lazy sunday

The campground kicked everybody out at 10 am, so we didn’t get to sleep in, but we did everything else possible to make it a lazy Sunday – no rising from the sleep early this Easter! After packing up camp, we drove Lex and Ann’s stuff into town while the rest of us walked, and we stopped at the i-site so they could find a hostel to check into. I called Mom and Dad to say hi and get my PADI number to dive tomorrow, and Ann did some research for a dive center.

We booked a day-long drive trip to the Poor Knights from a dive center in Tutukaka, and after picking out a campground in the DOC book decided based on the distance that we had some time to spare to hang out with Lex and Ann back at their hostel. We went back there, hoping we might be able to sneak in a shower too, but the hostel manager was diligent and I didn’t manage to get one. We called Sabrina - so hard to believe it’s been just over 2 months since she left! I learned the hard way that the $2/hour mobile phone rates for calls to the US turns to $1.35/minute after your first hour is up…and I’d just topped up my phone, so the damage wasn’t cut off by my usually-low balance! Oh well, good to catch up.

Tonight, our frustration with DOC’s N Island campsite directions reached new levels. We drove 28km down a windy, unpaved road to try to find Otamure Bay near Whananaki South, but ended up only finding a flooded coastline as the unpaved road ended unceremoniously and without any warning road signs.

Exhausted from driving through the pouring rain on tough roads, we backtracked and were thinking of just parking outside the dive center when we found a nice beachside pull-off with a few other campers. No spot for a tent, but no matter – we were tired enough to just put on a few extra layers for warmth, lean the seats back, and fall asleep right in the car.