A Never-Ending Honeymoon Stage

March 09, 2019

A Never-Ending Honeymoon Stage

I survived, and shamelessly enjoyed, my first week of classes! Time is already going by way too fast, but I’m happy to report that my new pals and I are making each day (even the rainy ones) worthwhile. Here’s a bit about my week!

Mr. Bun

Due to my innate laziness, I failed to mention the second rental car that Ryan, Anna, and I got for the weekend before classes started in my last blog post. Needless to say we lived and are excited to tell the tale! On Wednesday of last week, Ryan mentioned how he was looking forward to doing some surfing up north in a town called Raglan that weekend. Being very jealous and envious of him, Anna and I decided we couldn’t pass up a weekend in a new place, soooo we booked a rental car for the next morning and the three of us made the split decision to leave Wellington for the few days ahead. Raglan was about seven hours from school, so we were ready for lots of driving and finding smaller adventures along the way.

Our excursion’s first mishap occurred right away. We all woke up early Thursday morning and got to the airport expecting to retrieve our rental car there at 6:00am. None of this was correct at all. The rental car was in another part of town and we weren’t able to pick it up until 9:00am. Great!!! Totally exhausted and in awe at our stupidity, we got ourselves coffee from airport’s Subway and spent well over an hour playing “Heads Up!” in the terminal. Once this got old, we called an Uber to bring us closer to where we would actually be picking up the car. We set up camp at Mr. Bun—a run down coffee shop that would later inspire the name of our little Nissan Tiida.

Once we finally got the car, we did nothing more than head north along the west coast. After a few hours and coffees later, we made our first stop in Taranaki. We had a beautiful view of the mountain and found an amazing black sand beach. There were cliffs, shimmering sand, and lots of nooks to explore, so that we did.

We hopped back in Mr. Bun, drove further north, and made it to Raglan just in time for the most peaceful sunset. Our campground and the beach here were very free of light pollution which made for the most incredible stargazing.

The next morning we found Bridal Veil Falls just outside of town. This waterfall was totally jaw-dropping and larger than we ever expected. We really redeemed ourselves after the Jock Atkins waterfall I mentioned last week!

This sounds completely crazy looking back, but next we decided to drive even more northeast to the Coromandel Peninsula. This was about two and a half hours further from school than we already were, but there was nothing stopping us. Our first stop once on the Peninsula was a stunning white sand beach in Wainuiototo Bay. The sun was shining and the water was warm; it was a total paradise compared to windy Wellington.

Next, you guessed it, we kept driving!!! To Cathedral Cove we went! Upon arriving, the three of us were exhausted, cranky, and hungry, yet did nothing to correct any of these issues. It was getting to be evening, so with all my remaining energy, I convinced Ryan and Anna to walk an hour up many hills from the beach parking lot to the Cove itself. I truly thought they were going to kill me, but deep down, we all knew the walk would be worth it. Thankfully, it was!

That night, we began our journey south and slept at a campground in Taupo. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend much time in Taupo, but we did manage to see Huka Falls that next morning before the long ride back home.

We eventually made it home after navigating what seemed to be the world’s largest/longest/most painful traffic jam. Such a fun weekend!

Routine? Never heard of her.

After that long weekend, I woke up bright and early Monday morning ready to start my first week of classes. I didn’t actually have class until 4:00pm on Monday, but I was trying this weird new thing people like to call “getting in a routine.” I took myself for a run through the Wellington Botanic Gardens that I’m lucky to have right across the street from my flat. Although this sounds like a fun and quite dreamy experience, it was/still is surprisingly dreadful. Physically, anyway. The city of Wellington is FULL of hills, and this is no different in the gardens. It feels exactly how draining I would imagine running up Heartbreak Hill would be... multiplied by 100. The hills never end and paired with the unruly winds, it’s not the most pleasant time. My hair and overall physical appearance makes it look as though I was attacked by the local balloonman and every bit of helium he had on hand, but hey, what’re ya gonna do?

Rock You Like a Hurricane

After the week of classes (which I will mention more in future posts, I’m sure), Jorgen, Carl, Juliet, Chevy, Pam and I decided to treat ourselves to a sweet little family dinner and professional rugby! We went over to Westpac Stadium for the Wellington Hurricanes’ match against the Dunedin Highlanders on Friday night. We won!!! Such a fun game, and it definitely won’t be our last. My newfound dream (more like obsession) is to be ball-boy at one of the games before the season is over. Stay tuned.

Rain, Fog, and Everything Fun

Annnnd finally, to top off the week’s adventures, I went on my first “tramp” with the VUW Tramping Club on Saturday! We walked from Aro Valley to Island Bay via Red Rocks. These place names likely mean nothing to anyone reading, and they weren’t at all familiar to me until just a few days ago either! The trip landed on a very foggy and wet Wellington day, but this didn’t stop me or 40+ others from having a blast! I had the chance to find many new places, cross many unexpected streams, and make many new friends along the way. I can’t wait to go on more trips with VUWTC!