Well my time in NZ is really starting to come to an end. I have less than 5 weeks left at my job, after which my parents are coming for 4 weeks to travel around NZ. After that it's off to Samoa for a week, back to NZ for 5 days, and then gone to Asia. That said, I'm living the YOLO (you only live once) life right now and today Elizabeth (Australia), Disney Ben (NZ), and I did a great job of this and had an amazing day.
My day started off okay, but I was quite stressed out - not sure about what - and ended up being a bit late to my day plans because I was skyping with my parents. Always nice to talk to them - news from home usually makes me feel better, plus it gives me something else to think about/worry about than whatever is worrying me. After getting off Skype with my father at 11:35 (5 minutes after I was supposed to have picked up Ben who lives 10 minutes away) I rushed over to pick up Ben and the boogie boards - we were headed to the sand dunes. After collecting Ben, we picked-up Elizabeth, went to Countdown (the grocery store) to buy enough food to feed a medium sized family and then headed west to Bethels Beach to boogie board the sand dunes. We got there after maybe a 45 minutes drive, and then had to walk up and over these dunes which was quite a workout. I'm sure my legs will be soar tomorrow. When we got to the part we were supposed to boogie board - forget it, it was so steep! After a few test runs by Ben and some coaxing from Elizabeth I did it - once - and it was mega fun. But then you have to hike back up these dunes, that I'm sure are a 50* angle or steeper and doing that once was enough for me. I got to the top, was completely out of breath, and said that's good. We then sat on the boogie boards in the dunes and had a fantastic picnic lunch of pita and hummus, vegetables, and brie and chocolate sandwiches. Such a wonderful afternoon!
Around 3pm we decided to head back because I had a doctor's appointment to go to 4:20 to get my eyes checked for my MN drivers license. Before going back to the city, however, we headed over to the actual beach to walk out into the Tasman sea. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with the Tasman Sea/Western Beaches of Auckland, the sea is very rough. If people drown swimming around here, it's almost always on the Western Beaches. When you are standing on the beach, the surf is so rough and the waves so high that you cannot see the horizon over the waves. It amazingly beautiful however. Ben took a lot of photos on his phone so hopefully I will be able to get some up on my blog in the next few days to share with you guys.
After the beach we got in the car to head back to Auckland but by this time I was never going to make my eye appointment - YOLO - so Ben called to cancel (driving and cell use is illegal here so I couldn't call myself). As we were just about to get on the motorway back to the city we decided - YOLO, lets go beer tasting at a local brewery since we now have no reason to be back in the city. We headed back out west - but more northwest than we were previously - to Kumeu to the Hallertau Brewery and spent the next 2-3 hours drinking beer, chatting to our servers, and talking about life. We tried lots of their beers - I think 8 - and had a roaring good time. I also met a cute west Aucklander who I will likely be going on a date with next week. His name is Ash, he drives a proper American sized pick-up. I just can't get past all the things I love about America.
By the time we left the Brewery it was quite late and we were hungry again. We came back into the city, went to our favorite Jordanian restaurant - Petra Shawarma - picked up come takeaways and went back to Elizabeth's to watch The Summit, a movie about mountaineers on K2. They watched the movie, I napped, and then after we did some more chatting. We've decided that we may try to meet in Cambodia in 6 months or so, live in a small town, spend lots of time working/drinking at the local bar, and chatting to all the tourists who come in, learning all about their stories. We did this with the servers tonight and had so much fun, why not do this for a good chunk of time.
Anyways, all in all it was a fabulous day. Full of YOLO experiences, we just let it unfold and had so much freaking fun! I'm loving this lifestyle - no real responsibilities outside of having as much fun as possible. Amazing day, amazing friends, I'm really going to miss Auckland!
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