Even though
things coordinated by the travel agent for this North Island journey didn't get
off to the best start in Auckland, she has definitely made up with for it with
the accommodations she's put me in over the past few days. Great rooms in
great locations. The room in Rotorua was no exception. She got me
into a suite in the corner on the top floor, overlooking the lake, a block from
restaurants and shops and two blocks from the Government Gardens. Nice
view, eh?
I spent a good chunk of time today taking advantage of being in Roto-Vegas and finishing off my souvenir shopping, especially since I'm not anticipating many souvenir shops in the quiet beach towns of The Coromandel, my next and final destination of the trip. I also took a stroll through the Government Gardens. Bath house:
Prince's Gate:
While I was out
walking around, I saw one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.
I was standing on a street corner, getting ready to cross at the
crosswalk. On the other side of the street and crosswalk was a seagull,
standing on the curb facing me. Once traffic cleared, I started to cross
the street, and so did he. Walking across, one little webbed foot in
front of the other. I figured at some point he'd flap his wings and start
flying, but nope. He kept on walking until he got to the island in the
middle where I was now standing too. He then paused, eyed me up, and took
a few tentative steps past me. Then the most amazing thing happened - he
actually looked both ways, waited for an oncoming car to pass, and then
continued on in the crosswalk until he had completely walked across the street.
Can't you just picture that? I was cracking up! How in the
world did he learn that?
My wallet
significantly lighter, it was finally time to leave Rotorua and its rotten egg
smell behind. So I set out for Pauanui and my beach vacation, about 2.5
hours away. Along the way I drove through the western portion of the Bay
of Plenty. This area was incredibly beautiful, especially as I neared the
coast. Sooooo much lush green trees, palms and ferns, with rolling hills
and then jagged peaks spiking up. It reminded me very much of Hawaii,
particularly Kauai. Also the road was a very windy two lane road, so I
have no pics (too busy trying to keep the car on the pavement!).
One of the towns
I passed through on my way was Whangamata. (Can you guess how that is
pronounced? Hint: the "wh" in Maori is like an
"f" or "ph" sound. Try it...it's fun-guh-muh-TAH.
Bet you didn't guess that!). Normally Whangamata is the surfing
capital of NZ, but today they were having their annual Beach Hop. This is
a 5 day festival celebrating the 50s and 60s and ranks as one of the biggest
celebrations of nostalgia in the world, with more than 70,000 people attending.
The streets are jam-packed with classic cars, restaurants are transformed
into American-style diners, bars are filled with people wearing their favorite
threads from the 50s and 60s and the sweet sound of music from that era is
blaring everywhere. It's just one non-stop party. Since I was not
aware of this little festival until I rolled through town, I unwittingly became
a part of the classic car show cruising up and down the main drag as I drove
through. Some of these cars were pretty cool, then there was me in
my red Hyundai. I think I heard some boos (although to be fair, this car
is tricked out - keyless entry, keyless start, backup camera with display in
the review mirror - it's pretty slick).
I made it to
Pauanui right after sunset. After spending the past several days
entertaining myself and carting my own ass from town to town, I'm definitely
missing the group environment from the South Island trip right about now.
It's amazing how the mere presence of others can inspire you to do things
you wouldn't otherwise do on your own.