Auckland to Mt Maunganui

Feb 10 – Sushi

After many mornings of oatmeal I was super stoked to make crepes for breakfast. While I was cooking Beau got started on folding our laundry which was strewn around Elaine's family room. I made up a batch of crepes for Beau, Shane and I but it became clear quickly that more crepes were needed. The boys asked nicely so I made a second batch of crepes after which we were stuffed. Shane had some errands to run and since it was relatively complicated to add another driver to the rental car Beau took Shane out on an excursion. In the mean time I showered and was sadly excited to do my hair. The guys got back and had found some of our sushi supplies for this evening. We dropped Shane off at work and picked Elaine up from work. I had to go in to get her and Elaine introduced me to some of her co-workers. Many of them thought we looked very alike. I think we look like sisters but it also played apart that my hair is about shoulder length as is Elaine's (we never have had the same length of hair) and I was wearing her clothes. We went into the seafood market to pick up some nice fresh salmon for sushi tonight. We popped back to the house so Elaine could change and we could stick the fish in the fridge then it was off to the airport. Mom and Dad had a three hour layover in Auckland on their way to Tahiti so we were meeting them for coffee. We got to the airport, during rush hour, and Elaine and I went in to find the rents while Beau did laps in the car. We found Mom and Dad then walked outside right as Beau was coming around in the lot. We did get a dirty look from the traffic marshal as we quickly piled into the car. We headed to a near by shopping center and had coffee. We caught up on all that we had missed over the past few weeks and before we knew it it was time to take them back to the airport. We said our goodbyes as none of us know when we'll see each other next :( We popped into CountDown on the way home and picked up the rest of our sushi ingredients. Beau and I got started on our sushi prep which was relatively intensive with lots of chopping. We had salmon, shrimp, crab, sweet potato, carrot, cucumber, and avocado. We made a crap ton of sushi and gorged ourselves on it when it was finally done. It was way better to make it at home than to go out for it! After we decided to play a game of Trivia Pursuit. It was a good game and Elaine won, even in her sleep deprived state (she was up around 5am for work). After the game most of us headed to bed although Beau stayed up to work his website.

Yummy Sushi!

Feb 11 – Goat Island

Beau made seafood omelets for breakfast this morning with some of our left over sushi ingredients. After breakfast the three of us hung out for a bit. Elaine and I then headed out to the Green Stone Shop (Jade). We found a lovely pendant for Elaine's birthday and I bought myself some lovely jade earrings. We picked up some groceries for dinner and headed back to the house. Elaine and I made a yummy tuna melt sandwich for lunch but Beau had been pigging out on crackers and peanut butter so he declined. Once Shane had gotten home from work we set off for Goat Island Marine Reserve to go snorkeling. When we reached Goat Island it was starting to cloud over... boooo. Beau and I went snorkeling and saw lots of fishes but it was pretty chilly. I love my snorkel gear though, the mask is awesome and for what we paid for the rest it works pretty darn good. We went in then Elaine and Shane went out. I got showered and dressed while Beau chilled on the beach. Elaine and Shane came in and were totally pumped, they had seen a sting ray! The sun had hidden itself behind a big dark cloud so we headed up to the car and the other three got cleaned up. It started raining while they were getting changed so we got our snorkel in just in time. During our ride back into Auckland we discussed whether we should pick something up for dinner or still make bean burgers as planned. When we got back to the house we had decided to go ahead and make bean burgers. Elaine and I started on the burgers while the boys ran out to pick up lettuce and tomato. Man were they good. We were so stuffed, Beau could only eat one! The rest of the evening passed very quietly.

Goat Fish

Feb 12 – Shopping

This morning I made Elaine her promised crepes and I also made a pineapple ginger sauce to go with. The sauce turned out pretty good although it could have been more syrupy. Shane had to work at 10 so I made sure to be up in time so he could enjoy breakfast with us. After breakfast, clean up and showers Elaine and I headed down Queen street to do some shopping. We were shopping for my birthday present. We checked out a bunch of stores but unfortunately what's “in style” right now is awful. It's like 80's crossed with 50's mixed with pastels. Man am I glad this year I don't have to shop much. We did have fun in one store though. Elaine was bad and put the idea in my head that I could mail something home so we tried on some pretty dresses. We didn't get me one but that might change when I come back to Auckland. We were both famished so we headed back to the house and made left over bean burgers for lunch. After lunch we thought of another store to check out so decided to run out to them too. On our way out we ran into Shane on his way home for work. We didn't have any more luck with the other two stores but one way closed which didn't help. When we returned the boys were going to go for a walk. Beau and I had been talking about leaving Auckland tonight but we decided to stay even though we would have to park on the street over night and make sure we either moved or payed for parking. I started on my packing while they went walking. When the guys got back we started talking about what to do for dinner. We decided to go out and then proceeded to hunt through their entertainment book to find a deal. I was surprised and delighted to find a Thai-Laos restaurant nearby. We decided on this place and brought a bottle of wine with us. Many restaurants here allow BYO for wine for a small corking fee. The food was really good and they had sticky rice!! I was very excited to have sticky rice outside of Lao and to be able to share the fun with Elaine and Shane. After dinner we decided to pick up another bottle of wine and some ice cream, there was still pineapple ginger sauce left over from this morning. It was pouring rain out still (it started raining when we were trying to park for dinner) but Shane and Beau brought the car around for Elaine and I, such gentlemen. Back at Elaine and Shane's there were no handy parking spaces across the street so Beau had to park a fair ways away and book it back through the rain. We did have wine and ice cream at the ready when he got back in. We enjoyed our dessert with tv then headed to bed.

Feb 13 – Mt Maunganui

We left Auckland fairly early this morning. Elaine and Shane's room mates had returned the night before so we had to park on the street which is only free until 8am. Luckily Sam left with the car so we pulled into his spot for about half an hour to load up. We were on the road by 8:30. We were heading to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty today. Along the way we stopped to buy some cheap gas and also got a deal on some avocados. We arrived in Mt Maunganui, which is just past Tauranga, and had a lovely Subway sandwich for lunch. We were full out of groceries and Subway is about the cheapest way for us to eat a healthy lunch. We wandered along the main drag checking out some of the little shops. It was fairly nice out at this point, it hadn't been promising earlier, so we decided to go for a walk around the base of Mt Maunganui. It was a leisurely 45-60min walk and was quite pretty. There were some other walks you could do too but I didn't feel like climbing a mountain today. While on our walk we noticed some guys with parachutes above the mountain. I'm guessing they had jumped out of a plane or something because they were too high to have jumped from the mountain. It would be a pretty awesome view from up there. After our walk we headed back to the car and drove along the beachfront and took in the view of the beach, the cafes and the condos. We headed into Tauranga to find a grocery store. We were successful with a Pak 'n' Save and got loaded up. We were headed to the Matata DOC site for the night. As we were driving it started to rain. It hadn't stopped when we reached the camp site so we decided to attempt sleeping in the car. We got situated by a tree and set up the tarp between the car and the tree. Our little set up let us cook in the back of the car with the hatch open and kept us dry. We got lucky though and the rain let up for a but and the sun came out. Sadly we could still see rain clouds in the not too distant distance. We got everything done before it started to rain again and then we snuggled down into the back of the car for a relatively comfortable nights sleep.

@ Mt Maunganui

Pukeko wandering by the car, they are a raptor-like bird