It's been a while since I've updated everyone. I'm still in Paihia, taking in everything the awesome Bay of Islands has to offer, meeting lots of travelers along the way, and enjoying every minute of it. I've had a bunch of adventures in the past couple of weeks since I last wrote and so I'll list out the highlights.
Originally, Thanksgiving was a bit of a let down. Only one person mentioned anything about the holiday all day and I ended up eating a grilled cheese sandwich (Toastie in NZ) in place of a turkey. Fortunately, about a week afterwords I got a call from Laura and Angie, inviting me to a Thanksgiving dinner they would be putting on at the lodge they were working for. I got my first try hitch-hiking by myself out to the town of Keri-Keri to make it to the dinner. After 2 hitches, one with a local family that moved here to escape the city a few years ago, and one with a Canadian photographer that taught in a local school, I was dropped off directly at my destination. I was blown away by the high-end stylish lodge nestled in the hills of Keri-Keri with amazing views of the lake and forest. I helped supervise as the two of them prepared dinner for the 9 or so guests we were having that night. We were the only Americans and the Kiwi's were pretty excited to try out an official Thanksgiving dinner even if it was taking place on December 3rd. One of the guests was a professional chef so the girls were a little nervous but to be honest their pies from scratch were better than his apple cranberry sauce. After dinner, Richard, the guy that owns, runs, and lives at the lodge with his 15 year old son Harry, invited me to stay the night. I expected to sleep in the helpers shack that the girls stayed in but instead I got to have one of the luxurious $200+ a night guest rooms to myself. The king size bed, private deck, heated bathroom floors, and mirror defogger were a welcome break from hostel living.
We've gone kayaking quite a few times in the last couple weeks as well. There is a place right out front of the hostel that rents them for just $10 an hour, but the guys there are pretty laid back and don't mind if you take an hour and a half. In fact, I've helped them pull up some catamarans and kayaks at night a few times in exchange for free kayak rentals the following day. Paihia is a perfect place for kayaking because of all the small islands that are otherwise inaccessible. Just right out front of the hostel are 3 islands that I've got to explore during these day adventures.
While I've been meeting a handful of new people each week, some of the best friends I've made so far were the hilarious Rob and Chris from Ireland. They're a couple surfers that stayed at the hostel for the last week. While surfing definitely doesn't fit in with the Irish stereotype, they did of course enjoy their drinking and pool. In two consecutive games Rob was able to 7 ball Chris then myself, forcing each of us to take the 'walk of shame' around the pool table with our pants around our ankles. On Saturday we made plans for an all day surf adventure in the beaches near the town of Kaitaia. Rob and Chris have a car (a station wagon fondly named Cesar, for they claim the soul of the late Julius Cesar powered the beast, but they swear hes kicked that molesting little boys thing to the curb) and luckily 3 boards as well so all I had to get was a wet suit rental for the day and we were off. After about an hours drive and a quick lunch stop, we gunned the car through some soft sand and were driving along the beach. Well, we gunned it the second time, we got stuck for a few minutes on the first attempt. The weather was perfect, the waves, on the other hand, were anything but at just 1 foot, if they were even breaking at all. We drove up and down the sand in search of waves for around 45 minutes before throwing in the towel on our surfing plans for the day. So we decided to check out some sand dunes that we were now somewhat close to after all the driving. We drove as near to them as we could and hopped out with the intentions of hiking. The lonely planet guide specifically warned of car theft in this area which paranoid Chris couldn't get over, so needless to say he didn't want to leave the car for the couple hours we would probably take for the hike. But, that doesn't mean we gave up, I mean come on, it was an all day adventure so we couldn't give up now! So instead of hiking along the jagged rocky coastline, we came to the conclusion that off-roading across it would be the next best solution... off-roading in our 1993 station wagon, Cesar. We did make it a good half mile across the rocks before getting to a point where we had to drive through an inch of water, which was OK then, but we knew the tide was coming in and we'd end up stranded if we were gone for long. So, that plan was out as well. :( We turned around and hefty Cesar hurdled over the rocks once again, bottoming out really badly at one point. We made it back up onto the paved road and were driving along the road, slightly disappointed at what little had become of our day so far, when we spotted something in the water, something bigger than the 1 foot waves we had seen all day. No, it wasn't the perfect wave, it was a huge pod of dolphins! We watched them for a minute as we continued driving, it looked like they were staying in just one area right where the little waves were breaking. "Let's go for it!" I yelled, "we'll throw on our wetsuits and paddle out to them." No more than a few moments later, we were parked on the side of the road where Rob and I were zipping up our wetsuits before we sprinted down with some boards towards the fins surfacing in the water. Even with as exciting as this was, Chris still couldn't bear the thought of leaving the car alone so he said he'd just wait for us. The water was actually surprisingly warm, it might have just been our nerves as we paddled out, still not entirely sure of how safe it was to swim directly into a large pod of dolphins that were now riding waves and launching out of the water with aerial acrobatics. The one thing to be cautious of with dolphins is that they can be defensive if they have babies around. We were peering a bit into the distance, probably about 30 meters now, to see if we saw any young ones in the pod when when out of the bottom of my vision I spotted two large dark shadows charging towards me under the water. I stiffened for a second unsure of what to expect when the two dolphins separated at the last second, one swimming around my left side and the other on my right. The rest of the pod was getting nearer as well and we could now see that they were all fully grown adults so it was safe. Rob and I were cracking up laughing, enjoying the moment for it was totally unreal to see these giant, wild, mammals so close and moving so quickly through the water. I hopped off the board and dove into the water, opening my eyes as I swam around. More dolphins came in close and circled past me, communicating with their high pitched squeals that were deafening with your ears submerged. After a few more moments Chris eventually made his way down to the water along with a couple girls off the beach and the 5 of us swam for the next 15 minutes with the dolphins before they continued on their journey and we did ours. It was one of the most incredible experiences I've had and without a doubt made our day if not month.
While there isn't a single national dish New Zealand is known for, the fresh seafood is without a doubt their most noteworthy cuisine. In place of a lot of fast food chains we're used to are various fish and chip shops. In Paihia alone, a place that only has 1 bank, and not a single movie theatre, you can order fish and chips from at least 9 different places, usually with your choice of several different catches. I got to try mussells for the first time here, only we didn't order them at a restaurant, instead, we caught them ourselves! At low tide, mussells and oyster picking is at its prime along some rocks right in front of the hostel. Some of the best mussells we were able to gather were from a couple of the small islands we kayaked out to. They were absolutely massive, it was obvious that we were some of the only people to have gathered from the area because it must have taken ages to grow to that size. Some friends, Dwayne and Painia, catch Oysters in particular all the time. In the picture here I tried eating live oysters for the first time. The taste wasn't too bad, it was like salt water flavored jello, but the idea that the animal was still alive made my throat tighten up preventing me from getting it down in one gulp. I'll give it another go soon enough.
Just yesterday, the weather was finally just right for one of the best adventures yet... SKYDIVING! Julia, Julie, Sidse, Dwayne, and myself all went. We had to reschedule on Monday because of some strong wind, and while yesterday still wasn't perfectly clear, it was perfect for skydiving, a few clouds makes things more interesting. We were picked up right from our hostel at 2:00 and made our way out to a open field about 15 minutes away. Everyone was a little nervous but even more excited. The running joke on the ride up was 'that's your last ____ before you die' anytime something happened. So when Dwayne made a phone call it was 'that's your last phone call, Dwayne!'. Or, someone sneezed and it was 'that's the last time you'll sneeze!'. Once at the skydive center we signed the "you're not liable if we die" forms and suited up. Julia and I were first, she thought she would die if she had to wait any longer. Surprisingly we weren't given any sort of lecture on what to do. We walked up to the plane, and were told to tuck our legs back and put our hands across our chests when we jumped out, then to spread out our arms once they tapped on our shoulders. I repeated their instructions once, which they found suitable enough, and then they fired up the plane and we hopped in. The ride up was probably the scariest part, the plane barely fit the 4 of us. We sat on the floor of the plane, with our knees against our chests and our legs intertwined so that we could all fit. I was attached to Juan, who had a video camera in his hand the whole time, taking clips of the action so we could watch it once we landed. The rattling of the plane body, and roar of the motor as we made the steep climb made talking almost impossible. We were meant to jump from 12,000 feet but the weather was a bit rough for it, so they went to around 13,000 feet for a clearing. "30 seconds!" I heard faintly from Mike, the guy strapped to Julia. A few moments later, the door flew open and this biting cold air came thundering through the cabin of the plane. Julia and mike turned to their side, struggling to maneuver their legs in the tight space. I looked at Julia's leg that was caught under her as she tried to get out the door, then in an instant it was gone as she dropped out of the plane. I peered over the edge of the open door to see her quickly shrink to a small dot before vanishing in some clouds below. I broke from my trance to notice Juan now pushing me over to the edge. I sat with my butt on the edge and my feet dangling in the air that whipped by me at more than 100mph. Before I could tell what was happening, I felt this deep sinking feeling in my stomach as we fell face forward, flipping twice through nothingness. We flattened out, stomachs facing the earth and I felt a tap on my shoulders letting me know to stretch out my arms. We fell through a cloud and I could see beads of water build up on my goggles. I had a big smile on my wind stretched face for the next 45 seconds of free fall which really only felt like 10 seconds. Before I could tell what was happening, I felt a sudden jerk on my harness and instantly the sound cut out and my vision cleared to see this gorgeous green countryside, in front of me, light blue beaches to my left, and a volcano in the distance to my right. It was the weirdest feeling to look down at my feet and have to refocus my eyes so greatly to see the next object below them. For the next few minutes we floated almost silently through the air and circled our way back down to the field we took off from nearly 20 minutes ago. Dwayne went next, Julie and Sidse after him, and each of us landed back on earth with the biggest smiles possible. Without a doubt, skydive if you ever get the opportunity. (I still have to grab the photos from the girls, will post them soon)
Alright, I need to cut this post out here. I'll be hitching down to Auckland tomorrow where I'm celebrating Christmas with Angie and Laura in a large house in a gated community there. They were asked to watch over it while the owners are gone on vacation. My new years plans aren't sorted out yet so I'll just write about it when the time comes. I'm sure it's going to be a blast wherever I end up. Thanks for the Christmas card Heather, it was a nice surprise to see everyones faces again, I showed all my friends here too.