Napier:
I awoke early so that I could watch the sunrise- (btw- I was about an hours drive away from Gisborne- the town where the Sun first rises every day). And nature did not let me down- I think the favorite parts of my trips have been the sunrises- for some reason they really have blown the sunsets away- and they are a really good way to start the day.
After that I had a few hours to burn before my bus left- so I explored the town center and developed and appreciation for art deco- I also explored an amazing little store called Possum world- filled with- you guessed it- Possum! NZers really love to make these Possum-Merino wool socks and sweater- quite possible one of the softest things you will ever touch- its ok to kill the Possums too- they're invasive!
I also checked out some NZ jade- which is everywhere- but it was called Jade World- how could I resist?
After that little stint I went and tasted wines at the wine center. I think my favorite part was going into a room with 52 different smells- I love smelling things! (one time I went into a spice store- those were the happiest 30 minutes of my life!) I tasted 6 wines- I am not sure that I really liked any of them- but I think I was able to pick up some of those subtle hints. My favorite was a Gewurztraminer- it had a lot of interesting flavors. For the record I think I still prefer beer.
After that I just hung out on the beach until my bus came- I feel like I now know a lot about beaches from my classes. So that was cool.
Taupo
After dropping my stuff off in Taupo I began walking on the neared hiking trail- I eventually found my hot springs. In a word- they were wonderful- there is something fantastic about being outside on a rainy day and jumping into a thermal spring with waterfalls- it was great! It was then getting dark, but I heard there were a cool waterfalls about an hours walk away- so I found it I had to use my phone to light the path sometimes but I found it! On the way back I saw glowworms which are tiny bioluminescent larvae that have a blue-green glow- it was magical. It took two hours to get back- by which point I was thoroughly soaked- but happy! I discovered that I had a room with some Irish and English guys- that night we went to a pub quiz- it was kind of like knowledge bowl so I was happy! (Btw- people from the UK are really fun to hang out with- I highly recommend it).
The only sad part of the day was finding out that the Tongariro Crossing- (which I had been looking forward to- I would have climbed mount doom!)- was closed, so I had to scramble a bit a reschedule plans, but it all worked out fantastically.
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| Pahea of the sea |
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| This is a possum- that is a pup feeding out of its mothers pouch |
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| Ah, Possum-World |
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| I really liked this verse |
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| People bungee off those cliffs. |
| This is HAKA falls |
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| Glow-worms! |