February Week 112 2017

Hawke’s Bay is one of the warmest places in New Zealand, and that certainly was the case on Monday. With temperatures in the low 30s (I’m finally getting use to Celsius!) we thought it would be the perfect day for a swim in a nearby waterfall. Unfortunately there was a fire that closed the road, so we settled for a sub par beach. Tuesday morning we flew back to Auckland. After a day off on Wednesday, we went to Tiritiri Matangi with our flat mate, Mike, on Thursday. This is the bird sanctuary island in the Hauraki Gulf that we tried to stay at in November, but this time we did so successfully! Even though we didn’t see any kiwis, we did see tons of other birds including a close encounter with a little penguin coming back from a day of fishing. That night we also had a weird experience looking at the ocean, which was glowing. We eventually realized that there must be some kind of bioluminescent algae in the water. Thursday was rainy, but Friday brought some nice weather, so we spent time swimming in the ocean before catching the ferry back to Auckland.

Friday night we went to a cricket game with a bunch of our flat mates. NZ lost the match to South Africa, but it was a great night to socialize anyway. Saturday and Sunday were spent starting to get things in order for moving, except for a short break to see “Your Name” (which you should all check it).