Last weekend, we headed up north to a city called Paihia for a weekend vacay with our good Aussie friends, Amy & James. Drew & James were both able to sneak out of work a little bit early so we loaded up our tiny roller skate of a car and were able to beat (most of) the traffic getting out of town. After we got about 45 minutes north of the city, we were in territory that none of us had reached before so there was lots of good sightseeing to be done!
We arrived at our bach (the kiwi word for beach house for those of you who missed our post explaining that back in November) around 6:30pm. It was a great house that we found online for much cheaper than a hotel...had 3 bedrooms, a nice bathroom, a spectacular view of the water and the most comfortable bed & sheets I've slept on since we've moved here. Anywho...we dropped off our stuff and drove down to the waterfront to hop on the sunset ferry across the bay to a city called Russell. We had dinner on the covered porch of this beautiful old inn/restaurant called the Duke of Marlborough...which we learned was the oldest licensed bar in New Zealand. The food, the wine, the beers were spectacular and the company was even better!
We caught the ferry back home, headed back to our place and called it an early night...we're all such old farts!
Saturday morning we slept in a little bit and Drew & I got breakfast going while Amy & James went for a run (notice how we avoided physical activity at all cost??) Afterwards, we drove over to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds which is where the English & Maori signed the treaty that made New Zealand part of the Queen's territory. It took a little effort, but after pulling our driver's licenses, grocery discount cards and library cards we were able to prove that we were all living in New Zealand and therefore got a 50% discount on admission...this is what happens when you travel with two accountants :)
Regardless of what we paid, it was worth it! We got to see a cultural performance from a Maori group in one of their traditional meeting houses. It was very, very cool!
Afterwards, we walked around the grounds a little on our own before joining up with the guided tour where we learned more about the history and got to see the largest Maori war canoe called Ngatokimatawhaorua (try to say that 5 times fast!)After that, we headed back to have lunch at our bach and pack our beach bags for the afternoon!
When we got out to the beach, we camped out next to the kayak shack where we were scheduled to go out for a sunset tour later in the evening. I just happened to check my phone and saw I had a message from the kayak guide so I walked over to see what was going on. As I walked up, another family arrived and said they were supposed to be going out at 3pm (our tour was scheduled at 5pm.) Long story short...the tour guide (who was the quintessential surfer beach bum) said that they had screwed up the calendars and that we could either go with the family at 3pm or we could just rent kayaks and take them out on our own. Since we were novices and had no idea where to go, we decided to rearrange our evening and go ahead out with the rest of the group at 3pm.
It ended up working out for the best because we stayed out for almost 3 hours, got to hear history of the islands, and got to eat freshly cooked mussels and clams that we dug up out of the ocean ourselves. Ok...well Drew & I didn't eat any, but the guide cooked them for everyone else and they looked delish...if you like that sort of thing.
We stopped off at a tiny 'island' and got to walk to the top where we saw incredible views of the whole bay. We finally headed back to the beach around 6:30pm...we made it back safe & sound! The guys ran back to the house to grab some drinks, while Amy & I ordered burgers, fish & chips from a takeaway joint. We snagged an awesome picnic table perched on a lookout overlooking the ocean.
That night we finally made it home, took showers and opened up some bottles of wine. We turned on American Idol in the background, but just had the best time sitting around laughing and talking for hours.
The next morning, Drew & I drove back over to the Waitangi Grounds because the day before he found an amazing authentic Maori carved spear that he thought about all night long. He decided it was the best one he had seen so far and made the executive decision that that needed to be our souvenir piece to take home from New Zealand. It now decorates the wall in our 'kitchen' at home and Drew is very proud.
After we packed up, we browsed through the markets in downtown Paihia, grabbed some souvenirs then headed home. On the way home, we decided to stop for lunch in another town called Matakana which is just north of Auckland and is known for being a great wine region. They have the cutest little downtown market area with lots of great shops and restaurants. We sat outside and had a yummy lunch before trekking back home.
All in all, it was a beautiful, fun, relaxing weekend...it definitely felt a lot more relaxing than just being away for 36 hours! We feel so lucky that we've made such great friends here and this was just another weekend to add to the memory bank for many years to come!
Cheers,
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