Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Last days

Day 10:  Thames to Hahei

last days

and moments were spent on trails along the beach and swimming in Tairua
making a run for it
never tiring of these endless empty beaches
We read that if you climb to the little peaker on top of Mt. Paku that you will visit again in the next 7 years. We wanted to put it to the test. It only took 11 months for it to come true. xoxo
The beach we just swam at was already calling our names again
The trail took you through charming backyards - they all had their own private dreamy paths down to the beach. The views got better with each step.
Beautiful blue ocean on all sides
Loving those mountains way in the background, little Pauanui in the foreground. This place has got it all.
We drove on to our last bed of the trip, and on the way I finally got a picture of my favorite "panda bear cows." We decided to go all out on our last night and throw our budget to the wind. We booked a nice room right ON the BEACH, in Hahei!!
collected our last gifts for the kids in the sunset, up on Cooks Beach
We went to a tiny little ritzy place for dinner - it is a tiny beach town so there was nothing else open. We were just glad we were going to get dinner.
And made sure to drink one last L&P - mmm

We had romantic dreams of walking the beach at night, but once we got back to our deluxe room we only had enough energy to take showers, and for some crazy lame reason we spent our last night all cozied up watching tv, never taking advantage of our beach. The things we regret later in life - not really though. We were so darn tired.
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 -- more NZ 2010 --
Pre-trip preparation
Day 1: Auckland
Day 2: Orewa to Paihia
Day 3: Paihia to Kaitaia
Day 4: Ninety Mile Beach to Rawene
Day 5: Rawene to Hamilton
Day 6: Hamilton to National Park
Day 7: Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Day 8: Taupo to Rotorua
Day 9: Rotorua
Day 10: Thames to Hahei
Day 11: Coromandel