Heaps And Heaps Of Water

Or more correctly written, “‘Eaps an’ ‘eaps of wootah.” Yes, I’m down under, in New Zealand, and there is a ginormous amount of water here. As a result, I’m extremely jet-lagged (though international business class is pretty nice to sleep in). But I’ll try my best to write this as coherent-ly as I can.

What I nicknamed The Turd (pictured above), is said to have been an ancient fort and defensive position for the indigenous people of New Zealand. We hiked up its side along a treacherous set of stairs and walkways. About halfway through, Sammy lost his visor hat to the swirling twirling New Zealandish winds. We spotted it a few (twenty) feet below the path, but it was too far out of reach. Oh well! So we continued the path, only to be greeted by a mock-Māori statue and a hazard sign, accompanied by its friend, Deadly Jagged Fence.

We continued our walk along the beach, while I found miscellaneous bits of the beach worth remembering. Among them were various shells, crabs, rocks, massive waves, effervescent green algae (to which I was strangely attracted), a WII memorial, a mysterious blue chair, a duck, a comical chicken, a bird skeleton, and something I carved in the sand. Here are some pictures of those.

And by the way, my first impression of New Zealand after exiting the airport was.. I’M IN LOVE WITH NEW ZEALAND’S TREES! They are so cool, and a bit eccentric. And the other thing is, they’re everywhere. Coming from Chicago, we see trees, especially since I’m lucky enough to go camping once in a while (and frequently visit Michigan), but nowhere near as many as there are here! You cannot look anywhere without seeing another tree, bush, fern, or amazing flower.

We ended our beach trip and retired to our new home for the trip. Its conveniently located on top of a 45 degree (or something) angled hill, hundreds of feet up. Ouch for my legs.