Arrival at The Mousetrap

So after a very short stay back in Auckland, with just enough time to do the all important washing and packing, it was time to head off on the magical Kiwi bus once again. This journey had several more occupants then the previous week, we had a total of about 25 people on our bus and I no longer had the privilege of a seat to myself which was rather disappointing as it was 7am, I’d had little sleep and I didn’t really feel like talking. Thankfully the girl sat next to me felt the same. We exchanged hello’s and introductions and then napped until our first stop at the honey making place. Our driver up to Paihia this week was Fly, I was a little sad about this as I was hoping that Jarrod would be taking me back up because he was cool. Fly however was really nice and during our bus journey, having been filled by coffee and a toastie at our food stop, I booked my Fiji experience trip with her. Doing this through your driver gets you a discount of 100NZ Dollars which works out really worth the deal! So my Fiji trip is coming together, having heard from Becky that Mango Bay is paradise, I am excited!

On arrival into Paihia just after midday on Friday morning, having been sat on a bus for the past 5 hours, it was nice to disembark and leave the poor Kiwi souls to a few nights in the Pipi Patch. Not that it’s a bad place to be, just that when there are a lot of people they will have to fight for sofa and kitchen space, something which I can’t face doing! I checked into The Mousetrap and started out in a dorm room with a girl I had met on the Kiwi bus (who was staying there just one night). I had rather hoped that I would not be in the same room as her, however this wasn’t the case. It isn’t very often that I dislike people, I like to think I’m quite easy going, however I knew I wasn’t going to like Claudia before the ignition of the bus was even running back in Auckland. I know I shouldn’t be judgemental but she got on the bus in Auckland and sat on the seat in front of me and from the volume level her voice was at, it was very difficult not to know she was there. She was one of those people I just knew I wouldn’t get on with so when I found out that she was staying at the Mousetrap also, I was not best pleased. To my joy though, I was able to move rooms after morning tea which meant I was no longer in the room with Claudia. My new room mates however were much nicer – Christoph & Johannes. Although I feel slightly outnumbered, them being boys and all, I think it will work quite well. We have a nice cosy little room which I intend to decorate with some pictures to make it slightly more homely for the 6 weeks that I am here.

Since arriving I haven’t done very much interesting stuff to report on, however on the afternoon of my arrival after morning tea, we went on a long beach walk to Opua. We left at around 3pm and walked along the coastal track, although we hadn’t really decided how long we intended to stay out for. There were 9 of us in total which made for a nice sized group and I got to know my new room mates and some of the long staying guests. We had been walking for a while when we came across a camp site which had a play area, and thus being a group aged between 21 and 29, naturally we had to play on it. We then discovered that the campsite also had a shop which then led to being fed on peppermint Magnums before continuing our journey. It was at this point in our walk that I realised I was making the fatal mistake yet again of wearing inappropriate footwear. Having bought new trainers the day before in Auckland, I had decided to wear them up to Paihia to wear them in. Keeping them on was a fatal mistake as I could tell I was getting a blister right on the back of my heel and typically I had no plasters in my bag. But I soldiered on and didn’t complain once (until we were getting closer to home that is). It got to about 5pm and we decided as it would be getting dark soon we should probably start to head home, so we began to turn back. Walking down a coastal track and along a beach in the dark was an experience, I nearly fell over several times which was embarrassing, however I managed to keep my dignity and stay on both feet!

Back at the hostel we ate and chilled out watching Australian Idol which was fun. It was then early to bed to start a new day in the morning. I was asleep by 11pm and out like a light until morning.

Anyway it is now bedtime once again….ciao for now