends back into a state of fear.

Once I realized I was really allowed to fly this thing I held the plane very straight for a while before giving the responsibility back to the pilot!

(View of Motiti Island from the plane)

We were all very sad to get back to a world where we have to buy and cook our own food but within a day we all seemed to find jobs! That is the good karma helping Motiti Island gives to everyone! I believe it's a true privilege to have the chance to be completely immersed in any culture and the best way to really understand what the culture is really about. This was truly an incredible experience I feel honored to have had and will definitely never forget.

Next blog post I will hopefully be able to finally and completely catch up! TTFN (ta ta for now!):)

Christmas At The Beach!

meganpd — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:41:00 GMT

So I've decided to tell you all about Christmas before I go backwards to tell you about Motiti Island and other adventures!

I'm now working 2 jobs here in the Mount; during the week I can be found at Mount Backpackers, the hostel I used to live at, working reception. This is a pretty sweet deal because I still have many friends staying at the hostel. Nothing's better than getting paid to hang out with your favorite backpackers!

During the weekends you will find me covered in ice cream and syrup serving families delicious treats at Yumm! This is also a VERY sweet deal because I get to eat pancakes for lunch and all the ice cream I want! My housemates also enjoy the free pancakes, ice cream and soda I bring home for them!

This was my first Christmas away from my family which hit me harder than I thought it would! Leading up to Christmas day it didn't feel very Christmasy given the warm temperature and palm trees! And when Christmas Eve. was finally here, while working at the hostel during the day, I found myself getting pretty sad missing our family's annual traditions back home. The holidays really are about family I've realized, so I am very lucky to have made an amazing little family over here! Yvonne, my boss at Mount Backacker's/my Mom away from home, gave me a bottle of Champagne and a box of chocolates! She is an amazing woman and I would be lost here without her! I feel very lucky to have met her and Mom and Dad, you can feel better knowing there's someone looking out for me on the other side of the world!

After work I headed home where I failed at making a pumpkin pie as well as Grandpa's famous fruitcake. My oven is very tiny and old and I couldn't find the right ingredients for the fruitcake over here! But it's the thought that counts so at least I tried keeping Grandpa's spirit alive even if his fruitcake didn't make it in New Zealand! I made up for my baking disasters by putting everyone's names on Santa hats with glitter and making shell pets with a couple of the coolest guys I know! I really think the guys got into it more than I did!

After craft time André and I headed to church. The church was beautiful and most of the service consisted of singing Christmas carols which I know my family members would have loved! We even sang a Maori Christmas song! The best part of the service was the minister who wore a santa hat the entire time with the words "Merry Christmas" flashing in green lights! Only in New Zealand!

André and I then headed to meet our friends at the hostel for a bit before heading to bed! The stars were pretty amazing on Christmas Eve and looking at the sky reminded me of every Christmas Eve as a child when I used to look at the stars with my Dad hoping to finally catch a glimpse of Santa and his sleigh!

Christmas morning I woke up to screaming children upstairs and 2 little kittens cuddled on my chest :)

I started Pumpkin Pie #2 which I finally got right! Then I got to skype with my crazy family who was celebrating their Christmas Eve! Their performance of some favorite Christmas carols made it a musical experience I know André will never forget :)

We then headed to the hostel to meet up with the rest of our backpacker family for our giant secret santa exchange! I have to say, we are all very creative gift givers! Here are some of the highlights, and yes that is a box of marshmallows shaped like inappropriate private parts that I received...sorry Mom!

After the presents we took all the food we had made for our giant feast and brought it down to the bay! When planning a big holiday meal remember; it's always good having a few foreign chefs as friends!

(Delicious meal complete with 2 Turkeys, a Ham and all the fixins!)

The weather could not have been more perfect and everyone looked great in their bathing suits and santa hats!

(Happy Housemates!)

After a satisfying meal, some swimming and a little hoola-hooping we packed up and headed to the main beach where I watched André have a Christmas surf.

Back at the house, Nicky (the woman who lives upstairs and is also our landlord), had prepared a big Christmas dinner! She even invited some of our friends to join! I can't even describe how delicious everything was and had my camera not died I would've taken a picture of the beautiful display! It was nice getting to spend time with Ashlyn and Daniel (the 10 year old twins of Nicky) as well since I always feel like Christmas isn't the same without children! We all sat around the porch eating and laughing and I had a moment where I thought, "How amazing is this Christmas?" In that porch there were people from every corner of the world all coming together to celebrate this year.

Next came New Years Eve! I had originally planned on being in Sydney this year for New Years but I guess love changes everything! I changed my flight to Sydney to March 16th and stayed in the Mount with my wonderful boyfriend and family of friends. There was supposed to be a big celebration on the beach but everything got washed out by the rain! The night turned out to be pretty amazing despite the bad weather. Once again, Nicky managed to create another amazing meal for us, complete with Granny's favorite; lemon meringue pie! I always love spending time with her family!

After dinner we headed to our friend's apartment where we played some games and rang in the new year! We even got to see fireworks from the balcony!

New Years day was by far one of my favorite days I've had here. After working hard these last few weeks, Andre and I finally had a day off together to do absolutely nothing but relax! We slept in late, had a nice breakfast and hung out in our backyard all day! 2012 is definitely starting off right...and it got even better when I finally received Christmas cards and packages from my family! I thought I was going to have to wait an entire year before eating fruitcake again so thank GOD my parents surprised me with a whole fruitcake allll for me! And Christmas wouldn't be the same without Christmas cookies so thank you Tammy!

Hope everyone had happy holidays! Happy New Year! Til next time!

There's An Egg In My Name!

meganpd — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:52:00 GMT

So now it’s time to tell you what I’ ve been doing in Mount Maunganui for the past month! Originally I was told that Tauranga was a beautiful place to visit but my roommate in Hahei had told me that Mount Maunganui (a suburb of Tauranga) was much nicer so that is the bus ticket I purchased!

I arrived late afternoon to Mount Backpackers, a cute hostel I read about in my backpacker’s bible, aka my “Lonely Planet” book. The hostel is a minute walk from the beach with a beautiful mountain in the background!

Immediately I met a great group of people, including Onda the cat, hanging out back and that’s where my family began to grow!

Since people continuously mispronounce my name in New Zealand (I’m usually called Meeeegan), I’ve begun to start many conversations with a lesson in how to pronounce my name. I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to explain “There’s an egg in my name!” I guess this is a good opening line because this is how I met my now boyfriend André, hey whatever works!

Soon before I arrived in the mount the container ship Rena had crashed into a reef close to the shore spilling oil and the contents of several thousand containers, into the ocean and onto the beaches in the area. Some people at the hostel were talking about several volunteer operations that were currently running in the area including one on Motiti Island; the only place left in New Zealand completely run by the Maori people. The reef was directly off shore from Motiti Island so they were hit the worst. Normally white people were not allowed on the island but since Rena hit, groups of volunteers were being flown out to the island for a week at a time, all expenses paid, staying in their village and helping clean the beaches. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to not only help a community save their island but to also become immersed in Maori culture. I secured a spot going out the following Monday for 4 nights and 5 days!

The following day, a group of us were offered work packing kiwis in a Kiwi Fruit Packing plant for 2 days. It was perfect timing because my funds had been steadily disappearing and it was time to start making some money! This experience was pretty hilarious and I’m sure you’ll all appreciate the following picture.

We arrived at 8am at the “Puke Plant” in Te Puke the “kiwi capitol of the world!”

Our job was to essentially re-pack the kiwis that had been packed months earlier and kept frozen, for a shipment going out that weekend. So, boxes of kiwis would come down the line in front of us, we’d grab a box and sort through the good, the bad and the moldy to find the perfectly firm kiwis worthy of being packed and shipped to their desired destination.

The good ones went in the new box, the bad ones got thrown onto a conveyer belt to their final death.

The good thing is we got 3 breaks; tea in the morning, lunch and another break in the afternoon. We also got to listen to some pretty sweet tunes while squeezing hundreds of kiwis, including but not limited to; Queen, Michael Jackson and the Spice Girls. The bad thing is we were squeezing kiwis for hours and hours which can get pretty monotonous. The woman next to me was a very nice Maori lady who had been doing this job for 8 years! Before that she picked kiwis for 2 years. That is a loooooong relationship with kiwi fruit.

Oh and since in New Zealand a “Kiwi” can mean a New Zealand native, a bird or a fruit we were reminded it’s very important that while in a packing plant you refer to the furry little fruits as Kiwi FRUIT.

I spent the weekend on the beach and hanging out at the hostel with some of the best Canadian’s, Germans, Italians and my special Brazilian!

One of the amazing things about this hostel is that it appears only attractive people who know how to cook are allowed to stay here. And it seems the best chefs are the men! It sort of feels like utopia…there’s really nothing better than a kitchen full of hot men with accents cooking delicious food! And, one of those hot cooks happens to be my boyfriend André!

One night we were all honored to have Diego cook us some authentic Italian spaghetti with meat sauce including garlic bread from some lovely Canadians!

When we’re not eating International homemade meals we frequent the cheap and delicious fish and chips place across the street!

Back at the hostel we like to do really sophisticated activities like hula-hooping.

But really, there is a Canadian girl I like to call hula-hoop who has truly turned hula-hooping into an art form! I will have to get a video up for you all to see the wonder that is Lauren!

Well that's all for now, coming soon…Motiti Island!

Playing Catch Up!

meganpd — Sat, 3 Dec 2011 07:03:00 GMT

Sorry it’s been a while! I’ve been very busy and having an amazing time so now I’m back to play some catch up with all of you!

I spent a few more days in Hahei beach, taking the beautiful walk to Cathedral Cove, saw a hedgehog and even convinced 3 people to play scrabble with me!

When the hostel was all booked up the kind staff even put me in one of their motel units. That means I got to stay in a private little cottage with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room with a tv! I shared one of the rooms with another girl while a couple stayed in the other. It was fantastic to live in luxury for a couple nights! My roommate in the cozy cottage told me about a beach suburb of Tauranga called Mount Maunganui, which she loved, so I decided that after catching the next Kiwi Experience bus for a few stops I would head there!

The amazing owner of the hostel once again gave me a lift back to Hot Water Beach where I would stay one night, meet my new Kiwi Experience group, and then head to Waitomo the following day. Once I checked in to my room I said hello to my old animal friends...

and headed to the beach where I soon realized the sand flies were waiting for me. So instead of getting eaten alive I started to walk along the cost and found a cool little trail to a beautiful rock beach.

I managed to find a nice little hidden grassy area next to the beach where I laid happily for a while and had a nice chat on the phone with my parents who had just returned home from China!

Once the Kiwi Experience crew arrived I went with them to do the Cathedral Cove walk again, this time walking through the arch that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy walked through when they arrived in Narnia! But seriously, true story, part of the Narnia films were filmed right here!

Later that night I got delicious fish and chips and we all hung around playing card games. The next day we stopped to go on a cool walk through scary abandoned railway tunnels and in Paeroa the home of my beloved L&P beverage!

We then got to our destination, Waitomo, where a group of us immediately went Black Water Rafting. What is black water rafting you ask? Well the official description is tubing through caves to see the ever impressive glow worms that live on the ceilings and look like beautiful stars in the sky. The actual experience is freezing your butt off in ice cold water, jumping off mini waterfalls into the bone chilling water, having your hands go numb and then finally seeing the beautiful little bugs before exiting the blood freezing darkness. Don’t get me wrong, had it been warm it would have been completely amazing…but if you know me at all you know there are 2 things I am not terribly fond of, the cold and water. But all in all, a great experience and going with the trend of do something that scares you/makes you extremely uncomfortable everyday!

(notice the big smile on my face)

The next day it was on to Rotorua! When we arrived I went for a walk around town with some of my new girl friends and I ate at the very cool Fat Dog Café. Later that night a group of us were picked up to go to our Maori Cultural evening! Immediately upon getting on the bus we were told it was our canoe and this was our tribe, on our way to a Maori village. We arrived at an amazing mock Maori village that was designed to give you a truly authentic experience. After our appointed “chief” had been “sworn in” we were welcomed into the village to walk around and explore.

We were then brought into a Marae where we were entertained by Maori song and dance.

Next we walked towards our Hāngi, a Maori barbeque where they bury the food and cover in hot stones to cook the meat and vegetables.

The feast that followed was incredible. It felt like a Thanksgiving meal with chicken, sausages, potatoes, kumara (a delicious kind of sweet potatoe), vegetables, mussels, etc and a dessert section with Pavlova my new favorite and completely delicious sugary dish!

We then headed back to the bar where we had an awesome night of pool, drinks and dancing!

The next day the whole bus left again while I stayed another day to explore Rotorua a bit more and then catch a bus to this lovely sounding beach town of Mount Maunganui the following morning!

I couldn’t have asked for better weather to walk around Rotorua. So as the sun shone I walked around the huge lake which eventually turns white on one end because of all the sulfur!

I walked through Kuirau Park too which I think is the original location of the Lion King's elephant graveyard.

Kuirau Park is a public park with walking tracks that lead to numerous areas of "vigorous geothermal activity." I then went into the Rotorua Museum which was very beautiful as well as interesting. The museum itself is inside the historic bath house which was once a famous geothermal spa which offered therapeutic treatments to visitors from all over the world. The bath house originally Opened in 1908 and was the New Zealand Government’s first major investment in the tourism industry.

Before heading to Mount Maunganui I found a piano in the wild! No really, they seem to do this in many cities, just putting pianos around randomly for people to enjoy! So I had a sit down and played and sang in the middle of Rotorua, it felt fantastic!

Next installment I will tell you all about my new home where I am now! Highlights to look for include my week adventure living on a Maori island helping clean their oil covered beaches after a container ship (Rena) crashed into a reef nearby! Get excited :)

Choosing the Road Less Traveled

meganpd — Tue, 1 Nov 2011 12:35:00 GMT

Traveling off the beaten path is usually not easier, sometimes lonely and often a bit frightening. But in choosing the road less traveled, there is the hope that it will bring you to an even better and more rewarding destination. I took this chance a few days ago when I made the decision to stay in Hot Water Beach an additional day to continuing traveling in the opposite direction of where the Kiwi Experience Bus was going.

We arrived at Hot Water Beach Holiday Park in the afternoon, a gorgeous camp site with amazing new cabins.

The place even came with 2 dogs and a cat! I managed to get a picture with the largest and most friendly animal resident!

After settling in we all headed down to the beach! Crowds of people go to Hot Water Beach at low tide to dig their own personal hot tub in the sand!

Between five and nine million years ago, there was an active volcano beneath this area and today, on Hot Water Beach there remains a reservoir of hot water and heated rocks less than a mile beneath the surface! Over time, this water escapes to the surface and for two hours either side of low tide you can dig to uncover hot geothermal mineral water as hot as 147ºF! Finding a good hole made me feel a bit like Goldilocks and the three bears; one was too hot, one was too cold and finally one that was just right! The trick is to keep your hot tub from getting to prime human cooking temperature! The solution is finding an area near a flow of ocean water or to have a bucket handy in order to transport the necessary cooling water from the ocean.

Usually, when traveling to the beach, the goal is to try to find a location as far away from other beach goers as possible. But this hot water phenomenon only happens in one particular area so it’s funny to see an almost entirely empty beach and then a dense pack of people sitting next to one another in steaming holes. Definitely an amazing and unique experience!

After we had our fill of hot water holes my roommates and I headed back to our cabin to shower off and have some fish and chips for dinner! After showering and sitting down to some delicious fried cuisine, some of us sat down to play cards. It turned into a rip roaring game of spoons only the spoons were substituted with tiny black sticks, courtesy of 3 Dutch gentlemen. This place also had a playground with a trampoline so a few of us headed for some before bedtime jumping!

The next day I waved goodbye to everyone on the bus and I was left alone in our cabin complex. I spent the morning on the beach, had a wonderful lunch at a cool café nearby, and then for the first time since traveling on my own, actually felt very alone! You would think I would have enjoyed having an entire room and bathroom to myself but it was rather lonely! After reading, skyping with my bestest friend Jess and going crazy alone with my thoughts, I finally found out that I CAN see Grey’s Anatomy episodes by purchasing them on iTunes! Sometimes a little comfort from home is necessary, so I prepared for a wonderful evening alone in bed with my Grey’s! I even bought a cookie and my new favorite drink, a New Zealand classic: L&P. I sort of feel like I’m cheating on my Ginger Beer with it, but it is so inexplicably refreshing and delicious that I simply cannot resist.

The next day I headed to Hahei Beach to the Tatahi Lodge. There were no shuttles running in the morning so the owner of the Lodge actually came and picked me up! Only in New Zealand…I still have to get used to how nice everyone is here! Tatahi Lodge has motel accommodation as well as backpacker accommodation with a large living room, kitchen and yard with BBQ and lounge chairs as well as a great little window seat/reading nook which I have definitely taken advantage of!

Soon after arriving I went on a fantastic walk near by with amazing views of the ocean.

Tomorrow I will prepare for the long hour walk all the way to Cathedral Cove which is supposed to be even more unbelievably beautiful! Back at the lodge I met some of the other backpackers, including an American girl and a Kiwi guy who worked at the hostel as well. He took me on another beautiful walk along the cliffs. Later we all watched a Halloween movie “Pandorum,” (I believe Denis Quad truly regrets taking this role), had some hot chocolate and went to bed.

So, taking the path less travelled did indeed lead me to an even better and more rewarding destination. This area is beautiful and the people are fantastic. I even got a flower on my bed this morning from a secret admirer :)

This is the Life!

meganpd — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:53:00 GMT

One of the best parts about staying in hostels is being able to get that “homey” feeling away from home. The last night I spent at the Brown Kiwi my friends and I had a movie night! Just a few girls cozy on the couch with pizza, a bottle of wine, some ice cream and “Knocked Up” on the tv. You can’t get that in a hotel! The next day I went to the Auckland museum with my roommate. Some of the Maori art combined with their history is pretty incredible. The colorful Paua shell is used frequently in the eyes of some of their carvings and is also popular in a lot of the jewelry in New Zealand.

That night I went on a lovely date with a nice English gentleman who happens to live in Sydney so perhaps I will see him when I go for New Years! Always nice to have a meal out between peanut butter sandwich lunches and spaghetti dinners!

I decided to book the “Kiwi Experience” a hop on hop off bus that goes around New Zealand. It’s good for a year so at least I have some sort of direction now and another great way to meet people! So the next day I got up bright and early to hop on the Kiwi Experience for my first destination, Paihia. Paihia is in the Bay of Islands, a beautiful area north of Auckland with wonderful beaches and 144 islands to explore!

My first night I stayed at the YHA which was an interesting experience…they put me in a cabin apart from the rest of the hostel that slept 6 with its own bathroom. That could sound nice but the bunk beds were arranged in a way that if you were on the bottom bunk you felt like you were in a coffin and if you were on the top you couldn’t sit up because the roof was slanted. It was very close quarters to say the least! It also turns out that having our own bathroom rather than a communal one was really a disadvantage. The cabin became a waiting room for the bathroom so when you came out there everyone was watching the door, waiting their turn. I decided to stay one night and cancelled the remaining 2 I had booked. While my first night’s sleeping arrangements in Paihia may not have been fantastic I did have a great night! I went to get a burger and fries in town and ended up meeting a nice Irish guy. We ate together, went for some drinks and then ended up back at a backpacker bar where I ran into a guy I met on the bus. We all had a good time before I headed back to my crowded cabin!

The next morning I headed to the Saltwater Lodge which was fantastic. Each ensuite room slept 4 (one bunk bed, 2 single beds), with individual lockers, a tv, mini fridge and night tables. The lounge was next to the kitchen with comfy couches and a fireplace. The rooms all opened onto a deck as well with tables and chairs with a view of the ocean. After checking in I decided to take the ferry over to Russel, a cute town which was the first capitol of New Zealand! After having a nice lunch I went to a Maori Crafts museum and then took the Ferry back to Paihia.

Before heading back to the bar to meet up with my friends I met an American in my hostel! He actually plays Rugby back home, so was here for the World Cup. Definitely one of the few Americans here and definitely one of the few who has a clue about rugby! We all had a great time at the bar and I even managed to have my face painted.

The next day the weather was beautiful! I had breakfast with a wonderful English gentleman at my favorite café right on the water and soaked up the sun with a walk along the beach. I had gotten used to the clouds and spotty showers, so wasn’t prepared for all the sun. This resulted in my first Kiwi sunburn…oops! I spent the rest of the day happily sleeping on the beach!

That weekend there was a wonderful food and wine festival featuring the popular New Zealand band “The Feelers.”

It was another perfect sunny day and I got lucky by meeting some great locals. One of the girls I met introduced me to her boss at a local café where I might be able to work in December! One of the guys I met has his own boat so I spent the next 2 days on the water with my new local friends fishing and exploring all the islands! My kind “tour guides” took me to the popular tour spot “the hole in the rock,”

the "pregnant lady in the rock"

showed me an amazing look out from the top of Roberston Island,

caught some fish and went diving for some delicious scallops, mussels and sea urchins (or Kina as the Maori call them). We ate them all right out of the sea! The best part of the scallops, as well as the kina, are the eggs…yum!

We also saw some seals and a couple Dolphins came to play! While sitting on the front of the boat the Dolphins came on either side of the front and got a nice ride!

By meeting these wonderful locals I also had the opportunity to watch the New Zealand All Blacks win the World Cup with true Kiwis at an authentic Kiwi Barbeque! It was great watching these men almost come to tears when the All Blacks won! The BBQ was in a gorgeous house on the top of a hill above Paihia so when New Zealand won we could hear the entire town below us erupt into cheers! We immediately walked down the hill, into Paihia to celebrate with the crowds! Truly a once in a lifetime experience I was happy to be here for!

The best decision I made while in Paihia was to spend a night on “The Rock,” a floating hostel! Check it out here: http://www.rocktheboat.co.nz/ If you ever make it to New Zealand please do not miss this! I boarded the Rock around 5pm and got ready to spend the next 24 hours out at sea! The hostel was 2 levels, rooms on top and on the first level; a pool table, piano and bar! Have you ever found yourself alone, smiling simply because you are completely happy? It is an incredible feeling and found myself in one of these moments while standing in front of my room looking out onto a beautiful ocean full of islands.

My roommates happened to be some of the most entertaining people I have ever met; 2 guys from England with a zest for life and fantastic sense of humor. So I was lucky to spend the rest of the night laughing with them! Everyone tried fishing off the boat and someone managed to catch a small shark! We also had a wonderful buffet meal with steak and sausages. Later we got to go night kayaking which was truly the highlight of the evening. We got lucky by having a perfectly clear night with what looked like a million stars in the sky. Once in the water, the real show began! There are algae in the sea which when disturbed light up, making the water glow! It looked as if there were stars in the sea! We all lay back in our kayaks for a while watching shooting stars and playing with the glowing water…quite possibly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Once back on the boat I played the piano and sang for some of the people on the boat! We also got to roast marshmallows before going to bed! The next morning, after breakfast some brave people went snorkeling in the very freezing water. I made it just off the boat before making the decision that my blood may turn to ice if I stayed in any longer. When the brave ones returned we made our way to Motorua Island. I kayaked to the shore and hiked up to the top for more amazing views. I managed to leave my shoes on the boat though so the trip up felt rather special on the bottoms of my feet. I looked at it as a true New Zealand experience and tried imagining I had hobbit feet. I believe after the journey up and down it’s possible that now I do!

Once back at the beach some boys threw around a rugby ball and I laid in the sunshine loving my life. After an hour or so we got back on the boat and headed back to town. On the ride back we played a game where two people hold two intertwined ropes and try to escape. It kept us all occupied for a very long time!

I pretty much had to force myself to leave this perfect beach town while telling myself there is still an entire country to explore. So back on the Kiwi bus I went! I’m back at the Brown Kiwi in Auckland now, catching up with some friends I met a week ago, and will be getting back on the bus to Hot Water Beach tomorrow! Phew, ok think I’m all caught up! Till next time!

And the All Blacks Win!

meganpd — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:25:00 GMT

You can always tell when things are going well if you haven’t heard from me in a while! That means I’m too busy having a good time to write about it :)

It has actually surprised me how quickly I’ve settled back into the backpacking life. I think it helps that where as last time I freaked out once I had landed in Sydney this time I got any freaking out done on the plane ride over!

The flight from Newark to L.A. was fine but it was upon boarding the flight from L.A. to Auckland when I realized I was about embark on a 13 hour flight to a country I had never been to and knew no one. It also didn’t help that I was seated next to a pretty creepy gentleman with a staring problem as well as an ego problem. The first thing he did when I sat down was hand me his iPad and tell me to read his article that was just published. It was about 1am EST by that point and as fascinating as wind energy is I really wasn’t in the mood to read about Dr. Creepy McCreepster’s findings.

I tried to read my own book, he kept asking me questions. I tried to put my headphones on, still Dr. C kept chatting. So I did what was necessary; I asked a flight attendant if I could switch with someone that was closer to the bathrooms because I wasn’t feeling well. Instant solution and an aisle seat with no one sitting next to me, 13 hours later I landed rested and cool as a cucumber!

The first hostel I arrived at was YHA International for 2 nights. I managed to stay awake all day which pretty much avoided any jet lag! This was partially from the help of 2 English guys and 1 Belgium guy who I ended up drinking wine and watching movies with, in the hostel, till the wee hours of the morning. This is what made me instantly remember what I love most about traveling; meeting new people from around the world and sharing stories about where you come from.

While exploring Auckland I found a beautiful park that surrounds Auckland University. While exploring I ended up meeting a guy originally from Christchurch who moved up here after the earthquakes. When the earthquake hit he was riding a motorbike over a bridge that collapsed. When he came to he was in a hospital bed with 2 broken arms surrounded by people who were much worse off than he was. Pretty scary stuff but he seems to have a very positive attitude like most Kiwis I’ve met.

Since the Rugby World Cup is currently in Auckland, all accommodation is pretty booked up so I had to go to a second hostel, The Brown Kiwi! This one is in a more like a small house in Ponsonby, an artsy suburb just outside Auckland. There is an outside area with benches and fountains with coy fish as well as an indoor tv area to hang out in. Here I met some fantastic people from from France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Ireland, England and of course New Zealand. I also met my favorite permanent resident of the hostel, Stephie the cat! She greets me at my door in the morning and is always looking for someone to give her attention!

The first night at the Brown Kiwi I headed down to Queens Warf with some hostel mates to take part in the Rugby Festivities! There is an area called “The Cloud” with a Fan Zone set up with bars, live music and giant screens to watch the games. Saturday night was the French vs Wales semi-final game and before the game started there was an amazing band, Opshop, playing on the main stage. The French were everywhere in red, white and blue wigs, crazy outfits and face paint. It does feel like I am the only one in this city who is not here for Rugby, not to mention doesn’t have a clue what it’s all about!

Sunday was spent exploring Ponsonby, I had a delicious lunch at “Bliss,” and hung out in the sunshine back at the hostel with everyone including Stephie :)

The real entertainment of the afternoon was when one German guy Merlin, asked if anyone could give him a haircut. He was very specific in what he was looking for: sides shaved and top long. Hanna decided she would try and here was the result:

(Before)

(After)

Sunday night was the most important game: Australia vs New Zealand (huge rivals in and out of sports). Hanna and I headed downtown and ended up at an awesome bar down by Queens Warf. It felt like I was in something out of Alice in Wonderland with hundreds of lamps hanging upside down from the ceiling. The bar was packed and everyone was extremely excited for the game! The one thing about Rugby is that while fans are extremely passionate about their teams everyone’s just there to have a good time and get along. I haven’t seen or heard one fight and there is very minimal security. I can’t help but think that if this was happening in America things would be quiet different and many bar fights would be witnessed.

While watching the game and drinking pear cider I realized I think I finally understood how this game is played and that it’s actually pretty interesting! While enjoying the game I managed to make some important new friends, one who works for the company who owns the bar we were in as well as several other bars around the country looking for help! We exchanged information and when I sent him my resume the next day I found out he also books music acts for these bars! He forwarded my resume to some bar/café owners and my music to some other musicians who may be interested in collaborating!

Well New Zealand ended up winning, which means they’re onto the finals, so herds of happy people filled the streets of Auckland! Through the thousands of people celebrating I randomly ran into one of the guys I had met at my first hostel! We went for one last drink, followed by McDonalds and then Hanna and I grabbed a taxi back to the hostel!

We ended the night in our bunks having a last beer, chatting and laughing till we fell asleep. So, overall a very successful outing; New Zealand won, I had my McDonalds and I may have even gotten a job out of it all!

Till next time!

Photos: New Zealand!

meganpd — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:56:00 GMT

Do Something Every Day That Scares You...

meganpd — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:35:00 GMT

Well the day has finally arrived; I am currently in the air and on my way to New Zealand! While today has brought some mixed emotions I am extremely excited to be embarking upon a year of adventures! Since I booked my ticket 6 months ago everyone has asked me the same question; “Why?” My answer was usually two words; “Why not?” While that response successfully stopped any further questioning, now that you’re all on the other side of the world I thought I would take this opportunity to elaborate.

(And everything is right in the world again...oh ginger beer how I've missed you)

There’s the obvious; New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and also happens to be next to Australia, which I can’t wait to go back to and Fiji which is another dream destination! But I really want to continue what I started in Australia almost 2 years ago. I have never felt more myself than when I was traveling alone. I have never felt as content or as peaceful as when I was poor, living out of a suitcase, sleeping in a hostel and eating peanut butter sandwiches and pasta every day. I found that ironically, you become the most comfortable when stripped of all your comforts. There is definitely a detox period and maybe even some withdrawal symptoms but once you get past all that, it’s like releasing a 1,000lb weight off your chest. You also don’t realize how much other people’s opinions affect you until you are completely removed from them. I love my family and friends and know they only have the best intentions, but having the chance to live entirely for myself without any preconceived judgment is beyond liberating. It allows you the chance to be exactly who you want to be. So, my hope is that when I come home next year I will be the best version of myself, which will allow me to be the best sister, daughter, grand-daughter, aunt and friend to those I love.

I believe that life’s biggest rewards come from taking the most frightening chances. I believe that facing fear is the only way to erase it from your life. Someone once said, “Do something every day that scares you.” So, I plan on being scared every day for the next year and loving every minute of it!