7 October 2009

This morning I got the bus back to Auckland, to spent the next week with Andrea.It was a lovely sunny day, so our options were all open, as what to do.

Andy attempted to take me to Mt Eden, but they had closed off the road (maintenance road works going on), so instead we went on to Cornwall Park, to One Tree Hill.Funny thing about it though, is that the 1 tree that stood by the monument, is no longer there - they have chopped it down, so as Andy says, the name should be changed to No Tree Hill - hehe.They are talking about planting another tree, but there has been dispute between the government and the Maori's.Which personally I don't really understand - its just a tree (though I think they'd shoot me if they heard me say that).

The view from the top of One Tree Hill was fabulous (very windy) but indeed fabulous.And I could most certainly see Mt Eden from there.

Andy then took me for a drive along 'Parathi', which is an extremely rich area, with massive mansions (always good to see how the other half live). From there we dropped off her car, at her place, and made our way to Mission Bay.It was about a 30 minute walk, so not too bad at all.And the weather was just gorgeous, so everything looked really amaising.We Lunched at a gorgeous 'De Fontaines' a Belgium Café, which was outstanding.We both wanted a light snack, but when we saw the size of our meals when they arrived, they were anything but light.But I suppose it was better that way, seeing that we were already on the Bubbely.

After our pleasant afternoon, at Mission Bay, we made our way back to Andy's house, to get ready, and hit the town.At first we weren't sure how busy town would be, bearing in mind that it was a Wednesday, but we were pleasantly surprised, to see the bars full.

First stop was the 'Ice Lounge'.Andy managed to get the dude down in his initial price to get in.It generally costs $40, but Andy told him very nicely that I'm a traveller, and would really like it if we could get a discount, etc.In the end he buckled and we only payed $20.It was really cool (excuse the pun).They gave us jackets, gloves, and shoes.And we got a free Cocktail (as part of the entry free) so we enjoyed the sculptures, the fantastic cocktail, and then left.We then went onto Danny Doolans Bar - and that's as far as we got.They had a live band on, who were really quite good, so that was us sold.We boogeyed all night.It was great fun.

9 October 2009

Today Andy drove us to the Coromandel Peninsula - to Cathedral Cove near Hahei.Unfortunately the weather wasn't at all great, but that wasn't stopping us.There were light showers, and the sun was threatening to come out.So we walked down to Cathedral cove, and took lovely pictures, etc.Fortunately on our way down, it wasn't raining all that much, just a light drizzle now and then, though we weren't so fortunate on the way back, as it just bucketed down.Needless to say by the time we got back to the car (after a 30 minute walk back), we were absolutely drenched, just as well we brought a change of clothes - as you could literally ring our jeans out (that's how wet we were).

Next stop was Hot Water Beach. Now, this just absolutely amaised me.Once you head to the specified area, when standing on the sand, you can actually feel the hot spots.This is where you begin your digging, to get to the hot water beneath the sand.So this is exactly what we did.Though the trick is to go at low tide (which was more-or-less around the time we were there), because otherwise as the waves hit the shore, so your hole gets filled with cold water, and well, then there is no more hole, as the sand just fills in - which is what was happening to us.Well Andy was the pig-for-punishment, and dug all the time, just for it to be filled again.I opted for the easier option, and just dug my feet into the sand, to feel the warmth (which at times was bloody hot, that you couldn't stand there for long).Now and then I got on all fours, and dug a little hole, to warm myself up.But the idea is, to dig yourself a big hole, that you can actually sit in like a hot bath - crazy.It was really good fun.Though because the weather was so bad, and raining, there was no low tide, so unfortunately we didn't get that far (well not a great big massive hole, but we did manage a fare size - enough to warm up - as it was bloody cold, from the ocean, and all the rain), but it was good fun nevertheless, and quite an experience.

After spending quite a few hours at hot water beach, we decide the tide wasn't going to get any better (and by this time we were quite frozen), so decided to head back, and get ready for a night on the town.

Again we started with some snacks and drinks at the house, and then hit the town.When we got into town, there were quite a few lands promoting different bars / clubs, so we picked up the flyers, and made our way to the bars for our 2-4-1 drinks, and then moved onto the next location.The bars visited were, 'Volcan Lane', then the 'Met' club, then onto the 'Waterfront', and then onto 'Cowboys' where we enjoyed the rest of our evening, with more free cowboy hats.It was a great evening indeed.Though somehow on the way home, Andy lost her hat, but I managed to hold onto mine (I was guarding it with my life)