as always, a small world

the bartender here at o'carrolls pub chatted me up with a friendly
where ya from. San Francisco. really? I spent a summer in this small
CA town. Coloma, you prolly haven't heard of it? ha. raft guide are
ya? yes, how'd ya know? oh, I know. company? ARR. Coloma club. oh boy,
many lost nights there. yup, nuff said. what happens at the Coloma
club, stays at the Coloma club. agreed. ;)

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victorious little canyoneers!

we spent about 2 hours climbling down the river. the one big rapel,
several big jumps, shimmied through little passageways in the rocks,
and generally had a fun time playing in the water! group was lovely,
and had a lot if fun travel stories from all over the world to share.
Jana, that trip to Croatia we talked about is moving up on the list,
fo sho.

much happier with face not in waterfall!

photo op with face in the waterfall

why did I stick my face in the waterfall?

hanging on the edge...

we rapelled down this waterfall that was cut in a narrow little
canyon. only about a person and a half wide for most of the descent.
the water was basically gushing down on top of ya while ya lowered
yourself down the ropes. I am really bad judge of distances, but
guessing it was 60+ feet?! super fun! super ugly wetsuit, eh?!

heading downstream...

no we didn't go down this falls... but it sure was pretty to look at!

canyoning crew

got all bundled up In the gear, and hiked about 20 minutes upstream to
the first waterfall. swam around under the falls in the COLD water and
really appreciated the thick (yet akward) wetsuit. we then proceeded
downstream to our big rapel.

Bradley, this one's for you.

back to Auckland mid-afternoon... I was hungry and thirsty, so walked
bavk downtown and found myself a seat at an outdoor picinic table on
Vulcan lane at o'carrolls pub, and settled in for some beer n fries.
vacation afternoon indeed. :)

toes in sand = happy girl

after our super fun canyon adventure (photos & details about that to
come later tonight!)... we had a little time to head to the beach,
and dive in for a few minutes. the tide was unusually low, and rip
currents were mild, so it was perfect for an afternoon swim. toes in
the black sand, and warm ocean. like I said, could have happily lost
my first week there if our guide didn't make sure we got back in the
car!

piha beach in the morning...

was picked up early at the hostel this am for my canyoning adventure
by Tony, our canyon guide. full van of 8 of us eager for adventure.
short n windy 40 min drive from Auckland took us the the gorgeous west
coast beach Piah, a legendary surf spot. i heart beaches, so glad that
I made it out there. the kind of little destination gem I can imagine
loosing a week or more to if I had the time!

however, back to the adventure at hand... phot op from the road side,
then a quick pit stop in "town", wedged myself into a THICK wetsuit
(how cold is this gonna be?), signed my life away... and we drove a
few minutes u the road into the canyons.

10:04pm. Done all I can do today...

back in the hostel, and so ready for bed. 10pm sat night... the rest
of the town is gearing up, and I am done!

found myself a lovely little restaurant, coco's catina, with a little
corner table on the outside patio all to myself to sit and linger.
amazing meal (OMG, really amazing! with strawberry shortcake to
boot!), some delicious wine... and a few hours to read up on new
zealad history and culture. so fun to have time to finally immerse
myself.

the streets were pretty dead today for big city standards. turns out
it is a national holiday today, Waitangi Day. the commemoration of the
signing of a treaty between the Maori and the British. a document that
has proved to be very contorversial. celebrated with typical national
holiday activities such as outdoor festivals and commemorations, NZ
also seems to celebrate it as a day of introspection and political
activism.

bed time. big day hucking myself off waterfalls tomorrow! woot woot.

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