Can't believe its 2011 already - the year I turn 30! Egad...
After Cambridge I went for a trip out to the Coromandel which I'm sure would have been lovely except the weather was shait. Totally bad luck there but I enjoyed my trip very much nonetheless. People like to surf and swim here now (its summer) which I think is amazing because to me the waters are frigid. I miss the warm waters of Malaysia and memories of the hours spent swimming in Redang tease me mercilessly. It is ironic that I have been to many beaches on this trip but only swam once with my host family on Phillip Island. Sejuk sangat lah.. It's really good here though because there are always FREE and clean toilets, shower and changing facilities at swim beaches.
Later I went for a trip to the north. Visited the Bay of Islands (so pretty), Russell (the first site for European settlers in New Zealand, once known for great debauchery (in the open and on the beaches even) and was called "hell-hole of the Pacific"), and the historical Waitangi Treaty grounds (the treaty between Maori and Pakeha ie Europeans which marks the birth of New Zealand).
I also made it to Cape Reinga (say 'ree-yeng-gah') which is way up north at the North Island's tippy tip. I couldn't believe how much of nothingness we had to pass through to get the this place. 3 hours plus of it. No kedai, restaurant or town, no nothing OK? Cape Reinga is where Maori people believe all spirits of their dead will travel to before jumping off to enter their spiritual homeland (not sure lah if they have a heaven or a hell.. they just balik kampung kot..). The actual point where they jump off is just a rock and a tree, tu je. You can see it from afar, but not actually go to it. Ada lah lighthouse satu sana where you can stand around and enjoy the scenery and take pics. Tengok kiri, the Tasman Sea. tengok kanan, the Pacific Ocean - this is where the 2 meet. It causes some turbulence in the water and it looks like swirls, really like the sea is 'alive' and dancing. I thought that bit was pretty cool.
On the way down south from the Cape I also made it to see amazingly huge sand dunes. It was quite unbelievable. Stand in one spot and you can see the sea, the dunes, and the forest. It was like a piece of the desert was dropped here. Kai Iwi Lakes I quite liked too, the travel agent lady in Cambridge recommended I go see it. 'The Fiji of New Zealand' she called it. It is a freshwater lake but is bright blue with white sand. Mak aih there were so many people camping out there (Kiwis love camping in general). I did visit Bidz Seafood in this ulu place called Apihamara (no public transport to it available) and ordered the Bidz Seafood burger as Lonely Planet suggested. But they sent me a meat-filled burger! So angry with myself, I should have sent it back and demanded my burger. But I was famished OK, kan I told you no makan place all the way to the Cape and back... My favourite place was probably Opononi, its so cantik, with views of the dunes and the sea, kids jetty-jumping... Nice little pub and next to it they were setting up stage for Fat Freddy's Drop's last concert for their 'Road To Opononi' tour. Heard they will no longer be basing themselves in NZ but in America (I think) so their NZ tours will not be so common. Hence that concert the upcoming Saturday should have been wicked. Was informed that Kiwis love reggae music in general.
