Bay of Islands

What fun!

We loaded onto the bus very early in the morning... the Kiwi experience. We stopped at a little brekky spot for a half an hour- not long when 50 people need to order, get food and load back on the bus. We were towards the back of the bus so many people loaded in and cued up ahead of us. It is kind of Cafeteria style and you can also order at the register. Everyone was just staring up at the board.... so my NY efficiency impatience?! ) set in. We knew what we wanted so I walked up to the register and ordered our toasties. The woman seemed more than happy to get the orders started! Well, I don't think I impressed the rest of our bus as we got some majorly dirty looks. We were not off to a good start.

We got to our hostel, pipi patch. We had booked an excursion for the day- the EXCITOR- think the beast in NY but only better! We had to put on these ridiculous rain suits... but we were so cold, we were more than happy to! We loaded onto the boat and sat in the front- we had to wear seat belts. They promised for a jolty ride over the waves. Apparently some people have broken their hip on this thing. There was no way I was not sitting int he front though!

The boat ride was in the ocean and it was a rainy day... it was hailing actually, so the waves were massive! It was so much fun, we caught so much air! The girls and I had our arms raised high the entire time, but the rest of the passengers were a little poopy. The scenery was just incredible. Mountains all around us, and arctic chill colored water. At one point they stopped the boat... this to me was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

About 15 dolphin were swimming next to us. I can't remember what type they were, but they are the largest and most playful in the Dolphin family. They were jumping up and doing flips. One must have jumped 10 feet out of the water and twirled in the air. It was unbelievable. Here they were in the wild, putting on a show for us- Sea World has nothing on this act!

The boat went incredible fast at 40 knots. We had a casualty- my glasses. Unfortunately it was not my sunnies- but my seeing glasses. This free trip just cost me upwards of 500 bucks! I have to say though, after seeing the dolphins.. I didn't care in the slightest.

After the boat ride we couldn't feel our toes! It was so cold!!! The girls and I had a nice dip in the hostels hot tub! It seriously took about 10 minutes to even feel the tingling sensation in my toes... it took them that long to even start defrosting!

That night we went to the bbq that the hostel put on. We walked in and people were already seated together, we were still feeling out casted from the mornings experience. We 'got in' with what seemed like a cool crowd... and they were. We spent the next two days with the most fun group: Steve and Jaime (he was in Harry Potter) from England; Jason from England- does the worst Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, but nothing funnier; Amy and Milly from England (yes, again) and Dave from Scotland.

We all went out that night- danced a lot and won a bunch of prizes that we never used. I won a 2 for 1 paragliding trip (couldn't take because of the weather)for doing 5 push ups in front of everyone! The night was incredible... smiles, laughs and lots of dancing all around. It was cool getting to know them- Steve was teaching me a lot about English rock music; we hit it off really well. Celia, Steve and I outlasted everyone and ended up at a club (mind you this town is tiny) called the Lighthouse. It was definitely a local hang out... it reminded me of Dusk till Dawn.. I kept on expecting something weird to happen.

The next day the girls and I were signed up for horse back riding. The rest of the gang took a day trip to the very top of the island to the Sand Dunes. They went surfing down them- they all seemed less then trilled when they got back. The weather was not on their side and neither were their hangovers!

The girls and I went to brekky before our pick up. Can we guess what happened? yep, we missed our pick up. Yet another mis-hap! We had to pay $10 each to reschedule for the afternoon. It actually worked out to our advantage- we got a private ride and much better weather! I expected More out of the ride. It wasn't the prettiest environment- or I just expected more. However what I enjoyed most was the serenity and just being able to not talk for a while and enjoy nature silently... I was able to absorb my surroundings much better that way.

In the afternoon we hit the hot tub again. Milly and Amy joined upon their return as well. As I was getting out of the little luxury tub, I cut my foot on a rusty nail! Fast forward to a few days later- I got a nasty infection, had to go to the doctor and I am now on 9 days of antibiotics. The free trip just cost me another hundred bucks.

Night two of Bay of Islands was just as fun as the first- even more so. We snuck goone into our room and held a pre-party. This is where Jason debut his Arny impression. I have never laughed so hard in my life. This time the whole gang made it out to the Lighthouse. We were pretty much the only ones dancing, but we were lively enough for the entire place! Great fun...

We headed back to Queens town the next day- after the best nap of my life.

Quick mention- a shout out if I may- to the cute cafe next to the hostel. We ate most of our meals there... they had the best fish and fried banana burger ever... their chickpea burger was top notch as well!

Bay of Islands rocked. Though cost me a fortune!