Back in Auckland - The City of Sails

Well, it's been a while since my last post, and I've done and seen a lot since then as well. I believe since last time I left you, I was just finishing up my tramp around the coast, and heading to swim with the dolphins. Well, sure enough, plans changed soon thereafter. When I told Martin (my tramping buddy) that I was going to go Swim with dolphins then go check out the Kauri Forest, he said, "why don't you check out the Kauri Forest with me first, then go swim?" I said, "Why not?"

So with that said, after I left Kaitaia, Martin and I hitched our way to a little out of the way town called Opononi. This town looks to the naked eye like it offers nothing at all, but in the end, it was a place that one could stay at for a week or two with plenty to do. We stayed at a freindly Hostel called the House of Harmony, and I got into some really interesting political debates with some British, French, and German people. In fact that is one of the most interesting things I've noticed about travelling. Just how centered the States are in the worlds politcal views. It's kind of sad in a way. I was talking to a Korean and he was pissed at George Bush because the economy in Korea is directly linked to the one in the states. So due to Bush, Korea's economy is down in the tubes right now too. (By the way, everyone wonders why we made such a big deal out of the Clinton Scandal.)

Anyway, back to the point. Opononi. I got to spend new years in this quaint little town. There is one bar, and so we all went down to it to party a little. Apparently this bar normally only sees 4-5 people a night, however it was packed on New Years day. There were a lot of local Mauri people there, and a really funny guy with bare feet, pleather pants, sunglasses, that was just pacing back and forth all night long! (I think he was dancing, but I can't be sure. ;) ) So, after the countdown, Richard and I, (Richard is the fun bloke from Britain) went back to the hostel to bring in the new year with a game of Chess. After downing a few beers, the game of chess turned into another political discussion! Imagine that!

We then checked out the Kauri Forest. The Kauri trees are trees that rival the Redwoods, however I think redwoods win. Kauri trees are HUGE though. You see that wall behind me in this picture? Yeah, that's not a wall at all. It's a tree. So the Kauri's are cool and all, but sure enough, they are just big trees. Not a lot to talk about. . .

The next day, I decided to head on my way to karikari to find an adventure with the dolphins. On my way to Karikari, Richard brought me to the puzzle man in Opononi. This guy lives about 5km off the main road, and he makes and sells puzzles for a living. What's great, is when you walk into his hut, he hands you a puzzle first thing and says "figure it out!" I ended up spending a good 45 minutes there just doing puzzles! I think he got frustrated with me though because I'd solve all his puzzles very quickly! There was one called the "ten dollar hooker" where the effect is a rubber band pulling a wooden stick into a hole. So when he does it, it looks like this stick snaps back into the hole, but then you try and there is no rubber band at all! I only had to play with it for 15 seconds to figure it out, where as Richard never figured it out. (He worked on it for about 15 minutes!) I can't wait to show you all the effect in person!

So, after the puzzleman, came Kerikeri. I stayed at an extremely fun YHA hostel there that had a pool table and a bunch of Koreans that have come to New Zealand to study english. I impressed them with my pool abilities, and trick shots, juggled a little and called it a night. I would've liked to stay there longer too, however, if I was going to swim with dolphins, I needed to get to Paihia.

Considering Paihia was only about 30km from Karikari, I had some time to spare in Karikari the next day. So I decided to hike to Rainbow falls. These were gorgeous waterfalls more or less in the middle of the town. On the way, you pass by the oldest stone building in NZ too. I thought about checking it out a little closer, however I couldn't justify the admission for a little NZ history that I wasn't too interested in. So I just walked on the outside of the building and oohed and awed from there. After another hour of hiking, I finally got to the falls. These falls were about 40 meters tall, and had a cave behind them that was fun to go play in. (And yes, Eric, I played in them, just for you!)

Then it was off to Paihia. I got a nice little campsite for a really good price at a place called Haruru Falls. Most people walk to these falls, but I camped right at them! (You can see the falls through my tent, I think) They even light up these falls at night. By no means are they as impressive as the falls we see in Montana, but they were fun to camp outside of regardless.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, my dolphin Swimming experience! Sure enough, I didn't get to actually swim with them! I know, a huge dissapointment. However, I did take a cruise around the bay of Islands, and we got to see a lot of dolphins. And they were cool! They are such playful creatures! We weren't allowed to swim with them though because there were baby dolphins in the pod, and that makes it against the rules. Apparently it's hard on the baby's to exert any extra energy other than basic food gathering energy. Oh well. The Cruise then continued on to the apparently famous "hole in the rock" which is exactly that. A big hole in a big rock. So big infact that we drove our massivly huge tour boat right through it. Impressive, indeed.

Well, after spending one more night at Haruru Falls, I hitched back to Auckland today. One guy that I got a ride from offered to take me out for the weekend to do some boating and saltwater fishing, so hopefully that will happen. I'll keep in touch! If it doesn't happen then I think I'm off to Rotoruo (sp?) for some mountain biking, thermal soaks, and Zorbing! (If you don't know what zorbing is, you should google it! It is a very amusing New Zealander thing. . .)