What should we call that land to the north? ...How 'bout the Northland?

My study abroad group traveled to the Northland last weekend with Tracey, our Maori studies professor, and Joe, who co-founded the travel company GOOT.

We left the UniLodge around 11:30 and 11 of us (plus Joe) piled into te nui tea waka, the 12-passenger van that was our main vehicle for the weekend. The two other girls and Kevin and Tracey took Kevin's car and followed us up North, probably thinking Joe was an awful driver because he kept making the car "dance."

Matt was sitting shotgun (on the left, of course, because this country is backward), playing DJ with everyone's iPods (only not mine, because I don't have one). The music was very well-selected indeed and made for a fantastic ride. Joe also had a microphone attached to his visor that he brought down and used to tell us stories as we passed through the northern suburbs of Auckland. Both Tracey and Joe are experts on like, everything New Zealand, so that was really cool. We definitely learned a lot; it was almost like Matthew and his guidebooks were right there with me <3

We stopped at a beach called Smugglers' Cove, which I loved for purely Vermont reasons. It was incredibly beautiful, and secluded; in fact, it's called Smugglers' Cove because that's where whiskey was smuggled into the country during times of prohibition.

It is winter, yes, but it's still beautiful. We charged it. Mike jumped in. I touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time! Just absolutely gorgeous.

After about an hour of shell-collecting, dipping of toes, throwing the Frisbee, and generally being amazed at the beauty this world has to offer, we headed back toward the van for another beach.

Ocean Beach, just five minutes from Smuggs, is famous for its surf. We got there about dusk, and there were maybe seven people catching waves. It was really fun to watch! There was huge sand dune at the beach that the BU kids reveled in scaling and racing down... something I'd rather just watch. I collected more shells, including a St. Mike's-colored one :o)

When the sun really started sinking, we headed back to the van to drive the last hour to Paihia. If traveled straight, Paihia's about four hours North of Auckland. It's a small town, but it's made its mark being the gateway to the Bay of Islands. We would be lodging there both nights.

Upon arriving at the Saltwater Lodge, we were welcomed with a huge barbie of steak, chicken sausage, homefries, chips, salads... So good! Even if they didn't cook us a veritable feast, the Saltwater Lodge is the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in. Highly recommended to anyone who travels to Paihia. We ate as a group then headed upstairs to play some games before hitting up one of the many bars within walking distance. Really, a backpacker's haven.

Amanda taught us Psychiatrist, a game where the entire group shares one ailment and the psychiatrist has to diagnose us by asking us questions about ourselves. It took Matt a long time to figure out we were all the person to our left-- mostly because he had no idea how to play the game and we unfairly threw him into the position of psychiatrist. He's a good sport, though. I was the psychiatrist next and it took me awhile to figure out that everyone hated me when Amanda's legs were crossed, but they loved me when she uncrossed them. It also necessitated a thick skin... Kevin called me a bitch! I (perhaps unfairly) taught everyone The Game, and now we're game players for life. Aaaand you all just lost the Game.

Around 9:30, we headed out to the Salty Bar, which is part of the same building as our hostel (though, unfortunately, we did have to go outside...). The bad weather never came; in fact, the sky was as clear as I've ever seen it. It was actually more beautiful than I've ever seen a sky before. More stars than I could fathom. So gorgeous in this Southern hemisphere.

The bar was fun; mingling with each other and some locals. I met a Kiwi boy who I spent the rest of my evening with... :o) We left the bar and stayed out on the beach until 3 in the morning, under that beautiful southern sky. He pointed out the Southern Cross! So perfect. I'll probably never see him again, but it was a perfect night, so that's alright.

Photos of Day one here, for your viewing pleasure.

On Saturday we awoke and had breakfast in a fantastic cafe and then headed over to the Maritime Building in Paihia, to get ready for our first taste of NZ Adventure Tourism! We donned the provided wet-weather gear (rubber pants and a jacket that smelled like it could give us MRSA), and the provided adventure glasses. Luckily, I brought my aviators... We looked cool. Believe you me.

The Excitor goes a maximum of 45 knots, and thrives on ocean swells. Friday's bad weather was coming on Saturday, so we had those swells it needed. I'm not prone to motion sickness, but the Excitor seemed determined to test that. Thankfully, I didn't actually vom, but it was almost uncomfortable. Also, despite the sweet rubber suits, salt water managed to sneak in and awkwardly dampen my clothes (my lap? Really?). And next time I see the Bay of Islands, I might want a more informative/calm tour... I feel like the Excitor didn't provide for much in that department. But, it was definitely worth it, though, for the experience alone.

We got off in Russel, the town that used to be called "the Hellhole of the Pacific," because of the reputation of whalers, sailors and traders coming into the country. Drink and loose women were their favorite things, and Russel provided those for them. Since those colonial days, though, Russel has turned itself around and is now a cute oceanside town that's probably more hoppin' in the summer, but was still a nice place to visit. We toured the Pompallier House, New Zealand's oldest Catholic building. At one point, it was a mission house, a tannery, printshop and bindery to spread the Catholic Word to help native Maori bypass the heathen Church of England. It's now run as a museum, though the tannery, printshop and bindery still function, they're for tourism and educational purposes. We got to see how it's all done, which was kind of creepy, because I've never really thought about leather being actual animal skins. Ew.

We headed back to the Saltwater via ferry and I cooked pasta with pesto for Matt, Mike and myself. I wrote 16 pages in my personal journal, and then we went out as a group to another bar 12 steps away from the hostel to watch the All Blacks annihilate Australia. Joe wanted us all to get into the game-- even those who couldn't otherwise care less-- so he put every player (Blacks and Oz) into his hat and had us all choose two. If one of our players scored one of the first four tries, he'd buy us a drink. Needless to say, we all cared a lot about what was happening on the big screen. Unfortunately for the BU kids but fortunately in the grand scheme of things, Woodcock scored two of the first four tries, so Mike scored the first two free drinks. Typical.

It was a really fun night of group bonding, though, and that's all that really matters.

Sunday we went to the Waitangi treaty grounds, which was cool, because it put a little perspective and clarity on all Tracey has been teaching us in class. No doubt it will help for tonight's test...

The drive home was broken up along the west coast at Haruru Falls and in the Waipoua Kauri Forest. The kauri tree was prominent all over New Zealand until people discovered it was strong and sturdy, perfect for building waka (what a piece of work is man). It also has incredibly delicate roots, which is weird considering they're the most dominating tree in the forest, growing meters taller and wider than anything even close to it, so even stepping on ground around the trees weakens and even kills them. When the board of conservation discovered that all the kauri were being killed, they sectioned off this bit of forest and allowed for regrowth. Now, the Waipoua Kauri Forest is a hugely dense piece of land that's almost like a rainforest in climate. It houses Tane Mahuta, the largest (they say.) tree in NZ, which is overwhelmingly massive, but is actually not the largest tree in the country. There exists a larger kauri somewhere in the reserve, but it's not as famous as Tane, so Tourism NZ just says Tane is. We wanted to go looking for the bigger one, but Tracey said we'd get lost. She was probably right.

We stopped in Opononi for lunch and were going to go sandboarding, but the guy refused to take his boat out (something about bad weather again), so we just ate delicious fish & chips on the edge of the ocean.

Driving down the west coast of the North island was quite different than our ride up. The west coast is overwhelmingly Maori, and overwhelmingly poor. It was full of natural, physical beauty, juxtaposed against small, run-down shacks that probably house families of seven or eight. Dead cars are a prominent lawn decoration because car farming is a main source of income-- in the undeveloped west, there aren't many places that will tow a broken-down vehicle, so you can pay to leave your car in someone's yard. Quite different than any life I see in Auckland, that's for sure.

See the rest of the weekend's photos here.

As we descended the country, Auckland slowly began welcoming us back. We crossed the Harbour Bridge as the sky darkened, and the Sky Tower really is a beautiful city landmark, I must admit. After a fantastic weekend, I guess it was nice to be back.