Happy Birthday to Me!!

I apologize in advance. This is going to be a long post. I'll try and make it mostly pretty pictures though!

Things are still as busy as ever. A few weeks ago I met with another yacht designer. He doesn't have any jobs for me, but seemed eager to keep me in mind and even mentioned part time work possibly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I took last weekend off to go traveling over the long weekend. I also took the day after my birthday off to "recover", so I ended up working almost 30 hours in 3 days, including my birthday. The advantage was that the chef decided to make me a birthday lunch. They basically asked what I wanted on my burger and this is how it turned out:

Basically, it was my dinner too! It was an absolutely amazing burger though. After I got off I went across the street to celebrate with my friends (who fortunately had nothing better to do on a Tuesday night).

 

The next day was bittersweet. I got the day off to relax, and I even got to skype with my parents, but it was also my flatmate's last day in the country. She was probably my closest friend here, so it was really sad to have her leave. 

Fortunately I had another long day of work to distract me and then I headed off north for 4 days with Sean. New Zealand has had a record hot summer (and i've been complaining its not hot enough) and they have had a terrible drought. Ironically, every time Sean and I go somewhere it rains, so of course it was a bit overcast this weekend. Sunshine makes a HUGE difference in the scenery, so it was a bit disappointing, but we still saw some amazing things.

We spent the first day driving to Paihia so we could board our overnight cruise in the Bay of Islands. The cruise started out by trailing a fake duck behind the boat. Everyone got three shots with a paintball gun and whoever got the most hits got a free drink (or chocolate bar depending on your age or preference). Sean made it to the finals, but was unfortunately not the winner. We then went fishing for dinner.

Our boat!

The first one to catch a fish got a free drink as well, but sadly Sean was second again. I caught the biggest one out of everyone and it was 2 cm from being legal to eat! Fortunately we were fed a feast anyway and then did some moonlight kayaking and saw the phosphorescence in the water (it glows when you disturb the water). Sean and I even tried to play a game of pool, but 5 of his 7 balls just rolled into the pocket, and while he tried to claim a victory, I determined pool on a boat at sea is not a good idea.

A public toilet in Paihia. Note the toilets on the roof and as a light on the wall.

Sunset from the back of the boat

The next morning they took us to some rocky areas and we got to snorkel. We gathered kina, a sea urchin. Later they opened them up and we ate the roe (apparently a delicacy in some countries). I'll save you the trouble and let you know they did not taste pleasant.

The kina we collected

The inside. The line of yellowish stuff on the left of the top half is the roe. That's what we ate.

I was preparing myself.

We spent the afternoon on an island where we hiked up to a viewpoint and played around in the lagoons. Sean and I were a bit disappointed in the Bay of Islands after all the pictures we had seen and things we had heard, but we are mostly attributing it to a lack of sunshine.

one of the lagoons

We got back to land in the afternoon and had a few quick stops at some waterfalls and then headed further north to Whangaroa Harbor for a night of camping (the result of planning the trip on a holiday weekend two days prior). We were right by the water (with a road inbetween) and got some incredible views of the sunset. I probably took 20+ pictures of it, so its hard to pick the best, but here's a try.

our campsite. You can see the water/hills just behind the fence.

Haruru Falls

We had a picnic right on the ledge of this one.

We woke up to rain, but fortunately it passed for the most part by the time we hiked up St. Paul's rock for an absolutely beautiful view. The sun was hit or miss, but it was spectacular and we even got a rainbow! This was probably my favorite view of the weekend.

RAINBOW!!

The rock from the start of the trail

We headed to the Waipoua Forest for our next night. A failed attempt to see another waterfall lead us through Opononi, which turned out to be another stunning coastal town. We pulled over for a scenic view and got more than we anticipated.

The sun came out for a bit!

We found the waterfall too!

The Waipoua Forest is known for its Kauri trees. They can be absolutely massive, and are therefore cherished for the wood cuts they can produce. Their numbers are thinning so they are protected in this forest. We visited a few of the famous trees, spent a night at a cabin in the forest and then began our drive back to Auckland.

Tane Mahuta, the largest kauri alive. You can kind of make out heads in the bushes at the base for size reference. The picture doesn't do justice for how massive it is. A 45ft girth!!

Te Matua Ngahere, the widest living kiwi. You can't see it until you turn a corner and its presence is shocking. 54ft girth!

To give you a size comparison, this one isn't even of notable size.

On our way back we stopped at the Mangawhai Heads for a cliff walkway. We ended up taking the wrong trail and were already exhausted, so we decided to forgo the correct trail when we found it and just take a walk down the beach instead. We arrived back in Auckland, safe, sound and exhausted.

Its back to work for me and we are in the process of trying to find a new flatmate to fill the now empty room. I'm getting lots of homework done and should be able to finish by my deadline in June. Thanks for all of the birthday wishes and I hope all is going well with each of you!