Day 11- November 13

Leaving day. We packed up and left the hostel at 9, setting off on the little trek back to our pick up point. The drive to Taupo wasn't long at all, but we made two stops along the way. At the first stop we had an option of activities; the geothermal park or the redwood forest- both things that we had already done! We chose the redwood forest because it was free and we are already noticing our purses getting significantly lighter. New Zealand is not a cheap country- even the museums aren't free! We only had an hour and a half at the woods, so we had to follow the same loops as we had the time before as it was the only one short enough, but it was still a charming enough walk, and the weather was mild.

Appreciating nature

The second stop we made was at Huka falls, part of the Waikato river, a 425km river running through the northern island. The name Waikato is a Maori word, and translates as 'flowing water'- not very imaginative compared to some of the Maori words and stories. There is a traditional Maori story about the origins of New Zealand, that claims that the North island is actually a giant fish, caught with the jawbone of someone's grandma.
One of their founding gods, Maui, wanted to go fishing with his brothers, however they refused to take him as he was the youngest and the runt of the family. So one day, Maui hid in the bottom of his brothers' boat and popped out when they were far out to sea. His brothers were angry and refused to give him any bait to fish with, so Maui punched himself in the nose to make it bleed, then used to jawbone of his grandma, which he kept as a talisman around his neck, as bait for the fish. He then cast it out to sea and caught the biggest fish of all—Te Ika-a-Maui, or, the North Island of New Zealand.
fun

Watching the sun set

That evening, we went out on a chartered boat, which was surprisingly cheap for New Zealand standards. The sun was out but I wouldn't necessarily call it warm. Some guys jumped off the boat into the water, trying to out-macho each other, but there were also fluffy blankets provided so we could all cuddle up on the top deck with drinks and pizza as the sun went down. We met some really interesting people, in particular a girl who had lived in Thailand for two years, and gave us the ins and outs of the country. Sometimes I find it hard to enjoy the present moment when I know we have so many exciting things coming up to look forward to!

Having a bit too much