Kind of tacky, lots of touristy, but that didn't take away the overall beachy- kiwi ambience.
We booked the 'Patch' tour with Stray bus travel -- which is one of the bigger backpacking travel companies on both islands. We booked 'Patch' as test run to see if we wanted to book a bigger tour with them.
I wasn't completely sold on the idea of a bus tour with 30 ish other travel backpackers-- but for the price and what we got to do, we decided to give it a shot.
Stray Tours and all the rest of the New Zealand Bus Tours have different packages and itineraries for both the North and South Island-- all different prices and all different amounted of time. It's a convenient way to see the country but it's all super planned out. Part of my hesitation to do the tour was it felt like it wasn't me in charge of my trip-- it was some company... Anyways we gave Stray a whirl.
We made our way on a bumpy Stray bus up to the Bay of Islands and had first night guaranteed accommodation ( All Stray Bus Tours guarantee at least the first --which is extremely convenient during the high season, which confidentially LP and I are in the tail end of).
We roomed with a few Dutch girls, a German girl .................and two Scottish guys........... Ladies, please let that sink in.
Our first night in the Bay of Islands we were welcomed with a 4:30ish am fire alarm. The thing about fire alarms in the States and I assume other countries as well... First responders are there within minutes. There were no cop cars, no fire brigade, no nothing for our AM fire alarm.. Fortunately there was no fire... But still Bay of Islands is not a large place and that alarm was so damn loud. The 'fire' was some idiot who tried smoking in the room apparently.
Our real wake up call was for 6:45, another Tour Bus picked us up (the US now I'm referring to are the people who boomed with Stray, the Kiwi Experience etc) and took us on an adventure up even more North.
Cape Reinga is close to the most Northern part of NZ, and as I mentioned in the last post, a very spiritual place for the Maori culture. Cape Reinga is the crossing over of the dead- spirits of the Maori. There's a light house there at Cape Reinga, and a few coastal walks--- but with out tour we were there for 45 minute and 45 minutes only. So.
Our tour included this thing called 'sand boarding', heard of it? It's exactly like what it sounds like... On the western part of the North are these absolutely massive sand dunes, I'm talking 6 or 8 stories high. You get a boogie or body board and it's just one big slide. Of course getting to the top is the toughest part. Sand is extremely hard to walk on up hill. And the those dunes are really freaking high.
I get to the top of the dune and feel like throwing up-- it's so high!!!!!! And I looked down. Don't ever look down. It's terrifying and exhilarating all at once. The ride down was quick and easy (that's what she said? )
Then it was on to 90 mile beach, which is actually more like 90 km beach, which in New Zealand it's actually considered a road/highway.. It's on the map like a road. The beach is super wide. Driving on the beach in NZ is nothing like driving on the Beach in say.. Daytona Florida. First because its basically deserted, second, it's not trashy-- literally, figuratively, physically.... Etc.
I did get a little sunburn (sorry Mom). And the general consensus about the Stray tour was.. It's a nice way to get around and it got us up to the Bay of Islands but the idea of an Itinerary that wasn't completely our own and kind of getting the feeling that we were cattle being herded (some may disagree that we aren't cows..... we are just nice girls) . This is a very successful company on NZ but the way they did things just wasn't and isn't the way LP and I want to use our time.
AND FINALLY....Of course the only picture I got of this experience on my phone is. The picture of the BEST food I've eaten on this trip so far... Fish and chips.
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