New Zealand Adventures

Howdy Everyone,

For a change, this weekend I went out to visit Ashley instead of her coming into town for some event. I was super excited to be able to explore a little further south outside Auckland and see more of New Zealand’s scenic views. Although I was pretty stuffed up with a cold all week I wanted to make the best of the weekend! It started on Friday when I went to meet up with a new Au Pair near me named Ricarda! We met at a little bakery about 20 minute walk from me and had a very nice chat. She is from Germany and had been here for 4 months already. It was really fun to meet another girl in this area close to me and be able to talk and see what is going on in her life and how things are different from Germany, US, and here. After we finished up I went back home and took a wee rest before packing up and hopping on a train to Pukekohe where Ashley was nice enough to pick me up and take me to stay at her host home for the weekend. I got on the Eastern line at Onehunga then switched to the Southern line at Ellerslie. The train took about an hour all together and I went as far south as I could possibly go with the rail system here in Auckland. It was interesting to see how the scenery changed outside my window as we traveled. The further and further from the city we drew, the more rural, beautiful the view became. Built up of mostly farms and mill communities, there was definitely plenty of sheep, goats, and lovely hikes ripe for me to explore!

On our way to the Haunted house at about 9 pm we also discovered the reality that most petrol stations close at 8 in rural cities instead of later. ..Here is some knowledge that I have gathered about petrol stations here so far: many if not all of them are the kind where there is a worker who comes to pump your gas for you and you just tell them what to put in. You do not have to tip still however. Ashley informed me that the creepy gas station man still exists here as well so she just tries to avoid that petrol station! After finally finding a petrol station that was open “Late” we went off to the haunted house to get our Halloween fill!

After Ashley picked me up and we got some food for the weekend from the local Count Down Grocery, we rushed home and got into our Halloween Costumes so we could head off to the Haunted House. Spooker’s, the Haunted House, I have to admit did make me scream like a little girl a few times. It is an all year round haunted house so they have plenty of time to become professional scare masters! Some of the rooms where empty which added to the suspense but also I felt like if there had been a few more that were filled it could have been very much the scarier. All in all we still had a lovely time and I was happy to show some Halloween spirit since they do not traditionally celebrate Halloween here in New Zealand. Ashley and I were also the only people who were the only people dressed up so we got Free CHOCOLATE!!!! Totally worth all the weird looks we were getting! It was wee bit chilly that night so our costumes didn’t last too long but Ashley dressed as Super Woman and I was a Dark Angel. Unlike many haunted houses in the states, these actors were allowed to touch you (of course appropriately). As we went throughout the tour they liked my wings very much and thought they were quite interesting! One really awkward and I would almost say they may have taken things a little too far was they had a room where there was a woman having a baby and the baby sprung out on a mechanical spring from between her legs and she was screaming. It was just very odd. I’m not sure what that was about but other than that I’m sure they had one of everything you were scared of whether it was deformed babies, dark/small places, clowns, doctors, evil scientists, decapitation, or creepy dolls. We definitely got our share of scares!

The weather was a wee bit chilly outside, but Ashley’s host family was super nice to let us get in their lovely spa pool before we went off to bed. It’s amazing the feeling of peace that you get when you are sitting in a Jacuzzi next to the ocean and listening to the waves crashing onto the beach. … so peaceful! That night did not end as well as I had hoped because after we went off to bed I got very very sick and was puking all night long. Luckily after the 5^th time I seemed to feel a little better and was able to get a tiny bit of shut eye before the big day of exploring the next day.

Saturday we slept in and then went off to visit one of the infamous black sand beaches near Glenbrook Beach, Ashley’s temporary home. It was so gorgeous to see the contrast of the dark sand against the green grasses, and the red rock cliffs. Another awesome thing about black sand is that no matter if it is a cold or hot day you can still visit the beach because the sand is always warm! It actually got quite toasty so I’m not sure how much barefooted beach walking would be possible in the dead of summer heat. There on the beach as Karioitahi we also had the opportunity to watch some people hang gliding over the cliffs and ocean there.

We definitely were envious and decided we would love to try it sometime although it looks very difficult to get off the ground. Karioitahi was not super busy most likely due to the wild waves and windy weather but there were still a few walkers, bikers, and kite fliers. We had a great time there.

After a while we hopped back in the car and decided to go explore more of the area. Initially we were following signs for a peninsula but as we followed the road we ended up happening upon this absolutely picturesque Regional Park called Awhitu Park. It is located within 15-20 kilometers of Manukau Heads Light House as well but since we were short on petrol and Ashley said it was quite difficult to get to we decided to head off in the other direction instead.

While at Awhitu Park we found this fabulous life-size picture frame capturing a breathtaking view of the beach there. Seriously only in New Zealand is it gorgeous enough that they can put up their own picture frames out in the wild so that the beauty can be captured all the time. Ashley and I of course took this opportunity to take pictures and eat a lovely packed lunch while enjoying the great natural scenery. Life there was so quiet. All you could here were a few unreal musical sounding birds and the sound of your own feet crushing the heaps of shells beneath them as you walk across the beach. Ashley said, “it feels as if the world has stopped and we are the only ones left who are still going.” It truly is an amazing sensation to feel as if you are the only people left on earth. It somehow makes everything seem a bit simpler and made me very grateful for this amazing opportunity to be able to experience this place. The spirit of this place, was completely embodied on this idealistic piece of land and all I could feel or think was what a wonderful of adventure! Not only did we find some sweet shells and great views we also explored the more jungle area where we found rocks that were soft enough to work as chalk and we made our marks to join the rest of the natural mural of peoples’ names who had visited the dreamlike area before us. After taking a little time to hike and enjoy the beauty of Awhitu, we journeyed on and decided to visit a “Garden Café”. In actuality it was more café than garden when we arrived but it was a nice place to take a break before heading home for some dinner. That night we had our own little Guy Fawkes celebration of setting off fireworks with all the neighboring kids, Ashley’s host family and their friends! Fireworks are only legal during special times apparently but this weekend is particularly special because of the British day of thanksgiving, Guy Fawkes Day which is the 5^th of November. It is celebrated because Guy Fawkes, a catholic dissident, attempted to assassinate the king by bombing parliament in 1605. His plan was foiled luckily and everyone was ok so now it is celebrated with fireworks in Britain and other current/previous British Territories. We made that night an early one since I was still not feeling well but overall we had a fabulous day whether I was feeling tip top or not!

On Sunday we got up in the morning and walked along the beach near her house. It was a wonderful walk around the area. It’s amazing to me that so quickly it can go from beach sand to grassy forest or rocky land formations. In a matter of seconds you can be in any of these types of areas! After hiking for a while and eating some lunch we went into Pukekohe and walk around the town for a bit before I had to catch my bus. Normally I would have taken the train but they were shut down for these two days for some type of maintenance so I had to take 3 alternate buses to reach home again. While on the bus I met a wonderful Kiwi girl named Mary and two boys from the UK named Mathew and Lucas. Since we were traveling together for over 2 hours we had a great time chatting about our respective countries and answering questions about the area and how to get around, as well as other things. One of the things they found most interesting was talking about the gun laws in America because in most places you can openly carry a weapon while in many other countries it is illegal to do this. Another great weekend is gone and I am again amazed at the fate that has brought me to this magical place. Thank you to all those who made this dream of mine possible!