Northland wrap up

Kia Ora! Or hello, as New Zealanders would say in native Maori.

Today was another long but great day. It didn't start out that way. I was running late to my boat tour of the Bay of Islands, and the forecast was for rain. And it was cold. The boat operator gave us all a talking to about the weather: it's going to go from 20 to 30 knots, and there are already 1 to 2-foot swells near the "Hole in the Rock" -- literally a soft spot that was eroded away by waves over the years in the rock, and is now a hole. Boats try and pass through, but it's out to sea and a dodgy ride over to begin with in bad weather. Anyway, it wasn't looking like we'd eve make it out there given how rough the sea was supposed to be today. And yet, instead we not only made it out there in pretty good shape, and drove through the hole, but we also saw a family of four Orca on the way over! We watched the Orca, or "Killer Whales" as they are commonly termed, for about 40 minutes or so. It was awesome. One had a fin that was crinkled in multiple places, apparently by a boat at some point. New Zealand has the highest number of damaged Orca in the world. It also has the only Orca that feed on stingrays (they have to hunt in twos for it b/c the liver is poisonous to them, so they rip up the stingray between them and leave the liver alone). We toured around the islands for a few hours, and stopped to view a few of them, and got out at one to relax for a bit. On the way back I hopped off at Russell island, which has become quite posh in recent years, but was previously termed the "hellhole of the Pacific" because of all the prostitution and drunken debauchery going on there. The island is also known for it's share of historic turmoil. After the treaty of Whitangi was signed, the British put up a flag on the island. Local Maori chopped down the flagpole, and the Brits put it back up again. The Maori chopped it down again, the Brits put it back up again. They chopped it down again, and the Brits reinforced it with metal, and put it back up. It was chopped down yet, again, and well...eventually a new flag was put up with a coordinated diplomatic effort with the tribes. That flag was not chopped down. Oh yeah, the Maori also, during all this, burned the entire city to the ground at one point. Fascinating history...

Anyway, I hiked around the island -- it's amazing how many trails are just there. The Department of Conservation here really seems to have its shit together. I hiked up to the lookout and saw a view of the entire bay. Then walked over to Long Beach, put my feet in the water, and sat on the sand and ate some of my packed lunch. I'd forgotten to pack a fork or spoon, so I speared my bits of chicken from a can with my pocket knife, trying to not cut open my tongue. Fun. I got a ride with some locals back to the town center and checked out New Zealand's oldest church, then chilled a bit before heading back to Paihia by ferry.

Back in town it started to rain (the forecast was finally right after three days of saying it was raining each day). I dashed into a bar on the way for cover; music was wafting out of it and I'd wanted to check it out. A big group of locals had finished up a golf tournament and were enjoying live music karaoke-esque style, dancing away and hollering enthusiastically, while swaying beer pints. I ordered myself an ale, and chilled out a bit, watching the locals and chatting with a few of them who seemed a bit disquieted by my quietness amid all the ruckus. I was just tired after a long day, and reveling in the friendly, home-towny, down to earth ambiance. When the band stopped, I headed back into the drizzle and icy wind, and power walked back to my hostel. I boiled some hot water for soup, took a hot shower, then headed out with a group of three Aussies that I'd met the night before. The girls invited me to travel down South to Rotorua with them in their car, and I gladly agreed. Not only are they great company (we all happen to be the same age, or thereabouts -- and they too find the noisy teens an annoyance), but it will save me another night in Auckland and get me where I wanna go sooner. We're planning to make a pit stop at the Kauri forest to see the largest Kauri tree in the world. I'm very excited about that.

Ah, forgot to mention, the movie "Boy" was great. I recommend it. Not only is it a great comedic-tragic satire of New Zealand and Maori living, but it's well done too. Thankfully I'd learned all the Kiwi/Maori words and slang I needed to know literally that day. Lots of new terms, but they're all a lot of fun. Okay, well sorry for the somewhat bland entry here. My head is pounding -- as is the music outside my room door. I was hoping to perhaps get a night of good sleep before heading off tomorrow. We'll see about that.