Aussie McBlog

Tuesday, November 8, 2005: Auckland to Paihia

Up up up we were, bright and early and out the door. After storing our luggage with the hostel (“Ve’ll be back!!!!”), we stumbled sleepily out-of-doors and into the morning chill.


(pic by Lucy Black)

A large green bus was already waiting, a somewhat crazy man waiting to accept our luggage. He introduced himself as our driver, and insisted that his name was K-9. Again, crazy. But I think one must be a bit crazy to drive a tour bus for KiwiExperience.

The bus was not at all crowded, and the general consensus was that we were tired. There were a couple of Germans (there are always Germans), a few Americans, and handful of Poms and Aussies, and I think one Kiwi couple. Though the ride took about 5 hours, we started before 7. Stops included, we arrived in Paihia (also known as the Bay of Islands because there are 144 islands in the bay) about half twelve. After having seen New Zealand country side in abundance, let me clarify one thing: there are many, many sheep. It was a lovely little journey, especially since I spent the bulk of it dozing and looking out of the window, both of which feature high on my list of “favorite things to do while in a moving vehicle”.

We checked into the Pipi Patch, a kitschy little hostel with a pub that looks as though it’s been transported from the set of Gilligan’s Island. Afterwards, we wandered to pay for a boat tour and took in the scenery for the better part of an hour. Paihia reminds me a bit of a hybrid: the touristy attractions of White Rock Beach, but when you cross the street, it suddenly becomes much homier and you feel like you’re at Crescent Beach. Only different. Yeah… the same but different.



A more about this boat tour. This is not any boat, it’s the Excitor Boat. WOOOOOOOO. We’re talking a 1600 horsepower boat with an entire ocean of track; a water roller coaster not recommended for the weak of heart. One must remember that New Zealand is the place if you want to get flung off something, flung through something, or [as in our case], flung across something. The Bay of Islands, that is.



We arrived at their office and immediately got suited up in giant red rubber gear, complete with little waterproof bags for our cameras. I’ll be honest with you. I looked hot. Karana looked hot. We looked HOT. After being warned that the experience would be increasingly turbulent as you moved up the boat, Karana and I took the very front seats, the ones with the extra seat-beltage and guard rails. Eeee!!!





There was screaming. There was shrieking. There was laughter. Best roller coaster ever! And every time we hit a wave we would go flying out of our seats only to come back with a nice BUMP! Thundering across the water like a giant I-don’t-know-what off into the deep of the wine-dark sea [I lifted that term from Fagles, who makes me shiver with his brilliance], we stopped at The Hole in the Rock, which is a… hole in the rock, which we WENT THROUGH.



Gah!!!! The we were delightfully scared out of our wits by the captain’s tales of shark attacks. Oh those silly Kiwis.

My biggest mistake was wearing shoes. They were so full of water by the time we pulled back to the dock that they were actually sloshing with every step I took. It was only amusing for about a minute, then it annoyed me.

Back the Pipi Patch, I set my shoes out to dry, and we did what everyone in Paihia apparently does. We slummed and relaxed and enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening of simple existence.

Then, after dinner *shudder*, we watched *shudder shudder* 8mm with Nicolas Cage. Pretty much the most disturbing movie I have seen in a long time. I actually thought it was going to give me nightmares, but thankfully I managed to calm down before we called it a night.

posted by Sara @ 2:23 PM