Weekend in Matarangi

Things I've learned about New Zealand:
-They drive on the left side of the road - I still flinch whenever we round a corner to an oncoming car in the "wrong" lane
-I am 18 hours ahead of the east coast of the US (I am posting this on Monday morning)
-There is a flavor of ice cream called Hokey Pokey, and everyone knows what it is
-The hole in the ozone over Australia extends over NZ as well, causing short burn times (thankfully only my feet have suffered so far)
-I will, almost without fail, pronounce place names wrong on the first try

We spent Friday hanging out around Amanda's house. We made colorful crepes for breakfast and took a quick trip to the beach near her house. It was beautiful to look at, but the wind was blowing steadily so it was too cold to go in.

A crepe in my likeness

The beach near Amanda's house

After lunch, we met up with one of Amanda's friends from high school, Nikki, and Nikki's friend from college, Natasha, to go to Natasha's family's beach house in Matarangi. It was a stunningly beautiful drive that hugged the edge of the coast and twisted up and down through the hills. I was glad I was a passenger and didn't have to worry about keeping the car on the road!

Representative view of the high point of the drive

Later that night, Natasha's sister and more of their friends arrived, and the rest of the weekend was like a mini spring break full of games, swimming, eating and lounging. I took several swims in the Pacific, learned how to play cricket, and met a lot of great Kiwis.

The group lounging on the back porch

Our little slice of beach in Matarangi

I also finished reading Between a Rock and a Hard Place, so here's another quote, this time from Goethe: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

I'm off on a three-day camping trip around central North Island, and then to Queenstown on Thursday, so I'll try to write again there.