Friday, January 26, 2007

3 Day Trip

Dan and i made friends with this group below. A few of them are in an Australian Christian Band called Simeon. They are over in NZ for Parachute(the largest Christian concert in the Southern Hemisphere)

Dan and I blocked out Mon-Wed to take a short trip before work and church were in full force. So we set out Monday after watching the Colts beat the Patriots! Go Colts! Colts and the Bears in the SuperBowl is amazing.

On our first night Dan and i stopped at two spots and watched the sunset. The picture above is the first. The picture below is not the actual place but represents the second place. Dan and i parked off the road and climbed a random Hill on the side of the road. It took FOREVER to get up but the view was worth it! The sky was amazing and the slope in the hill was perfect so that you could lay back and have grass all around you with a beautiful blue sky and stars above you or lay on your arms and watch the sunset and small wave ripple forward to shore. We laid there for probably 2 hours and talked. When we got down it was dark and i dropped the car keys hopping a fence. Luckily we found them and even more lucky it didn't happen while i slided down the hill because it would've been impossible to find the keys there

Below just skims the surface. i don't even have pictures of Cathedral Cove, the hedgehog i held, or the waterfall we cliff jumped off of.

We Slept on the beach the first night at the hot water beaches on the Coromandel Peninsula. This was the view from our bags.

We woke up for the sunset which was beautiful


After that we experience the hot water beaches. There is a hot water current below the sand that comes from the rocks on shore and drains out to the ocean. At low tide you take a shovel and dig your hole in the sand, build walls around it, and sit in the jacuzzi warm water. Dan and i started late, so our pool below is pitiful but it still felt amazing.

Others digging their hot water pool to lay in.


Dan and I found a great spot called mt maunganui. it was a happening beach. People longboarding, surfing, and a volleyball tournament on the beach. it was the first busy beach i have seen in New Zealand. there just really aren't busy beaches here.

Dan and i climbed the mountain and enjoyed the sunset and some time with the Lord up there. Beautiful once again.

New Zealand is known as the Land of the Long White Cloud.

the Family of a friend let us sleep at their place one night. This is where we jumped off the waterfall and swam in the river. This is Dan playing with two of their girls.

Then Dan and I visited the Hot water Springs. This is Dan in the fog
The Zorb
Dan and I visited Rotorua and went in the Zorb together. it is basically a big hamster ball that they put a little water in. You jump in and ride in this inflatable human hamster ball down the hill flipping all over the place. Completely Hysterical! it was a blast and totally unique

They have Chicken flavored Potato Chips here!!! They were pretty good. i've been told you either love them or hate them
L&P
L&P is the NZ soft drink. it is like a ginger ale with a little more lemon. pretty good. This was the big bottle in the town where it was created.

2 comments:

About Brandon said...

Awesome pics, B!!

The zorb sounds like crazy-fun! I wonder if there are any of those in the US?

B

B said...

They are making a Zorb in Tennessee i hear but i do not know for sure