Mar 3/11 8:21pm
Well in 4 weeks from today we'll be have been in Australia for a couple days already so it's kind of the home stretch for NZ. We are feeling like we have enough time to see the rest of the North Island and even fit in one more wwoofing stop we reckon. We've spent the last few days moving through the Bay of Plenty to the Coromandel region so Dustin's been able to get in a bunch of surfing. Some small waves but waves nonetheless. We also have been chasing a fix for our car. It makes a weird squeal that no mechanic can find a cause for. I think we've had it into 4 people and none of the troubleshooting has got it yet. We're thinking it's a dry seal on the hub from what a couple have said but it's quite a bit of labour apparently and you can't tell if that's the issue until you take it apart. So we haven't gone in for that yet because they keep saying brakes but can't find any problems with them. Ah well. I'm not worried but it drives Dustin up the wall when it makes the noise - which is unpredictable and intermittent so of course hard to pinpoint.
We left Mt. Maunganui the other day and started out on the 40kms to Waihi Beach. We stayed in Waihi Beach on our last trip and really enjoyed the holiday park we were at then so we planned to return. About 20 kms in, it turns out the highway had been closed since the previous night due to a tanker flipping or something crazy. It was only just on noon and they said it might be open around 5pm! We weren't able to sit and wait it out and only briefly toyed with the idea of going back to the mount for a night. Instead, we took a detour that was at least an hour long, and that's after going back 20kms to the junction. Sheesh. So it was disheartening after all that extra travel to find out that our beloved holiday park wanted $54 for us to pitch a tent!! Shocking - even though we're members and get a 10% discount. I knew it was expensive but thought it would be more of a $44 kind of place. We checked out the other park by the beach and they wanted $40 and didn't have near the facilities that the dear one did. So we bit the bullet and forked over after like an hour of trying to figure out something else like missing the stop altogether. So we went to the gym, went in the pool and spa and did lots of cooking to make it worth it haha. But our planned 3-4 nights there turned into one quite quickly - also because the surf wasn't good enough to stick around.
So into Whangamata yesterday and we parked up at a holiday park about 200m from the beach here and Dustin's been in the water at least 4 times already. We've also been here before and it's a nice little holiday town so there's heaps of bathing suit shops and fish and chip shops. Tomorrow we'll head on to Hot Water Beach where the hot springs come up into the sand so you just dig yourself a little hot pool and enjoy! Sounds like it's a busy spot but we didn't get to dig on our last trip due to weather so we're making sure to arrive at the proper tide for the best results. Unfortunately it sounds like the recent cyclone damaged another spot we intended to get to where you hike through this rock formation to a gorgeous beach. That happened a couple weeks ago but I don't think it's a quick repair. In a couple days or so we reckon we'll be heading through Auckland. We have a couple errands there - meet up with the guy who is interested in the car and drop off Dustin's surfboard that he sold online.
We got ourselves sorted to file our taxes today - it's amazingly simple here because you just set up an online account and all of your income information is there for you. We're probably going to do it on paper though just so we can have someone double check they have all the info needed. We have to fill our separate forms to file early because their tax year ends June 30th but since we're leaving we can do it prior. Not sure how it will work and how much of a refund there will be but we'll find out 8-10 weeks after submitting it sounds like. All of the work from Christchurch has been split through the other offices so there's an extra delay likely.
It's been quite warm lately with a bit of a pour down of rain yesterday but not too bad. We've met a few friendly folks at this park so have chatted with them. One Aussie woman who must have been in her sixties or so was over here on her own. She only just stopped surfing a couple years ago so she was marvelling at Dustin's board and we had some good chats with her. At the moment, Dustin's over getting a guy to mark up his surf guide with recommendations. So, we're planning to pretty much stick to the coast for the rest of the travels and Dustin's hoping to get in some diving. I just hope to relax a bit, we're so often going going going that it's nice to do nothing. Dustin's nothing is different than my nothing though so it was tough to just lounge in the tent until about noon without him prodding me to go swimming or something. But I got to sleep in for once so that was such a rare occasion! Tomorrow it's onward though so I had to enjoy it while I could!
Well in 4 weeks from today we'll be have been in Australia for a couple days already so it's kind of the home stretch for NZ. We are feeling like we have enough time to see the rest of the North Island and even fit in one more wwoofing stop we reckon. We've spent the last few days moving through the Bay of Plenty to the Coromandel region so Dustin's been able to get in a bunch of surfing. Some small waves but waves nonetheless. We also have been chasing a fix for our car. It makes a weird squeal that no mechanic can find a cause for. I think we've had it into 4 people and none of the troubleshooting has got it yet. We're thinking it's a dry seal on the hub from what a couple have said but it's quite a bit of labour apparently and you can't tell if that's the issue until you take it apart. So we haven't gone in for that yet because they keep saying brakes but can't find any problems with them. Ah well. I'm not worried but it drives Dustin up the wall when it makes the noise - which is unpredictable and intermittent so of course hard to pinpoint.
We left Mt. Maunganui the other day and started out on the 40kms to Waihi Beach. We stayed in Waihi Beach on our last trip and really enjoyed the holiday park we were at then so we planned to return. About 20 kms in, it turns out the highway had been closed since the previous night due to a tanker flipping or something crazy. It was only just on noon and they said it might be open around 5pm! We weren't able to sit and wait it out and only briefly toyed with the idea of going back to the mount for a night. Instead, we took a detour that was at least an hour long, and that's after going back 20kms to the junction. Sheesh. So it was disheartening after all that extra travel to find out that our beloved holiday park wanted $54 for us to pitch a tent!! Shocking - even though we're members and get a 10% discount. I knew it was expensive but thought it would be more of a $44 kind of place. We checked out the other park by the beach and they wanted $40 and didn't have near the facilities that the dear one did. So we bit the bullet and forked over after like an hour of trying to figure out something else like missing the stop altogether. So we went to the gym, went in the pool and spa and did lots of cooking to make it worth it haha. But our planned 3-4 nights there turned into one quite quickly - also because the surf wasn't good enough to stick around.
So into Whangamata yesterday and we parked up at a holiday park about 200m from the beach here and Dustin's been in the water at least 4 times already. We've also been here before and it's a nice little holiday town so there's heaps of bathing suit shops and fish and chip shops. Tomorrow we'll head on to Hot Water Beach where the hot springs come up into the sand so you just dig yourself a little hot pool and enjoy! Sounds like it's a busy spot but we didn't get to dig on our last trip due to weather so we're making sure to arrive at the proper tide for the best results. Unfortunately it sounds like the recent cyclone damaged another spot we intended to get to where you hike through this rock formation to a gorgeous beach. That happened a couple weeks ago but I don't think it's a quick repair. In a couple days or so we reckon we'll be heading through Auckland. We have a couple errands there - meet up with the guy who is interested in the car and drop off Dustin's surfboard that he sold online.
We got ourselves sorted to file our taxes today - it's amazingly simple here because you just set up an online account and all of your income information is there for you. We're probably going to do it on paper though just so we can have someone double check they have all the info needed. We have to fill our separate forms to file early because their tax year ends June 30th but since we're leaving we can do it prior. Not sure how it will work and how much of a refund there will be but we'll find out 8-10 weeks after submitting it sounds like. All of the work from Christchurch has been split through the other offices so there's an extra delay likely.
It's been quite warm lately with a bit of a pour down of rain yesterday but not too bad. We've met a few friendly folks at this park so have chatted with them. One Aussie woman who must have been in her sixties or so was over here on her own. She only just stopped surfing a couple years ago so she was marvelling at Dustin's board and we had some good chats with her. At the moment, Dustin's over getting a guy to mark up his surf guide with recommendations. So, we're planning to pretty much stick to the coast for the rest of the travels and Dustin's hoping to get in some diving. I just hope to relax a bit, we're so often going going going that it's nice to do nothing. Dustin's nothing is different than my nothing though so it was tough to just lounge in the tent until about noon without him prodding me to go swimming or something. But I got to sleep in for once so that was such a rare occasion! Tomorrow it's onward though so I had to enjoy it while I could!
I hear ya about the boys definition of nothing! Brad can be the same way. I'm gonna miss you here at tax time!! ha ha. I'll have to find another able body to figure them out.
ReplyDeleteBoo to the holiday park wanting a million dollars a night to tent! I'm glad you used all the available amenities :-)
Safe travels around NZ then to Australia :-)