9 February 2009

What a weekend!
The past weekend was a long-weekend as it included Waitangi Day on Friday. Waitangi Day celebrates the day when the Maori chiefs signed a treaty making the maori people British subjects and giving them the privileges of British subjects. Odd, then, that on the holiday we should spend our evening enjoying a Chinese Lantern Festival instead of some type of Waitangi Celebration. Nonetheless, we enjoyed an evening downtown at Albert Park sampling asian food (including herbed egg, plum juice, coconut rolls and oil sticks) and surveying the numerous lantern displays.
Saturday was spent mainly in our neighborhood. I woke up early and painted for a few hours on our porch. (I’ve decided to try acrylic painting as a way to relax and express the beautiful sights here in NZ. My first painting was quite laughable, but the second is better.) Brandon and I prepared a BBQ of homemade burgers and roasted vegetables to share with our friends, Dale and Amber, who brought along the ginger-beer and fair-trade chocolate. We then spent a couple of hours at our local beach, Pt. Chevalier Beach, swimming in the warm water and soaking up some sun. We decided to leave when, somehow, Brandon and Dale managed to attract all the toddlers in the area. The two men were swarmed by pudgy little arms and legs of children wanting to play. It made me a bit uncomfortable, actually. In Canada, it’s unlikely that a parent would allow their four year-old daughter play in the ocean with complete strangers. But here, children are very friendly and not afraid of strangers, and parents have no qualms about leaving their children to play on their own.
Sunday was the highlight of the weekend, by far! We woke up “early” (around 7) and headed out of the city with Dale and Amber. Destination: Goat Island. It’s not actually an island, but an ocean wildlife reserve. We borrowed snorkel gear, donned our masks, snorkels and fins, and headed into the deep! At first, I was panicky and hyperventilated a bit, but it didn’t take long to get into the rhythm of swimming and breathing with my face under the water. Besides, I was distracted by the seaweed and abundance of snapper. We all got over our inhibitions and were soon diving below to get a closer view of the sea floor. In total, we spent a few hours floating around hoping our backs weren’t burning. On our second excursion, after a short snack break, we went out into choppier water where less people were snorkeling as well. There, we found much bigger fish, and realized that although the waves look threatening from the shore, they’re quite harmless when you’re face-down in the water. Also, we were worried about the boulders that line the shore, but found that they were the most interesting areas to explore, as they provided many hiding places for creatures of all kinds. You may wonder, were there any sharks? Probably. Somewhere. But the night before we watched a documentary called “Sharkwater” which dispelled many rumors about sharks, and even I, who fears even the smallest fish might nibble my toes, was able to swim about without worries.
We left Goat Island around 2PM and set out for Pakiri Beach, an incredible white-sand beach just opposite the shores of Goat Island. Pakiri Beach is also a marine reserve, and well-known surf beach. When we arrived, the tide was coming in, and we spent a lot of time body-surfing. The conditions were perfect, as the ocean floor is packed sand, so no slimy things to worry about, and the water was so clear that even in deep water you could see your feet. That is, if the waves didn’t crash around you creating a beautiful white froth.
It seems we keep having to pinch ourselves. Do we really live here? Because it seems we’re just on some extended exotic vacation. Is it truly possible that we can visit beaches like these every weekend, even every day? It all seems too good to be true and we truly wish you were here!