Saturday morning we woke up and decided to laze around in bed for most of the morning. We are our 'love muffins' that we had picked up from the Piha Store the day before. Eventually, Claire asked us if we wanted to go on a hike with her on the North Beach of Piha so we went out with her on a short hike. There hasn't been a hike in this country with a disappointing view so far!
Claire told us about how Edmund Hillary (Kiwi, famous for hiking Mt Everest) had a batch not far off the path we hiked. (A 'batch' is a term for a rugged little holiday home) She occasionally will pack a thermos of tea and trespass to drink it in his garden. She says that when good people trespass it discourages not good people from trespassing. Pretty solid logic I guess?
There is a four day, 77km trail named after him that runs the coast of some of the prettiest, mountainous parts of the coast. Better done in summer I assume... The nights get below 30 here in July.
On our way out of Piha we stopped for lunch at the Piha Cafe one last time and ate our food with a view of the beach. After that we set out for Te Awamutu. Earlier, a Man from Aukland had been kind enough to tell us that there is nothing in Te Awamutu but a bunch of farms. Good....that's what we're going there for!
The drive to Te Awamutu was amazing. It was just rolling green hills with the occasional herds of cows or sheep roaming on them. It's really just green the entire way. Te Awamutu is a small town. We got groceries and fell asleep pretty early. Sunday morning we got up and set out for...yeah...another hike.
We went to Mount Pirongia Forrest park for an easy treck. The first half of the hike followed a stream and passed through farm land. It was like walking through The Shire, basically. It was about 35 degrees outside and the ground was still frozen when we started walking.
Halfway through the hike we had the option to go through a cave. I was less than thrilled but Murphy was really into the idea of it so we did it. Here are pictures of the cave and me fighting off a panic attack. Murphy is a born caver! I'm claustrophobic.
Kidding. Unfortunately.
We stopped in a meadow on the way back out and enjoyed the view. We sat and ate a picnic and read for what must have been over an hour. I made good use of the gifts my friends gave me before I left <3
We made dinner back at our room (some really nasty Alfredo....New Zealand, what is wrong with your Alfredo sauce? It's embarrassing. But maybe we shouldn't have bought the cheapest brand.) ...and prepared for work the next morning.
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