December 22nd 2010
What a day it was! The sights! The sounds! The smells! The bay of islands is everyting I could hope for and more. I feel like I can't type fast enough to get out my thoughts. The beauty can't be captured with a phtograph or even words!
We got on the bus today in Auckland. Everyone seemed a bit shy at first but I couldn't wait to meet everyone. We met Sam, Brooks and Ben (from Alabama) at breakfast. They looked like Contiki people right away. We began asking all the usually questions...Where are you from? How old are you? Where else have you been? Have you ever done Contiki?
Emmo, our tour guide, sent us off to buy a secret Santa gift for Christmas day. We rushed around Auckland looking for the perfect gift.
(Us on the bus on the first day)
(Leaving Auckland, on the way to the Bay of Islands)
Our first stop was at Pauhi Kerry Park. they have large trees...nothing like the red woods but still quite amazing. the best part was the lush green walk around the trees. The weather was humid and we could hear all the bugs communicating with each other. It felt and sounded like the midwest. Like a trip I have experienced when visiting family. We couldn't see the sky on the walk because the green was so dense.
On the bus Bryan and I kept switching spots with people in order to meet everyone. There was only 15 at the time but there were more people that would be picked up on the way. When we got to the Bay of Islands we immediately went to a store to buy snacks and booze. We bought bread, peanut butter and honey, to save on money.
Making it to the Bay of Islands. oh, the life!
The beautiful Bay of Islands.
Our tour bus and bus driver, Mikey!
Not wasting anytime we jumped in a boat and went parasailing. Soring 1200 feet in the air was incrediable. We got a bird-eye view of the Bay of Islands. I get chills just thinking about it. The wind in my face and the distance at my feet. I felt like I was flying. It was freezing and terrifying all at the same time.
Bryan and I hung upside down, a trick we learned from the Slattery's. They went first.
The amazing view!
We survived!
Dinner was wonderful.Yummy beer can chicken.We thought our tour guide was saying big hair chicken! HA. It was super funny. Then off to the bar for our first epic night of drinking. Bryan showed off his disappearing beer trick. All nations are impressed by this. I guess it's a gift that I have to accept. Everyone was so great.
