Entries about beaches

A good night’s sleep is actually the only thing a person really needs and I was happy to have just that. Due to the fact that our room wasn’t available anymore last night, we got a complimentary breakfast. Okay, I have to admit, we had to ask for it, but on the other hand, they could have declined it, luckily they didn’t, so this meant that this morning we were going to have a luxurious breakfast.

There were just so many choices of hot and cold dishes, that it was difficult to decide what to eat first but since we had a long day ahead of us, we made sure we had enough food into our system. It was already after 10 AM when we left our hotel and went to the waterfront to have a look at the famous bridge and of course that other major sight in Sydney, the infamous Opera house. It is not the first time of course that we have seen these buildings, but seeing them is believing and when we gazed upon them, we knew we were back in our beloved Sydney.

Since the weather was so nice, we just walked for a while into the botanical gardens and than it was time to really soak up the sun and what better way to do that than at the beach, Bondi here we come!

Getting there was a totally different story. There were some major track works so instead of taking the subway train all the way to Bondi Junction, we had to get off at an earlier station, where we had to catch a bus. Luckily the walk towards the bus wasn’t that far and we even had a bit of time to spare before we could jump on the express bus towards Bondi Junction. Not that we were complaining, this only meant that we could soak up some more sun. It really is amazing that after almost 3 weeks of mostly bad weather, a bit of sunshine made all the difference.

As we arrived in Bondi Junction, we had to transfer on to another bus and although we didn’t had to wait long, by the time it arrived, it was already fully packed. It seemed that we weren’t the only once wanting to go to the beach and who can blame us all, the weather was just simply put … amazing!

The ride from Junction to the beach wasn’t that far and as soon as we got off, we were a bit distracted by the many shops just like a couple of years ago when we visited this place, but as soon as we were finished shopping and had a bite to eat, we could go and find ourselves a nice spot on the beach, which knowing us, didn’t take that long. It was an absolute bliss lying there in the sand and since it was so hot, it was nice that there was a cool wind blowing as well. I quickly closed my eyes and enjoyed this little moment of pure bliss. I’ve said it already a couple of times, but life really can be beautiful sometimes, especially when you are on holiday and don’t need to worry about anything but yourself. Is this selfish I wonder, but on the other hand I don’t care that much coz in the back of my mind I am saying to myself that I deserve this after so many months of hard working.

It was almost 6 PM when we called it a „day” coz the wind was blowing more stronger now and since most of the people were leaving, it was as good as time ever to do the same. In a way it was the right moment as well because just next to us there was a group of young English guys who got hassled by 2 girls from I don’t know where.

Although they seemed to have a strong accent, I guess they were locals, but they were just so waisted and did just about anything to score a drink from these guys. And I literally mean evertything!!! At a certain point one of them was completely naked and some people around us started to get really offended and who can blame them, that’s just not normal behavior on a family beach. Sitting so close to them, I could even hear one of the girls telling that they would do anything and they wouldn’t have to pay, so I was starting to think that I got a clue what their actual job was. When one of the two actually showed the moves, I was sure of it, well, if you come to think about it, it is never boring when you are at Bondi beach!!

On our way back to the bus stop, we decided to go for a quick dinner as well. It was going to take a while to get back to the centre of Sydney with all the track works, so by the time that we were going to arrive, it was going to be pretty late.

Like most of all our dinners, we wanted something really quick and not to greasy so once again this meant one thing and one thing alone … noodles! It seemed that this dish besides the Indian cuisine is really our favorite on this trip coz we were eating it on a daily basis. Maybe we should think about going to Asia or India on our next adventure!

As we were almost back into the centre, we got off in the neighborhood of Martins place and although it was already late, we still wanted to check out Darling Harbour. On our previous trip, we never went there during the evening, so we didn’t really see it with all the lights, but when we arrived at the spot, we were surprised to see lots and lots of people. What the heck was going on here???

Walking further and further towards the Imax theatre, I just had to ask, it was just too crazy seeing all these people sitting on the ground and waiting for something to happen and only 5 minutes later we got our answer. There was going to be a christmas fireworks at 9 PM. How sweet was that! Once again we were in luck, we only had to wait less than half an hour and of course we waited to see what that was all about.

In Belgium they don’t have such fireworks for Christmas, so this was a totally new experience for us, but seeing all the typical colors of christmas in the sky together with some christmas music, it really came to my mind to have a little chat with our mayor. Maybe they could do something like this as well. The fireworks were really nice and the atmosphere was amazing. With a big smile on our faces and singing the song of Rudolph the red nose reindeer, we slowly walked back to our hotel, where we still needed to get the key of our new room.

By the time we were back in our room and finally went for sleep it was already after midnight and it was as good as time ever coz tomorrow another adventurous activity awaited us.

When we woke up early this morning and I noticed the beautiful blue sky, I was the happiest person on the world. It seemed that good luck was finally on our side and as soon as we had breakfast, we were picked up by some kind of a school bus to bring us to the Abel Tasman NP. The drive in itself was about an hour and we were not only Topdeckers, we picked up other people from their hotels as well.

During our ride, the weather changed however and dark clouds were hovering above us, I guess we were all thinking the same thing, please let today be at least a good day!!!

As we arrived at Abel Tasman, the weather changed for the better again and I could jump for joy, but not after saying a quick goodbye to the rest of our group first. They were going to do a kayak trip and afterwards they even had a short walk, so this meant that me and Tania were on our own today for a leisurely half day of hiking. Bring it on I would say!

Our water taxi was going to drop us of at Medlands bay, but before we reached this place almost an hour later, we first had a look at the split rock and some fur seals, who were enjoying their sunbath. 

The walk from Medlands Bay towards Anchorage was about 11.5 kilometers, accordingly to the locals a fairly easy walk, so as soon as we got dropped of and Tania changed into some more "summery" clothes, we were on our way. The hike trough the forest was a bit steep and tiring, but as soon as we saw our first bay, this was all forgotten. There was even a lookout point, less than 1 km into the hike and by the time we got there I was out of breath not only because of the steepness of the hill but also of the beauty that surrounded us.

We quickly ate some power food, in this case a banana, and then we were on our way again. The walk back to the main coastal track was a bit cursed, for me that is. Just as I wanted to tell Tania to have a look at her right to see the beautiful colors of the water, which were greenish by the way, I tripped over some kind of small tree root and I fell smack on my face. If I have to be honest, it was not immediately right on my face because my right hand and left knee broke the fall, but however you put it, it wasn’t pleasant. I scraped my knee and hand and I seriously hurt my right elbow, but after recovering for about a minute or two, everything was fine again. Even my camera survived, it seems that Sony is a good brand and shockproof as well.

I know I am a clumsy person, but this is just downright stupid! On the other hand, I learned a valuable lesson today, no matter how beautiful the scenery is, look down as you are walking!!!!

Back on the main track, we walked for another few kilometers (we think anyway coz there were no signs to be found) in the sunshine when we suddenly saw another bay, called Sandfly Bay and since we still had enough time before we had to catch our water taxi back, we went for it and had a look at this bay as well. This time I remembered my lesson and walked very carefully, but by the time we arrived at the bay, the weather changed again on us and it started to rain. Bummer!

The beach itself looked nice and it had its own small creek, so instead of walking through the rain, we decided to wait it all out and about a few minutes later it finally cleared up again and for the better as well coz the sun kept on shining. Following the coastal track all the way towards Anchorage, we came across a few bridges, but the neatest of them all was the suspension bridge crossing Falls River.

Only 5 people could get on there at each time, so it needs no explanation that even when hiking, you could end up in some kind of „traffic jam”. But as soon as we crossed over, a real challenge began as we had to climb several meters uphill. As the minutes passed and we were still climbing, I thought that it was never going to end. This was really a steep hill and for some odd reason lots of people were passing us. I know I am a slow climber, but that slow???

Even when we finally came at a beautiful lookout point and the track was going downhill again, people were constantly passing us and at a given moment we were even scared that we missed out on something. What the heck was going on here???

We knew that we had to be in Torrent Bay before 2 PM because of the crossing and the low tide. If we weren’t on time, we had to take the long way up to Anchorage and there might be a chance that we were going to miss out on our water taxi, but now that everyone was passing us, we thought we had to move on as well coz maybe the walk was longer than we thought. We were utterly clueless when it came to the length of our hike. Where the heck were all the signs ??? Where we going in the right direction ??? One thinks of many things when you are all on your own in a NP, that’s for sure !!!

I don't know what was going on, but one thing I do know, we arrived at Torrent Bay way in time! It wasn't even 2 PM yet and with still a little time to spare before the high tide was coming, we decided to have lunch together with some cheeky seagulls at a more than beautiful beach. This truly is the life sometimes.

The crossing towards the low tide was only a few 100 meters away and while crossing it, we also needed to jump over a few creeks. Sadly enough they were a bit deeper than I thought and soon enough my walking shoes were a tiny bit wet. Maybe I should have followed Tania’s idea and brought a few sandals along, but hey, that was a bit too late now. The walk itself wasn’t that long and as we almost reached the forest again we had to cross an ever bigger stream so, time to walk barefooted. The water was surprisingly enough quite warm, but the ground was all squeezy, so I was glad that after walking a few meters, I could put on my shoes again and as soon as we walked up the stairs into the forest, we arrived at Anchorage Bay … surprise!!!

I still don’t know why people were rushing the whole time because even the two of us arrived an hour before our pick up time. Not that this was too bad of course, we walked a little further down the beach and as soon as we found a good enough spot to put our bags, we enjoyed the sun for a while. It truly was an amazing day.

By the time we were going to be picked up, we met up again with our fellow group members and while listening to their stories, I was more than glad that we didn’t went kayaking coz they had to stop because of too bad weather conditions and in the end they were stuck for a while on some kind of island where a water taxi had to pick them up and while stranded in the rain, they couldn’t do anything, I am glad we had such a nice walk, except for my little accident in the beginning of the hike that is.

Exactly at 3.45 PM, our taxi is there to bring us back to the beginning of the NP and by the time we got back, Tania received the bad news that she could’ t go skydiving because of the bad weather conditions, what the heck, the weather is just fine now!!! Go figure???

Once back in Nelson, there wasn’t much to do than finding something to eat and we tried a local Italian place, but our pasta was just so tiny that we had to go to the golden arches for a second course, we were really hungry and tired as well coz by the time we got showered and packed all of our stuff again it was time to close our eyes. Time really flies when you are in NZ.

I have to be honest, I have never slept so good on this trip till now. This is kind of strange coming out of my mouth since I am not exactly that good with boats, but somehow the rocking did the trick coz I was amongst one of the last to get up. Everyone was already dressed and very awake when I arrived with my sleepy head and tried to find something to eat. I was just so glad to see that they had oatmeal coz I love to eat this in the morning and together with some raisins it made up for a fine meal.

After brekkie, I met up with Roan and he told me that during the night a storm came up and he had to change the position of the boat. Apparently he was also afraid that some people were going to „freak out” because of the bad weather and from 3 AM till about 5 AM he didn’t sleep worrying about that. The worse thing about it is that no one on the boat had heard it, so this meant that the boat really rocked everyone to sleep in a real good way. I am just so sorry to hear that our captain lost sleep about this whole ordeal, while he just could have been sound asleep. Oh well, these are things that can happen on the job I suppose.

Now with everyone quite awake, there is a chance to go snorkeling for sea urchins, but for me the water is just simply put too cold and I gave this activity a miss, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t enjoyed watching the few that went along from a sunny place on the boat. It seemed they were really cold as well, coz only about 20 minutes later everyone was back in the boat with a catch of fresh sea urchins and a small starfish as well and of course I can't forget the sea snail, the latter I must say, was really a yukkie looking animal.

As soon as our snorkelers changed there clothes, the boat moved again and we sailed alongside a few islands till we reached Moturua Island for a small walk to some lookout point. Unfortunately it really was a short walk, but the views were amazing, the only downside is that the weather changes so quickly here in NZ and although it is almost all the time very cloudy, I really prefer the fluffy white ones over the dark ugly ones.

Luckily for the moment we only had light fluffy ones and once back on the beach, we had some free time on our hands to look for some neat shells.

Some of them have the shape of a ring and although finding them was not all that easy, I was lucky to have found at least 2. Tania on the other hand found some beautiful shells, the shapes are so amazing overhere coz back home we only have the dull round shaped ones, that is the fun of traveling I suppose.

It took a while for our dingy to come back and pick us up, we had to wait more than half an hour on the beach after our walk, but not that we minded much, our captain on the other hand wasn’t all that pleased coz it seemed that there was something wrong with the fuel filter of the boat and he needed to change that. It seemed that even "the Rock" has an illness once in a while. This on the other hand meant that we were going to arrive a little bit later in Paiha than expected, the place where we were going to stay for another night and meet up with the rest of the group again. I guess once again the captain worried more about that fact than us, we were on a holiday, so we didn’t mind at all.

Back on the boat again, lunch was being served and afterwards, we slowly made our way back to the mainland. In the beginning the weather was still fine, but that changed all for the worse about half an hour later coz rain just kept on pooring down on us. I am so lucky that we could sit inside where it was still a bit warmer than outside on the deck where the water made waves of about a meter high. This wasn’t looking good at all.

As we came closer and closer to mainland the weather changed again and this time I was more than happy to see the fluffy clouds again. It is really true what they say about NZ, whatever you plan to do, just do it anyway coz you can’t rely on the weather!!!

We arrived at Paiha with nice sunny weather, sadly enough it only lasted till we reached our hotel on foot.

With our baggage dropped of in our room, we first went back into the centre to buy some groceries and than it was as good as time ever to do another „start to run” lesson, number 3 already. It is strange how fast it is going and although we started out with okay weather, as soon as I went out of the main street and jogged towards the bridge it just came pooring down on us, coz just like me, Tania went for another lesson as well. 

The rain kept on falling on our heads, it was just unbelievable and by the time I ended my lesson, it was gone again, the weather is just so strange and I don’t think that I am ever going to get used to it. I know that we have bad weather in our country as well, but there it is somewhat predictable, here you’ll never know what is going to happen in the next half our or so, it is a strange way of living!

A nice hot shower washed away all my sorrows or should I say negative thoughts and of course the cold as well and as soon as we got into some dry clothes it was already time to have dinner with the group, which was in buffet style. The food itself wasn’t all that good, but since I was just so starving after my lesson, I just as easily have eaten anything that was planted in front of me.

With the weather still being a bit nice and more importantly dry, me and tania went back into town again to search for a dessert, but an hour later we didn’t had one coz all the eateries which served some yummy things were either closed or had nothing special for our sweet tooth and after a while, we just decided to go back to our room. After packing our stuff back into the big bag, it was already pretty late and once again I felled really tired. So there was nothing else to do than go to sleep.