Weaving 101 and Bed Bugs

After a wonderful nights rest at Trevor and Raewyn’s, I woke up to have breakfast on their deck which overlooked the harbor. It was sunny and peaceful. Mid-morning, I walked down to the information center to book a bus to Tauranga. I went back to the apartment and talked to Raewyn for a while during which she told me about the flax weaving she did. Flax is a type of plant that grows abundantly here and the Maori used it for their traditional dress. We drove a short ways, cut some flax, and then took it back to the apartment where she showed me how to make a simple flax flower. It was great. At 1pm, I said goodbye and made my way to the information center to catch the bus.

My morning

My wonderful hosts in Whitianga, Raewyn and Trevor

Flax flowers. I made the one on the left.

As we approached Thames, we came close to getting in an accident. I don’t think the bus driver was paying attention as well as he should have and got to close to the car in front of us. He swerved to avoid a crash and brakes could be smelled. When we arrived in Thames, I had to switch buses. A little under two hours later, we arrived in Tauranga. As usual, I went into the information center to inquire about hostels. Rather than staying in Tauranga, I took a bus to Mount Maunganui, which without stops would be about 15 minutes away. It was about 5:30pm when I arrived at Mount Backpackers Hostel which happened to be the most expensive hostel thus far at $30. This was probably due to the close location to the Mount and the beach. Each hostel I’ve been at has a different personality and although it wasn’t terrible, I didn’t really like the vibe I got from the hostel. I went out to walk around for a bit and you know what I saw right across the street? A fish and chip shop! That’s right folks, once again, I had fish and chips for dinner. I will admit though, that after that, I think I may have reached my threshold for fish and chips. Temporarily. I guarantee you that I will eat more fish and chips, just not for a few days. I walked down to the beach which was beautiful as the sun was going down. I spent some time reading at the hostel before calling it a night. I laid in bed with the lights on because there were others in the room who weren’t sleeping yet. As I lay there, you know what I saw?! Two tiny bugs crawling around on my sheets as though they didn’t have a care in the world. EEEEEEKKK!!! Okay, maybe I didn’t scream but it did cause me to be a little paranoid the rest of the night.

After all the fish and chips I talk about, I figured maybe I should
show you a picture. This one came with a sausage and pototo fritter too. $5

Rainbow over the beach

Mount Maunganui as the sun was going down.

In the morning, I quietly made my way out of the room, trying not to wake everyone else in the room who was still sleeping. I went to the kitchen area to have breakfast of apple with peanut butter and a muesli bar (granola bar). Apples are my fruit of choice because they are relatively cheap and when thrown in my pack which gets tossed around, they don’t bruise easily. I bought a bus ticket to Rotorua and then packed my bag to leave at the hostel as I went out for the day. I strolled along the main street, which is quite touristy with little shops containing overpriced items. I then sat outside McDonalds in order to get free wifi before continuing on my way to Mount Maunganui. I stopped to get ice cream along the way J I then proceeded to summit the Mount. I should have gone earlier in the day because by this time the sun was out and scorching. Although it felt good to reach the summit, the view wasn’t spectacular. It was good but not great. I took a different route down and upon reaching the bottom, I then walked the 2.5km around the Mount. Were I to do it again, I would rather walk around the Mount than walk up it. I then went to the beach where I read and watched surfers. The time to catch my bus was drawing near so I collected my stuff from the hostel, got a Subway footlong, and walked to the bus stop.

From the top of Mount Maunganui

The walk around the Mount

SHEEP!

walk around the Mount

It's a rough life.

One Easter when I was a kid, my brother, sister, and I had hard boiled and dyed eggs. We then took turns hiding the eggs around the house. Being the young children that we were, there was one time that one of us forgot where we hid one of the eggs. (I don’t remember which one of us it was). After a significant amount of time (weeks maybe), we found the egg. Now you may be wondering, what does that have to do with anything? Upon arriving in Rotorua, I was greeted by what I imagined that egg smelled like after weeks of sitting at room temperature. The whole town smells of rotten eggs because of the sulfuric hot pools. Although I can still smell it, after time, it’s not so bad. The bus dropped me off at the information center. It was closed. How on earth was I going to find a hostel?! Have no fear, this girl has learned how to solve problems such as these! I began walking and sure enough, there was a hostel. It was full but they were kind enough to direct me to another one close by. Central Backpackers. I like it here. I spent the evening at the hostel, going in the hot pool, relaxing, and reading.

Today is a rainy day so at the moment I am sitting in a coffee shop catching up on things and taking advantage of their free wifi. Oh, and I ate an amazing muffin! Peach with custard filling. It was so good.