this easter weekend jenny and i had an awesome time going to the northland. kingston, our nearly-flatmate, took us up with him and we stayed at his parents house. they own a farm in ahipara, very close to 90 mile beach. standing on the deck you could hear (and see) the ocean. kingston says it's this sound that he misses most in hamilton. he's right. i could sit there for ages, smoke a cigarette and just listen.
there's not much up there north if you're up for high life, but many posibilities for "recreational activities" - my favourite word now ;-)
kingston drove us around, pretty much being afraid the whole time we could get bored, but no worries: i enjoyed every minute. poor jenny had problems with her eyes, so she couldn't come surfing on friday, so it was just kingston and me. it was freezing in the ocean, cause the breeze was so could and there were hardly any waves, we had to wait for sets to come in. i stood up about three or four times before kingston couldn't feel his toes anymore and i was shaking with cold. but i am definitely hooked! maybe this weekend we go to raglan, rent a board and just try it again and again.
that night we had to take jenny to the hospital, cause what use is it to go sightseeing when u can't see? the doctor was really nice, he worked in germany for the nato and was absolutely in love with jenny's teeth ;-) he even got another doctor to have a look at it. on the sheet jenny got of him stating what she suffers from he put down: "no fillings! patient comes from south germany, must be because they fluoridise the water there" it had nothing to do with her eye infection, but he put it down anyways. very funny.
saturday night we cooked for kingston and his family. well, we liked it, kingston's nine-year-old niece skye liked it, but let's better not talk about the rest. poor guys. i'll definitely not try that again...
sunday jenny and i took a bus tour up to cape reinga, and kingston finally had some time without the german chicks around. it was good to see all these places, but i guess it was the last time i took a bus tour like that. you only get ten or so minutes in one place, just enough to breeze in twice, take five pictures and be able to say: "i've been there". definitely nothing for me. i want to get a feel for the places, take my time to take everything in, dig my toes in the sand, close my eyes and feel the ocean breeze. at cape reinga we met max and two other american guys as well as lauren and rebekka. nz really is a village. even in the farfar north you meet people!
monday we drove back down the east coast, stopping at beautiful bays and historic sites, just look at the pics ;-) i even got to drive, cause kingston was tired and had a headache. my first time left lane driving! i was sooo tense the whole time, constantly fearing i'll break kingston's car. jenny kept telling me to keep right, and then it even started to rain. worst conditions ever. but after a while i got used to it and it is actually fun to have the stick on the wrong side. i kept switching on the wipers instead of the indicator cause they are the other way around here...
it was really an amazing weekend. i can't decide what was the best part. maybe when the 4wd was not there and we took the quad and a trailer to be able to take the surfboards down to the beach. kingston drove, jenny and me on the trailer holding the boards on the bumpy ride over the farmland. jenny said she felt like she was 16 again. yes right, since we are sooooo old already ;-)
things i learned:
- girls wearing bikinis: tourists
- girls wearing boardshorts and shirt over bikinis: locals
- guys stopping the car and staring at girls in bikinis: locals
- having the munchies: being hungry
- driving through a river: go with the flow
- 90 mile beach is an official road: u can get ticketed
- hundertwasser died in new zealand
- driving over opossums is fun
- 90 mile beach is not 90 miles long
- to pelican: to vomit into a girls' mouth while kissing
