Next stop; Coromandel
We have now spent one night in Hamilton, bought an air madrass and we are off to Coromandel area. Our plan is to drive around, probably sleep in the car some nights at camp sites, go surfing in Whangamata, visit the Hot Water Beach, see the Cathedral Cove and much more!
I'll update you more soon again :)
I miss Raglan already though...
Instagram photos from Raglan;
We bought a CAR...
...and after two amazing weeks in Raglan me and Vidde are now staying one night in Hamilton.
This car is now ours and I really hope that it will take us around NZ!
RAGLAN
Life is great. We have been in Raglan about a week now and it is just an amazing little town, or even called village. It is small here.
There are a lot of outdoor adventures to try in Raglan, not the most extreme ones, but real relaxed and enjoyable ones. Except from surfing, which we both love doing and can do every single day if we want to, we have seen things like the wharf and different beaches by bike and tried kayaking. Yesterday we paddled around for hours, came to see Okete Falls, a beautiful waterfall and we had a great time.
I did my second assignment in Business English before the weekend. An online test in Business Vocabulary and Grammar. It went great, feels like I passed, but I haven't got my grade yet... So crossed fingers.
We have booked the hostel here for one more week. Hope to be able to surf even more and to enjoy the black sand beaches for hours.
Time to leave the library and the free wireless internet. Talk to you soon!
There are a lot of outdoor adventures to try in Raglan, not the most extreme ones, but real relaxed and enjoyable ones. Except from surfing, which we both love doing and can do every single day if we want to, we have seen things like the wharf and different beaches by bike and tried kayaking. Yesterday we paddled around for hours, came to see Okete Falls, a beautiful waterfall and we had a great time.
I did my second assignment in Business English before the weekend. An online test in Business Vocabulary and Grammar. It went great, feels like I passed, but I haven't got my grade yet... So crossed fingers.
We have booked the hostel here for one more week. Hope to be able to surf even more and to enjoy the black sand beaches for hours.
Time to leave the library and the free wireless internet. Talk to you soon!
Watched the Sunset @ the beach, eating Pizza from Domino's
Leaving Gisborne for Raglan now
Last minutes in Gizzy... Two weeks has passed and me and Vidde are leaving for Raglan with the InterCity bus in a short while...
Gisborne has been great and we have done a LOT of surfing and I am pretty sure that I have improved :)
We celebrated our last night yesterday with pizza at the beach and watched the sunset together with Louise, and our new friends Malin from Sweden and Tom from England. A great time and awesome company.
I will miss Louise like crazy. Hope to see her soon again <3
Time to board the bus... I will update you more in Raglan.
Another cloudy and windy day in Gisborne
The weather today gives me more time to continue studying and right now me and Vidde are hanging out at i-site, a booking place where they offer free wi-fi. Perfect!
We have also decided to leave Gisborne for Raglan on Monday 11th February and booked the InterCity bus today. It will take us directly to Hamilton, and from there we're planning to catch the local bus to Raglan. The rest of the stay here will probably offer some more surfing and time to hang out with Louise. Because she will continue alone for a while, and I cross my fingers that we will meet up soon again. Will miss her!
Later on we would love to get some good waves in Raglan too, maybe even better than here, and hopefully be able to stay there for a longer period of time. I am excited about that future! No one knows what happens...
Just a few photos from my camera too :)
Photo taken a while ago in Mount Maunganui...
Just a stunning view along the east coast..
Our nice rental car :) The white Toyota!
The lighthouse at East Cape - the most eastern point in the world.
Beautiful landscape...
Photos by Vidde
Have a look into this blog; viddekeith.wordpress.com. Vidde is posting niiice photos of our stay here in New Zealand! Enjoy :)
Surfing near Gisborne
It is Tuesday, the 5th February 2013 today. Me and Louise have been in New Zealand for more than one month now and Vidde came about a week ago. It, of course, feels like a lot longer ago since we first arrived in Auckland, but still, four weeks is quite a while and we have experienced a lot.
At the moment we are all in Gisborne, me, Louise and Vidde, hanging out in a four bed dorm at Flying Nun Backpackers (that's ringt; it is the name of our BBH hostel). We have had a great time those two past week. Last Saturday we left Mount Maunganui/Taurnaga, rented a white Toyota a drove down the east cost. We past small cute towns like Whakatane, Opotiki - were we picked up Louise, East Cape and the lighthouse, Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay. Spent two nights at different places, one at a way too expensive motel; Hicks Bay Motel and another in a crazy unit on a camp site in Tolaga Bay where it was freezing cold at night. They do not isolate there houses at all here. Anyway, we will always remember those days as such a good time and especially all the incredible views over beautiful landscape, nature and of course the stunning ocean.
East Cape is the worlds most eastern point. It is where the sun comes up first every day. For sure a pretty cool place to come to, but our goal was to go further south and to be able to go S U R F I N G in Gisborne....
...and we have bought our first wet suits, me and Vidde. I got one from Roxy and I like it very much. All of us took our first surfing lesson in NZ the other day and we LOVE IT. It is just so much fun and I hope to improve my surfing skills during our stay here. It is a feeling of being free. We started on a 9 feet board and now we're down on a sevenseven and I think we stay with those for a while :)
The plan in to stay here in Gisborne until this upcoming weekend, celebrate my birthday here on Friday together with both Louise and Vidde, and then probably travel to the west coast. Me and Vidde would like to go to Raglan, outside Hamilton, which is another surf spot in NZ. We have found a lovely BBH hostel there to start with, where they offer kayaks, bikes, hot tub, sauna and much more, all for free. If we're still amazed when we get there we maybe settle down for a bit longer.
I look forward to get more of a "home feeling", be able to unpack our suitcases and to get to know a place even better.
Today is the first day with heavy raining here. The only positive thing with that is that I have time to update my blog, time to study and it is a good reason to just relax and maybe watch a movie. Right now I am doing exercises online to be able to complete assignment 2 in Business English before the 14th February. I still enjoy my course a lot and it works alright to study abroad :)
To be continued...say hello to the winter at home in Sweden!
Vidde has arrived
He's finally here. My everything; Vidde. It has been a better 24 hours than I ever could have asked for. Only three weeks apart, but SO good to see eachother again.
We had sushi for dinner yesterday and spent the night at the beach. A perfect date :) I am a happy girlfriend.
One relaxed day in the sun has passed and we are both sunburned, but satisfied.
Tomorrow we are planning to rent a car and go further east, pick up Louise in Opotiki and continue the ride along Bay of Plenty. In a while I hope we're coming to Gisborne....and then we'll see what happens next.
I enjoy every single moment of life now
Wednesday 23rd January 2013
Good morning,
Another sunny day is waiting for us here in Mount Maunganui. But we are having an easy start this morning. I had a pretty hard night. Somehow I got something that contained gluten for dinner yesterday...so for the first time in New Zealand I got sick. I hate it, and the result is that I am extremly tired today.
Right now I am laying down, resting a little. And later today I think we are planning to head down to the beach. It is really beautiful down there, a 25km long white beach and the Pacific Ocean is so refreshing.
Yesterday we went up to the forest; Kaimai, which is just a short ride from Tauranga. Me and Louise went for a hike in the bush. I took about 3,5 hours and it was a great walk. Very beautiful nature. We had a guy from New Zealand that came with us, like a private guide and it turned ot to be a great day with a lot of funny discussions.
Vidde, my boyfriend, will finally arrive tomorrow. His flight was late, so he had to go back home and catch another departure the day after. Anyway, he is on his way and will be coming soon. I think it will be a lot of fun :)
Talk to you later!
Photos
Pics from Instagram; Me, a gluten free delicious chocolate brownie bought at the Farmers Market in Rotorua and finally Salmon Sashimi at Tay Street in Mount Maunganui :)
Thoughts and feelings
I guess that this will work pretty good. My English will get better from one post to another, my writing skills will improve both out of this and by studying. I already enjoy it very much and I think I have to thank Louise for the brilliant idea. I also know that I especially will please a bunch of people in the U.S. by changing language.
I am almost done with assignment #1 in Business English. It worked alright doing it offline at the Funky Green Voyager Hostel in Rotorua...and then I can publish it afterwards. Next assignment is a vocabulary and grammar test, that needs to be done online by the 14th February - so crossed fingers for better access to internet in the future.
There are a lot of things going on inside my body at the moment. Feelings that could be hard to explain sometimes. Thoughts about the future and thoughts about life in NZ in general. I do really love it here so far. I grow a lot out of travelling and by experience new things, discover new places and meet people from all over the world. I take one day at a time here and I do live a quite different life here compare to home. But I like that. Things are easier than back home somehow, people are friendly and I feel relaxed and satisfied.
We will see what happens from now on....but I will probably be staying in this country for a while. I do have one of my closest friends right beside me; Louise. She is an amazing woman who I really adore and beside her I feel safe and very happy. And on this upcoming Wednesday my beloved boyfriends Vidde will arrive. Unbelievable. I really don't think that I understand that yet. But I look forward to it - A LOT!
I will try to update dayoffrida as often as I could. I enjoy writing and I think that it is a good way of telling you about life abroad and also remember the days that pass.
All for now, I think. The clock at the computer says 11pm and tomorrow morning we plan to head to the forest for some hiking.
g o o d n i g h t.
Let us start from the beginning...
I have already taken a lot of photos during our, so far, three weeks long adventure, but I haven't been able to upload them yet. So, lets start from the beginning. Enjoy :)
We had the front seats in the bus that took us from Paihia to Cape Reinga; the most northern part of New Zealand. The bus also took us for a ride on the 90 mile beach.
My sweet friend; Louise, trying sand boardning on the dunes for the first time. A LOT of fun!
First touch with the South Pacific Ocean.
Cape Reinga Lighthouse. To the left of the lighthouse you can see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide. On the bench; me myself...
Beautiful!
A photo taken on our walk to the Haruru Falls in Paihia. Fredrique (from Holland), me and Louise. A 6km long walk, that we walked back and forth. So, all together 1,2miles of walking in my new hiking boots.
Haruru Falls...me and Louise.
Wai-O-Tapu, geothermal wonderland outside Rotorua. We visited this amazing place this past wednesday and it is one of New Zealand's most colourful and diverse volcanic area. It was definitely something special. There were bubbling hot and cold water pools, mud pools, volcanic craters, lakes and ever-changing colours everywhere.
Wai-O-Tapu.
Wai-O-Tapu.
Lady Knox Geyser - when she erupts.
Polynesian Spa in Rotorua. They had pools fed with hot mineral spring water that is suppose to be great for your skin. We went there be night and could enter seven different pools, between 38-42 degrees C.
Louise, taking a nice morning walk near Lake Rotorua.
We went to the Rotorua Museum, in the Goverment Gardens, Rotorua. Learned about the Mauri culture and met a Swedish guide, Roger from Piteå who let us in, for FREE :) An interesting time that resulted in.....
.....another SPA night; we bought mud masks.
We stopped at Okere Falls on our way back to Mount Maunganui. A place known for white water raffting, but we plan to do that later... So just a quick look!
Lets do this in.... ENGLISH!
Here we go again. We're back in Mount Maunganui, at Grants, have got reception again and from now on will I please all my English speaking friends and start writing in English :) The rest of you will have to read it this way too, so good practising for all of us I guess... It will definitely be something totally new for me and it will probably take a little longer to write things down and to publish it, but I will also develop my writing skills much more.
So give me today and I will be posting photos and tell you all about the past week in Rotorua, the plans for the coming days and my thoughts about everything in this amazing country; New Zealand!
On our way back to Mount Maunganui
Nu har Louise och jag äventyrat på vårt håll den här veckan och är alldeles strax tillbaka hos fantastiska familjen Grant i Mount Maunganui :)
Uppdaterar därifrån senare ikväll! Testar bara blogg.se appen :)
Mot Rotorua
Sådär ja. Nu har Louise och jag packat varsin ryggsäck och är väl förberedda för några dagar inåt landet. Imorgon förmiddag sticker vi härifrån och får då låna familjens bil (då de är ut eoch campar på en ö i närheten hela veckan). Förhoppningsvis väntar några spännande dagar när vi styr kosan mot Rotorua.
Imorgon kommer vi för första gången köra bil på vänster sida av vägen, då det råder vänstertrafik här i Nya Zeeland. Får hålla tungan rätt i mun och köra försiktigt :) Planerar sedan för att komma tillbaka hit till helgen igen...
Från och med nu kommer jag även kicka igång ännu ett nytt kapitel i livet. Jag ska som sagt plugga under resans gång. Började efter många om och men min distanskurs i Business English idag och har deadline på första inlämningen om drygt en vecka. Så nu håller vi tummar och tår för att det går att hitta internet någonstans, annars blir det att förbereda det mesta offline...
Vi får se hur det går med det! Nu kryper vi ner och säger; Good Night!
Imorgon kommer vi för första gången köra bil på vänster sida av vägen, då det råder vänstertrafik här i Nya Zeeland. Får hålla tungan rätt i mun och köra försiktigt :) Planerar sedan för att komma tillbaka hit till helgen igen...
Från och med nu kommer jag även kicka igång ännu ett nytt kapitel i livet. Jag ska som sagt plugga under resans gång. Började efter många om och men min distanskurs i Business English idag och har deadline på första inlämningen om drygt en vecka. Så nu håller vi tummar och tår för att det går att hitta internet någonstans, annars blir det att förbereda det mesta offline...
Vi får se hur det går med det! Nu kryper vi ner och säger; Good Night!
Mount Maunganui, Tauranga
Oj oj, bloggen ligger lite efter känner jag... Jag har trots allt en förhoppning om att kunna uppdatera den ofta. Sen vet jag hur det blir, det händer grejer ALL the time och därför hamnar "ni" lite som prio 2. Any way, ska göra mitt yttersta för att det ska bli av när vi har internet...och det har vi ju faktiskt nu!
Vi blev iaf varmt välkomnade av familjen Grant här i Mount Maunganui i fredags, runt lunch tid. Vi har sedan dess busat en massa med de underbara barnen Lucas, Meya och Max, (8, 6 och 1,5 år) samt umgåtts med deras gulliga föräldrar; Jenny och Simon. Det är alltså mina grannar hemifrån som är så fantastiska och öppnar upp sitt hem och låter oss crasha här några dagar. I gengäld tar vi hand om barnen till och från och de visar oss allt de kan.
Under helgen har vi spenderat tid på den 25km långa vita sandstranden, badat i det turkosa havet, promenerat runt the Mount (berget här) och besökt barnens skola. Äter gott gör vi hela tiden och njuter fullt ut.
Jag håller för tillfället på att tillfriskna från en seg förkyldning och irriterande hosta. Känns som om det är sista rycket nu... vill kunna bli aktiv igen :) Det är ju därför man åker till Nya Zeeland. Finns SÅ mycket att upptäcka.
Imorgon lämnar vi dock detta mysiga ställe för en liten utflykt på några dagar. Ska köra söderöver till Rotorua, en stad där vi ska få se mer av ursprungsbefolkningens kultur. Mauri heter befolkningen och Rotorua är en stad som tydligen kommer bjuda på en bättre inblick i deras kultur :) Spännande. Vi kommer även kunna vandra en hel del, hyra mountainbikes och bada i hot pools.
Nu ägnar jag lite tid åt att sätta mig in i min skola. Börjar läsa Business English på distans idag, så behöver komma in i vad det innebär känner jag. Tusen tankar och en något oviss framtid väntar, men har på känn att det löser sig. Som alltid. Så vi får se...
Talk to you later :)
One week in New Zealand
En vecka har gått sedan vi anlände i Auckland. Såklart känns det som om vi varit här mycket längre än så. Men den känslan känner jag igen. Så brukar jag känna.
På en vecka har vi som sagt hunnit med en hel del... och om bara någon timme har det blivit dags att lämna detta paradis; Paihia. Vi tar bussen tillbaka till Auckland och bor natten till imorgon på ett mysigt hostel strax utanför city. Redan imorgon bitti tar vi InterCity bussen till Tauranga, där mina grannar hemifrån Danderyd, Jenny&Simon, möter oss. Vi ska hälsa på de i helgen och se hur de har det i Mount Maunganui där de bor :) vilket ska bli väldigt skoj.
Vidare är planerna lite diffusa. Vi får helt enkelt se vad helgen har att bjuda på och hur magkänslan talar. Den som lever får se.
Louise kommer i skrivande stund upp från en Farmers Market här intill vår älskade gräsplätt utanför the Public Library. Färsk frukt, nyplockade grönsaker och massa annat gott ska de ha - so, we better go!
Hör av mig snart igen! Älskar för övrigt att ha bloggen igång igen, någonstans att skriva av mig :)
<3
Haruru Falls
Vi har haft en magisk dag. Började dagen, som alla andra här på Cap'n Bob's Beach House, men mysfrukost på altanen i morgonsolen. Vi vaknar fortf väldigt tidigt. Först någon gång kring 3-4am, smiter upp på toaletten, somnar om någon timme, eventuellt springer vi på toa igen (kroppen är inställd på dagtid (nattetid) så toalettbesöken är många) innan vi runt 7am stiger upp...
Hur som helst, efter frukost snörade vi för första gången på oss vandringskängorna, smetade in oss i hög solskyddsfaktor, packade ryggsäcken och gav oss iväg mot Haruru Falls. En perfekt första walk, ca 6km varje väg. Tog del av underbar natur och fantastiskt väder. Hikade genom mangroveskog, där växtligenheten kommer direkt upp ur leran. Skumt med läckert på samma gång.
Hur som helst, efter frukost snörade vi för första gången på oss vandringskängorna, smetade in oss i hög solskyddsfaktor, packade ryggsäcken och gav oss iväg mot Haruru Falls. En perfekt första walk, ca 6km varje väg. Tog del av underbar natur och fantastiskt väder. Hikade genom mangroveskog, där växtligenheten kommer direkt upp ur leran. Skumt med läckert på samma gång.
Väl framme vid vattenfallet blev det ett litet break. Njöt av värmen, vattnet och en liten picnic med nyfunna vänner; Fredrique mfl.
Tiden i Paihia har varit fantastisk. Perfekt ställe att "landa" på, kommer över jetlagen och förstå att vi kommit fram till Nya Zeeland. Vi tackar bland annat mysiga Rebecca för många skratt, världens bästa värd; Moe för en kanonvistelse på ett familiärt hostel och sist men inte minst oss själva för att vi tagit oss hit :)
Lånar för tillfället internet av the Public Library, så är placerade på varsin sarong i solen med datorn framför oss. Har lite att hinna med då det i princip verkar omöjligt att få tag i internet i detta land. När det väl finns kostar det skjortan och ingenting fungerar.
Dags att kila, måste handla lite innan kvällen. Håller även tummarna för att mina märkliga utslag på benen från vandringssockorna försvinner tills imorgon...får bli ett tunt lager kortison, så är det nog löst.
Love from down under!
