I got a little more work done with Terry and Emily before deciding to leave Colville. I’m not great at goodbyes and always draw them out, but finally got in the car and headed south. I left the night before my 30th birthday to reach Mt. Maunganui and slept in my campercar for the first time so far! It was a weird experience, the car is very cramped and I was sleeping in a parking lot in the industrial part of the city. There was a really bright streetlight over my head, and it was stinkin hot inside. And I was sooo so nervous to take a big leap the next day.
With not as much sleep as I would have liked, I drove over to the Tauranga Airport and donned a skydiving suit and helmet! I decided to celebrate my 30th birthday by jumping out of a perfectly working plane. I jumped from 15,000 ft and it took about 82 seconds to freefall to half that height. It was absolutely unreal to be climbing higher and higher in the plane, asking my jumper questions about the local geography and industries we could see, and knowing I was going to be falling to the earth in just a few minutes!! Standing on the little ledge on the outside of the plane, and suddenly tipping forward was such a rush of whatever the fear hormone is haha.
When I was on solid ground, I was so jazzed about the jump that I had to go do some exercise. There’s this giant mountain that sticks up out at the end of the Mt. Maunganui beach, so I went for a little run around it and just missed beating my best 5k time. Oh well, another time! Today can’t be perfect. And as I sat on the beach, alone with no plans for the rest of the afternoon, I thought “what the hell am I doing?” and I booked a hostel down the street, packed up and checked in. Unfortunately I didn’t really make any friends when I arrived. It was full of people staying there with long term jobs, and it felt like a lot of people had their established friend groups. So after a bit of a nap I left and took myself out for drinks and dinner.
After dinner, I picked up a case of Pals and cracked em at the hostel’s big table. I was on my phone, and so was the person in front of me, and suddenly we both put our phones down and looked at each other at the same time and spoke to each other!! Moa was also here just for a few nights and we and got some others to join us. We went to a live show at the bar down the street, and I finally told them it was my 30th birthday! We all danced to classic kiwi hits till closing time, which is what you have to do for your 30th birthday.
The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind. I met Kenny and Reuben and Hannah, and I spent a day hiking up Mt. Maunganui and visiting a nearby waterfall with Kenny. I really enjoyed getting to know him, and a bigger group of us hit the bar across the street that night. Finally, I was a part of the loud club music that filled my hostel room while I tried to sleep!
And just like that, it was time to hit the road again. This time, I headed further South to Rotorua to see the lakes, the hot pools, and redwoods! It was a really lovely week, but I found myself struggling to decide what to do, when to do it, and how to build my day when living out of a car and not having a regular access to showers and bathrooms. Especially without anyone to bounce ideas off of. I called my friend Alexa at one point to get the “solo traveller” perspective on this problem and she really helped talk me off the ledge!
I still had trouble that week, but things got better thereafter. I learned where to park my car, I bought a little keytag that gave me access to showers at some campgrounds for $2, and I sunk my teeth into learning about the local Maori culture and history. It’s a geographically fascinating area, with a rich Maori history of using the unique environment to cook and bathe. They also showcase their unique land by guiding foreigners to the pools, a practice that dates back a couple of centuries. Rotorua is a super cool place, and certainly worth a few days of hikes, tours, runs or bicycle rides, and relaxing spa time.
Then I took a step backwards and went to Hobbiton! It was such a beautiful evening as we walked around the movie set, taking photos of the hobbit holes and of me posing like a goofball behind the various carts. The beer at the end was a great treat too.
After that awesome and expensive excursion, I drove down to Taupo for a quiet and relaxing weekend before I started my next Workaway. Big highlights here were going for a swim in Lake Taupo, taking a long walk by the river, throwing a frisbee again, and sleeping in a house with A/C. Next stop, Whakatane!