Well it took us 2 days to finally adjust to sleeping at night and being awake during the day! We finally found some wifi thanks to the twins and were finally able to watch Gilmore Girls! We ate all our junk food and yes we teared up a bit, we just needed a hug after we watched the last episode.

We casually just didn't see this giant tool.

My 1st try at hiking the Pinnacles was a fail. I was all set, I had my snacks and water all I needed was to start, however I am exceptionally dumb. I just Google mapped Pinnacles and thought I would be good, not the case. Apparently you have to do research and figure out where the trail head begins. So instead Mags and I hit up Whangamata beach, it turned out to be a really great day. Whangamata is also where we figured out we stole something from Mike O.G. Mags has been complaining of some jingling sound in her door and every so often she just hits the door to make it stop. We thought it was just a loose screw or a window thing. Turns out it was the wrench Mike used to take off our tires to put on new break pads. How we missed this giant tool I’m not sure but as soon as we found it, the jingling stopped!

We finally left Pauinui with no real plans or directions, we just drove and it was so freeing! As we drove further up the Coromandel Peninsula it got a bit creepy. It felt very Shaw Shank Redemption like (I’ve never even seen that movie but I feel like it was a very accurate portrayal). This part of New Zealand had a very strong serial killer vibe. We did however have a very exciting road trip. Being in a large van we have to pull over to let people pass us because there is no way we can go as fast as them on these roads. We pulled over into a gravel pull over spot, but little did we know it would be such a hazard to get back on the road. We had to take a running start because our wheels would just spin in the gravel. This running start launched us over a bump back onto the road. At one point we only had 2 wheels on the ground! Drivers of the year! We made it to Whangapoua, a really cool beach with super creepy jagged rocks, which I of course climbed! Then it was off to New Chum Beach.

New Chum Beach is rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world because it is so remote. The only way to the beach is to hike it. You have to go through a stream and then climb over rocks to get to the trail. It was not a disappointment; we had the whole beach to ourselves! The next morning we headed to the town of Coromandel. There Maggie got herself some bubbles and I got a milkshake because I can’t go too long without a milkshake they are a major food group. We went to the information center to see what was around because we had ended up in Coromandel on a whim! That’s where we found out about the 309!

Sometimes when you are on the beach you forget you are in NZ and then you look out to the ocean and there are random islands and then you remember oh yeah New Zealand.

The 309 is a gravel road full of adventures. The first stop was Stu and his wild pigs. Apparently Stu is know to be some sort of crazy person who lives in the middle of no where and has domesticated these wild pigs. However when I met Stu he didn’t seem all that crazy, although crazies love other crazies! Either way it was one of the happiest days of my life! Stu just handed me a baby piglet and I have never been happier! Apparently baby pigs like to be held so they can cuddle into your elbow. Further down the road there was the Waiau waterfall. A small but still adorable waterfall! Maggie got to sit down and put her feet in what I thought was freezing cold water! From the 309 brochure we were given there was an advertisement for a water garden. We looked up the water garden and on their website it says “we have been told that we have the nicest toilets in New Zealand”, needless to say we were sold.

The Rapaura Watergardens were quite lovely, though I don’t think their toilets lived up to the hype. Don’t get me wrong they were lovely toilets they even had hand lotion, but the best toilets in New Zealand, nah. The Watergardens themselves were beautiful and had some really quirky decorations, which I love! At the top of the trail there was, you guessed it, another waterfall! From the Watergardens we were off to Thames only this time I had to drive! Reminder I hate driving and I’m not the best driver especially compared to Maggie’s city driving level! Also the roads are tiny gravel paths where there should really only be one lane roads but had 2 way traffic, why I’m not sure but it was stressful!

We spent the night in a lovely free campground that was right next to the warehouse and grocery store, which meant free wifi!!! The next day is was round 2 of trying to hike the Pinnacles. Maggie was really more excited for today than I was because as everyone knows I am one of the most exhausting people in every meaning of the word. Maggie was dying for a Maggie day far far away from me. I know right poor me, nah it’s ok it happens all the time this is the reason I have to have so many friends and people around me, so I don’t spend too much time with any of them as to no exhaust them and have them leave me forever. It’s quite a refined system I have! Also apparently Maggie sometimes just needs a day to herself, like not talking to anyone!! I have no idea how she does it, I need like maybe a Paris hour and then I need some form of noise or communication! Any way I digress, I did my best not to talk at all in the car ride to the Pinnacles so Maggie could have the full effect of a Maggie day!

I got out of the car and began my 6-hour journey; it ended up taking longer for reasons I could have never foreseen! About 10 minutes in I caved and had to talk to someone, I found a lovely father daughter team and struck up a conversation, they were from Spain. However the littler girl needed to sit down and I’m not one for sitting on a trail, so I kept going. I ended up hiking for a bit by myself before 2 Aussies approached me and asked if I had any extra water. I jokingly said yeah but what can you trade for it and they pulled out 2 bottles of beer! Needless to say we became best friends, I stuck with them for the rest of the hike and the day! One’s name was Scott and I think the other was maybe Matt, doesn’t matter they were awesome. They had their hiking packs on their back and a regular backpack on the front. Only the regular backpacks were full of beer and hard liquor. The liquor bags are why it took longer than I ever thought a hike would take! We finally made it to the top and the view was stunning, we were above all the trees and could see for miles. At the top I also finally got reception where I found out Mags had left the van in parking lot and joined Pia, Patrick, and Steph (the German family we met at Mikes) to go to a beach, and I was going to meet them there later in the day.

The last 45 min to the top was all stairs.

After the stairs there were ladders and these metal things that you had to climb, super safe! Scott did all of it with a beer in one hand, now that is talent!

This was perfect because I told the Aussies that I could give them a ride back to town! Going back down the trail tipsy was even more difficult than going up. But I ultimately made it down and found Paggie Waggie! Now I know I started out with 2 Aussies but somehow I had picked up 4 more, and I have no idea how that happened. Also Paggie Waggie really only has 3 seats so that was another issue, or so I thought. But Scott saw 2 people trekking back to the main road (25 min drive so a long walk) and offered them a ride too! So now there are 6 people in the van and an Aussie and me riding on the roof deck (I wasn’t about to miss out on that opportunity)! We dropped off the 2 backpackers 10 min down the road at their campsite and they were super grateful! The 2 of us on the roof rack got back in the car and headed back to Thames. However one of the Aussies said that he forgot to stretch at the end of the hike, so Scott pulled the car over and we all got out to stretch, it was one of the strangest things I think you could have witnessed on the side of the highway.

Back in Thames the Aussies wanted to go to the beach so they picked up some more beer at the store and we headed to the beach and made a day of it! I gave them the unfortunate news that I had to leave them to go to Opoutere to meet Mags. They said that they could come with me until we hit the next town to drop them off, this meant less of me having to drive the van so I was all for it! As obnoxious and annoying as I am the guys were just about as over the top as I am, theses are my people! We sang very loudly and off key to every song that came on whether we knew the words or not! There was also a lot of yelling “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Oi, Oi, Oi”. We exchanged numbers and they said if Maggie ever needs another Maggie day to hit em up! I hope Maggie won’t need too many more Maggie days because I did miss her.

After dropping off the guys I really only had 15 min of actual diving time to meet Mags, so it was a great day! I got to the campsite where Pia & Co. and Maggie were parked and apparently they had also picked up a hitchhiker from France, Julian, nice guy. I finally got to see Pia and she was walking full time no more crawling, they grow up so fast!

We had a group camping dinner and even invited over a solo camper to join us. He was from the Netherlands but lives in Berlin now, named Max. Max is a classic surfer, it sounded like just talking was such an effort for him, and we loved it. The best part about Max was his car somehow smelled fantastic! We ate we drank and we ate some more! The next morning we all said good-bye and went our separate ways. Mags and I were off to Whangamata, to say hey to Steve, our German friend from the bakery and to get a free shower.

When we were ready to leave we hit the curvy winding roads all the way to Whangamata. We parked right next to the beach used the outdoor showers and guess who pulls up…MAX! What a coincidence, more like NZ is so small you are bound to run into people you know. We watched him surf for a bit and then decided that we had to get going. We waved from the beach to say bye and were off to find wifi. We couldn’t find parking by the library so we had to turn around and park on the other side of the street, and guess who we ended up parking next to…PIA & CO. It was so crazy, we all went to a little café to get some well-deserved Internet time! Patrick is going to try to move to NZ, so Maggie and I being the professionals that we are, are getting him set up. He has to have his linked in profile going, a CV, and cover letters; thank god we brought all our designing applications!

We finally made it to the bakery where we got to see Steve before we headed out! The best part about working for the bakery is free coffee and pastries apparently for life! Steve pulled out all the treats and just gave them to us and Tovi, the barista, made us a latte and a hot chocolate. We are going to try to meet up with Steve and Lara go sky diving and to hike Mt. Taranaki, which is perfect because Lara is a slow walker and Maggie is in recovery so they can walk together and Steve and I can race to the top!

We finally made it to Mount Maunganui, we pulled into our parking space and not 5 min later pulls up Selena and Raphie! We just have so many friends now! We did another communal dinner and learned a few new card games! Hopefully tomorrow we will hike Mount Maunganui, Leisure Island, and see Olympic Mike!

End Notes

Mags has the most adorable saying every time we start a road trip: “And we are off like a herd of turtles” I laugh every time I just cant help it.

They have different cards in Germany, which makes sense but I just never thought about it before. The B is for the Jack because Jack in German is Baur. And the Queen is a D for Dame.