Ambling Aimlessly To Auckland (Nov. 4 – 7)

We were sad to say goodbye to the East Cape, but our days were running short before we were due back in Auckland to house-sit for Rachel and Shanon, our first CS hosts in New Zealand. We had made plans with them months before to watch their cat Jessie and their house for them while they went on a safari holiday to Botswana and South Africa. With less than a week until their trip, we had to decide to how to spend our last few days before returning to the Land of Jafas (Just Another…Friendly Aucklander). Originally we had planned to visit White Island, an active volcano in the Bay of Plenty, but those plans fell through. Strike one. Then we thought we’d hike the Pinnacles in the Coromandel, which we had tried to do at the beginning of the year but were dissuaded by a DoC ranger who insisted we wouldn’t have enough time to finish the hike (she was clearly unaware of our amazing fitness). But with a long rainy front hovering over the island, that quickly became strike two.

Last view of the East Cape before we turned inland

However all was not lost. We had the good fortune of finding a very nice CS host in Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, not too far from the East Cape. We only spent a night with Ayesha, but she was very friendly and welcoming as all our CS hosts have been. Ayesha is a hardcore surfer but had been disheartened by the lack of waves in the area for the last few weeks. Since she was stuck in the house with us chickens, we spent the evening chatting and trying to commiserate with her and her surfing pal, Luke.

The next morning we still had yet to decide what we’d do over the next few days. With the weather still crap, we thought we’d head towards the last sort of “tourist” area that we had yet to visit – Raglan. Raglan’s a world-renowned surfing destination on the North Island’s west coast, about two hours south of Auckland. Though neither of us surf, we thought we should see its famous right-hand break (Though we don’t really know what that means, either). Heading to Raglan meant heading back west across the island, making our path north through the island even more unorthodox, as we’d first gone west, then east, and now had our sights set for west again. Maybe doing this broke all the rules, but then maybe rules ain’t our thing.

En route to Raglan, we crashed with a few CSers in Hamilton, basically the only city in NZ that’s not on a coast. Sam and Hazel are a chemist and student aide with the university, respectively, and above all, are huge gamers. They certainly enjoyed their World of Warcraft, which wasn’t necessarily our scene, but we had a nice visit with them, as I can’t remember the last time we had anything in fondue. In re: Hamilton: it’s a pretty nondescript town, and we found not much to do there but visit the city’s impressive gardens. However, we can’t recommend the American Modernist garden – surely we can do better than a kidney-shaped pool, faux-Frank Lloyd Wright cantilevered patio, and a fading Marilyn Monroe pop art mural?

Raglan’s just a short hop from Hamilton, so the next afternoon we left to meet Leon, our CS host there. Leon’s a video store manager and is a few years younger than us, and is really into working with local teens in his church’s youth group. Much of his house was a testament to this, which he described as a “bombzone.” We were his first CSers, so he was quite keen to make a good impression and show off his home time. We’ve met a lot of great people through CSing this year, and Leon might’ve been the genuinely nicest guy we’ve met, which is saying a lot. We ended up having a really good time in Raglan despite iffy weather, and have Leon to thank for much of that.

For starters, he shouted for our dinner our first night there, chicken rotis, a local specialty. They’re basically chicken, crispy potatoes, a creamy sauce, and tomato sauce, all in a tortilla wrap. We ate them at the beach while watching the surfers tackle the point break, and found them messy but fantastic. He also insisted on making breakfast both days we were there, whipping up a huge Kiwi breakfast our last day there. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten 3 large sausages at breakfast before, but you do what you have to do.

Becky works her way through the big kiwi breakfast: eggs, sausage, toast, and baked beans

One of the best perks of staying with Leon was that he got free DVD rentals from work, and with good DVD weather, we took the opportunity to catch up with some of the pop culture that we’ve missed out on this year. Verdict: Pan’s Labyrinth was excellent, Blades of Glory was surprisingly funny, Children of Men was alright, and we never need to see Transformers again. Ah, to be watching new movies again…

Leon and Andrew in downtown Raglan

Our last night with Leon was quite memorable, as we went out to the local hot springs with him and a couple kids from his youth group. Moral of the story: Leon has done his research and read a bit of our blog. The hot pools were nice, but the best part was the possum-hunting expedition the ride home became. Let’s just say that they did their patriotic duty in ridding the country of a few destructive possums, though the road may be a bit worse for the wear after some of the boys’ misfires. Now all that’s left is to actually go back to Auckland, hopefully we can handle the big city after nearly a year out in the back blocks.