Sun, Smoke, and Stars

We dilly-dallied in the morning and made it back over to Melissa's a little before midday. Mem wanted to go to the beach, so Mel led us to the sandy shores of Mount Maunganui. She said we could climb the thing but we opted for hell no. Instead, we climbed the smaller Moturiki Island, which used to house a water park. Now it is just trees, dirt, and boulders cascading into the sea. From there we could see down both sides of the beach. We watched surfers ride the big waves and wipe out repeatedly. Many people swam or paddle boarded. Many more braved the thin ozone and lay out on the beach with nothing between them and the radiation of space. Mel had brought a picnic blanket, so we spread it out and joined the other sunbathers for longer than was prudent. Once we began to pinken, we took our leave of the sandy paradise.

People enjoy the beach at Mount Maunganui

Looking southeast

Still cyan waters at the foot of Maunganui

A sailboat approaches Motuotau Island

BFFs for life!

Mount Maunganui

Ta-da!

Next we decided to go have lunch. We parked near the Mount Maunganui shops and walked to a place called Gusto. There we each had large, filling plates of delicious this and that, for a reasonable price (for once). Sated, we wandered from shop to shop, just browsing, and picking up a couple of souvenirs. Next we went to the grocery store and got a few supplies for dinner.

We headed back to Mel's place where she and Anton had planned to cook us a mutton roast for dinner. We lazed around for a bit, watched some funny YouTube videos, and eventually dined on Anton's succulent mutton roast, root vegetables, and a hearty gravy. Afterward we felt pooped, so we headed back to the B&B for an early evening in.

The following morning, our last full day in New Zealand, we rose early and checked out of our B&B by eight, bidding adieu to our kind hostess with whom we'd barely had any time to socialize. We loaded up the car and drove back to the strip where we had shopped the day before in search of Gusto, where we had dined. We found it and each had a delicious bacon eggs Benedict with the kind of deep orange-yolked eggs you can't buy in stores in the US. It was perfect.

Next we went to Melissa's where we interrupted her yoga routine for the second time in three days. She welcomed us in for a bit and then we ventured out to shoot the actual smoking footage of Smoking the in Park. After extensive coaxing, Mel harnessed up her dog Dora and we set out. The cat, Zoe, saw us going for a walk and decided to join. Normally she and Dora fought like, well, cats and dogs, but on their walk they were friends. Zoe traipsed along at her own pace, meowing occasionally.

Mel leads the herd

 

Zoe inspects the tree

We got to the park around the corner from Mel's house, a large rugby pitch, and scoped out a place to shoot. Being novice cigar smokers, none of us really knew what we were doing, but I was able to competently cut and light the thing. We enjoyed it quite a bit, which surprised me since I generally don't like Cubans (too spicy). Once the cigar had run its course, which was fast due to its size and dryness, we went back to the house.

There we showed Mel the pictures of our travels thus far and she showed us some of hers from the South Island. It looked beautiful and we would have to return again someday in order to give it the attention it deserved. The two weeks we spent exploring the North Island was not even sufficient for that task.

One of my favorite people on the planet

Soon it was time for us to hit the road back to Auckland where we would stay in Epsom again with Rosie and John. The drive took about three hours and we were relieved to make it after sitting in a fair amount of rush hour traffic for the last few miles of the journey. Auckland traffic was a much different experience now that I could competently drive on the left. We unpacked the car and then headed around the corner for some "cheap" yakisoba and teriyaki.

We went back to the house and huddled up on a twin bed to watch What We Do In the Shadows, which I had been dying to show Mem. I had a feeling she would enjoy it since she liked Boy so much. When the movie ended it was still early and we began to sift through our travel receipts and records. In doing so, I stumbled upon the rain check we had received from Stardome Observatory when we first arrived. The sky was clear tonight so I called to inquire about whether we could cash them in for a telescope viewing that night. We could, and so we did.

Cornwall Park was dark when we arrived and so busy that it was hard to find parking. Once we succeeded at that, we wandered into the observatory and found the courtyard where the telescopes were set up. We spent a good hour going from telescope to telescope, listening to explanations from the apt volunteers who manned them. We were able to spot the southern cross, view and photograph the Orion Nebula, and Mem even saw a shooting star through the telescope while looking at the Jewel Box star cluster. It was the perfect bookend to what had been a wonderful trip.

The Orion nebula