View overlooking the bay from right next to the hostel.
I took a selfie right after getting off of the bus. Long ride, early in the morning. I was very glad to arrive to such beautiful nature.
I arrived in Paihia, based on the recommendation of my friend Kirsten who I had met in Tulum at the beginning of my travels. She had been to Paihia two years ago. She lamented not being able to do the cruise because of the weather but did recommend a nearby hike. This sounded like a pretty simple two day journey that I could easily handle without any sort of "fear of missing out".
The bus ride into Paihia offers views of the waterfront and its many marinas. Boats. Lots of boats. Just like in The States, boats are for wealthy people. So, it became clear, that the Bay of Islands is a play for the wealthy or people who like to spend money, at least. It was interesting to me that they even had accommodations for backpackers. There were quite a few hostels to choose from! The restaurants were outrageously priced though so I was not about to try get the seafood here. I figured, hey, after 3 months of traveling, these will be the hostels where I finally use the kitchen and cook my meals. (I didn’t realize that all of the German 20 year-olds also had the same idea).
The plan was simple: one day would be dedicated to the famous cruise to see The Hole in the Rock and a whole bunch of islands and another day would be dedicated to hiking to the waterfall.
The cruise was filled with gawking tourists who loved to push in front of each other, blocking each other’s views of the islands and cliffs. I decided to sit most of the time and enjoy the view away from all of the pushing. It was stressing me out.
I was able to capture this famous picture of The Hole In The Rock by being strategic and patient.
This is what it really looked like on the boat. I chose to wait for everyone else to get their shots in first and then slowly proceeded to make space for myself.
No space along the side of the boat. If you wanted to get shots without other people in them, you had to be strategic or engage yourself in pushy behavior.
The rocks were beautiful. The cruise offers so many photogenic angles to capture sailing ships with cliffs in the distance. The captain told us the history of the Maori inhabitants of the islands and how one-by-one they were purchased by European settlers. We saw the island where The Queen stayed.
Isn't that just gorgeous!?
The subsequent hike was a wonderful surprise. It was a mangrove hike! With bridges everywhree! My readers who have followed me since my days in Mexico know that I adore mangroves, from Celestun. I also love all things infrastructure and bridges. Keep scrolling down...
You go through quite a bit of bush walk to get to this magnificent entrance to the mangrove trail.
A special type of mangrove whose roots are vertical and exposed during low tide.
I also started to realize at this point that everyday in New Zealand was going to be more and more pretty things. I had not prepared myself for the amount of sightseeing that was about to come my way.
I started to go to the supermarket in each town and buy noodles and veggies. Sometimes I would by that grilled chicken you can fry up really quickly. Some hostels had giant kitchens with multiple cooking areas. Other hostels had kitchens that are like your mom's house, so you can imagine sharing burners on stove requires incredible friendliness and patience.
I met some really interesting youngins at the hostel in Paihia. Mostly early 20's folks who had just finished exams in France, Holland, Switzerland or Germany. I did meet an American guy from Maryland and he taught us all how to play the card game "Asshole". I bought a few bottles of wine from the liquor store that night for all of us to share. When is someone from the United Nations going to call me to thank me for my contributions to US-European relations? I'm kidding!!
At the falls, taken by a lovely French couple I had met.
High tide in the mangrove forest.