road trip 05

ok think i fixed it temporarily.

it's 10 days after the new year, i'm slowly getting to using the WACOM again. This would a crucial year for me in terms of finishing what i have started and damn i need to strike the lotto.

Here's a day to day recall on my recent trip.

.Day #1.
we started the road trip pretty late at about 10am, i estimated the trip would take about 1.5 hours from Auckland. So i pre-checked the car that morning itself. The trip to Hahei Beach was ..uhm.. blue, green, cows, sheeps, john deere's, and rivers; the roads were a little scary - up-down-up-downnnnn-UPPPPPP-down slopes and how i wished i had my car with me instead of a 1.5 Mazda. Now if ever you get stuck on any kiwi road, you're fucked because there's virtually no one behind you long enough for the entire journey. Because of the thinning ozone layer concentrated on kiwiland, i had a severe case of one arm darker than the other; when you try to offset the balance by going to the beach and tanning the other one arm, all you get is stares unfortunately.

Hahei beach is a pretty good beach but nestled away from the main is cathedral cove which needs a 45min jungle walk to reach the cove. The water is SHIT cold like a block melted of ice and it's summer. damn.

.Day #2.
we explored coromandel town, mercury bay and hot water beach for the better part of morning. coromandel town basically is like Bidor town, small and conservative but full of fucking tourists because of the famous chicken biscuits. Hot water beach is advised by locals not a preferred locale to swim and i can see why with undercurrents from huge tubes BUT it's famous for tourists digging their own spa in the sand. i won't know, i didn't dig with full knowledge that on the next day i would have a spa in my motel.

we went on a nature drive, fucking hell and it was a nature drive all right, the 309 road is an unsealed road aka gravel rocks as a road. i'm sure my puny mazda 1.5 did not fucking appreciate me taking that road. 45 mins virtually rock and rollin in the cabin and smelling gravel dust. we reached waiau falls and the kauri groves. i spent the entire time slapping imaginary mosquitoes

went up a small puny train on driving creek railway over looking the groves. The train ride was as usual packed and we hadn't booked the night before. after being on waitlist, we managed to snatch seats from probably a family that didn't bother to show up. good for us, fucked for them.

i didn't even bother watching "lost" that night.

.Day #3.
we had to get up early to drive a 4 hour drive to Lake Taupo. The 2 hours was the usual blue, green, sheeps, cows, john deere's, rivers, lakes; then we reached Rotorua and man does that fucking town stinks. Sulphur pools like rotten eggs, apparently the locals don't smell it at all but when the wind picks up and you get a whiff of it, you fucking know that you're in Rotorua. Had an Irish lunch which wasn't too bad except that i felt sleepy after maybe it was the rum/cola.

After another 2 hours, we reached Taupo, if coromandel was Bidor, Taupo is Penang. damn with all the brown bods and mini bikinis, i could count the number of times i nearly had a head on and a hard on at the same time. The water in the lake is freezing and tastes salty funny considering the fact that it's a lake. now i hate swimming at lakes it's a phobia that developed after watching jaws, crocodile and whatever the fuck that comes from a lake. i just don't like not able feel the floorbed and the dark murky waters. it's prefectly ok in a pool but not a lake.

places of interest - craters of the moon, huka jet/falls, the scalding water from the geothermal station.

.Day #4.
This is the day we drive to see the volcano loop, after drive alone on the road we reached the foot of Mt.Ruapehu. i had been a macho dick that day by wearing only shorts with a tee, without bringing a jacket or whatsoever i brought a polo for 'protection'. Now Mt. Ruapehu is a ski field, eventhough in summer it's still snow capped. heh. fuck.

we reached the ski station and because pete jackson had decided to use part of the ruapehu as location shoot called meads wall, nothing but a bunch of rocks. but nice views though, scary as it looks down to a gorge. we then went up the ski lift and it was an experience especially when you don't have the right shoes and you see kids running up and down the slopes, i could help feel another 10 years added onto my shoulders.

driving back on desert road, is where you can see mt. ngaruhoe aka mt. doom and there's plenty of opportunity to snap photos from a far, it's not called desert road for nothing.

. Day #5.
end of holiday, need i say more?