Off season beauty

After spending so long in Asia it is quite a shock to be somewhere where jeans are actually a sensible option. The only jeans I now own have been at the bottom of my bag for so long that they have a semi permanent crease down the front of one of the legs, making it almost look like I ironed it in. To be fair the temperature isn’t too terrible and I actually feel perfectly comfortable walking around in a Tshirt and jeans after spending so long in shorts and vest top, sweating constantly as is always the case in South East Asia. All you guys think I have it easy at the moment travelling the world and not working but you dont know the struggles of being sweaty and having to go all the way to the pool to cool off!

…I sense I am not getting the sympathy I desire. Moving swiftly on…

So I arrived in Auckland and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible so decided to head to the very north of NZ to the bay of islands area since I had not yet visited there. As with most of my travel plans I had no idea exactly where I was going or what I would find but I think that sort of adventure has suited me quite well so far. I know there are things that I have missed and not taken full adventage of my time in some places, however if I am enjoying myself and happy with my life then what does it matter that I missed one temple or waterfall along the way? This attitude is the reason that I am now in Paihia, knowing nothing about the town until I arrived.

When I first decided to head north I looked on a map of NZ for a big population hub towards the bay of islands area and picked Whangarei as it seemed pretty big so I was sure I could amuse myself there for a few days. With my bus ticket booked I started looking for accommodation which was when things started to go a little wrong for me. There were only 2 hostel available on Hostelworld and neither of them was anywhere near where the bus dropped off in the middle of town. This would mean an hours walk in the dark to seek out accommodation and in my books that was just going to be a step too far. Instead I looked at the map again to find Paihia and checked there for accommodation firs this time, finding plenty of places to stay near the main beach front and so modified my travel plans to fit. See, travel is actually really simple. If it doesnt work just change it!

I am really happy with where I have ended up staying as I seem to have dropped on to some really good accommodation at a great price. The room that I booked was a 6 bed ensuite dorm room for £11.50 per night which wasnt too bad a deal at all. When I first got the the room I saw that the bunk beds in the rooms were the ones with a double bed on the bottom so was instantly happy at the little win I had got off the mark. To top this off I was also the only person in the room at the time and since it was 8pm when I checked in it was obvious I was not going to be joined by anyone else that evening. This left the large bedroom, ensuite bathroom, kitchen area and bonus TV all to little old me! Normally dorm rooms have none of these extras but this one even has a nice little table to sit at and could happily be somewhere for a group of people to use as a basecamp for quite a while without issue. 3 nights in and I am still the only person in my room which is pretty sweet all things considered as I basically have a suite to myself which would have cost me more like £60 per night without any hassle at all.

After a good nights sleep it was time to explore the local area and figure out there was to do in the town I have randomly picked off of a map so as per usual its trainers on, bag packed, walking time. First thing to do as always was to head straight down to the beach for a walk along and to take a look at the sights and I have to say that I am not in the least bit disappointed with my choice. It may not have been the nicest day on record but even with some light, misty drizzle this place still looks beautiful. After walking along the beach for a while I eventually came across some signs for the Waitangi Treaty grounds so decided to head that way and take a look. The treaty grounds are the location of where the first treaty with the British and the Maori were signed way back in 1840. The treaty turned out to be the source of a lot of controversy as there were 2 copies made of it, one in Maori and one in
English, however the translations between them were not accurate meaning that both sides believed they were agreeing to slightly different things. It is too complicated to get into with a quick rambling from me online, however it is easy to say that this was the cause of a lot of tension and quite a few battles for a while.

I took a walk around the sight and even went to a Maori cultural performance which was pretty cool before coming out and seeing my first double rainbow! Apparently in this area they get rainbows quite a lot due to the way the light rain comes across the hills and meets the shining sun from across the bay. Its a beautiful sight and I think I managed to get a few pics to capture it quite well.

There is not that much more to do at all in Paihia out of season since a lot of things have closed down for the winter as everything begins to chill, however it is proving a nice place to just relax and start getting a plan of what I want to do next. Who knows, one day I may even have it all figured out.